School and Home Cooking Part 78

If the number of eggs in a cake is reduced, what ingredient should be increased?

LESSON CXLV

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--PLAIN CAKE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS (A)

The "Conventional" method of mixing cake is as follows: Cream the fat; then gradually add the sugar. Cream the mixture. Add egg yolks that have been beaten until light. Add the flavoring. Then add some of the milk and part of the dry ingredients. Repeat until all the milk and dry ingredients have been added. Beat the mixture thoroughly. Cut and fold in the whites of the eggs quickly; then turn into oiled pans. Bake layer cakes at 375 degrees F., and loaf cakes at 350 degrees F.

PLAIN CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 2 eggs 1 cupful sugar 2/3 cupful liquid 1 teaspoonful flavoring 1/4 to 1/2 cupful fat

Mix according to the directions above or according to _Method of Mixing Cake Containing Fat_.

_Compare_ this recipe with that for One-egg Cake. Note that the eggs and fat are increased, while the baking powder and moisture are decreased.

Can you account for these variations?

WHITE CAKE

Follow the Plain Cake recipe, using 4 egg whites instead of 2 eggs and the greater quant.i.ty of fat. Vanilla or almond flavoring are pleasing in White Cake. If almond extract is used, add only 1/2 teaspoonful.

White Cake is mixed according to the general directions, except, of course, that the egg yolks are omitted; the egg whites are beaten until stiff and folded into the other ingredients.

A cheaper but tasty white cake may be made by following the recipe for One-egg Cake and using 2 egg whites instead of 1 whole egg.

FRESH COCONUT CAKE

Break open a fresh coconut, save all the milk and use it as part of the liquid for a White Cake. Add milk to the milk of coconut to make the 2/3 cupful of liquid in the plain cake recipe. Prepare a White Cake in two layers.

CAKE

Break the coconut into pieces, pare these and put them through a food chopper or grate them. Prepare Boiled Frosting. When the frosting is ready to spread on the cake, add about 3/4 of the chopped coconut. Spread the mixture on the cake layers and sprinkle the remainder of the coconut over the frosting on the top layer of the cake.

A fresh coconut cake will keep moist for a week.

WATER FROSTING

1 cupful confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoonful hot water, milk, or cream Salt 1 tablespoonful lemon juice

Stir the hot water into the sugar and add the salt and lemon juice. If too stiff, add a little more boiling water.

3 tablespoonfuls of _cocoa_ or 1 ounce of _chocolate_ may be mixed with 3 tablespoonfuls of water, cooked for a few minutes, and used in place of the moisture and lemon juice. 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla should be added when these materials are used. When cocoa is used the addition of 1 tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter improves the flavor.

_Mocha frosting_ may be made by mixing the cocoa or chocolate with strong coffee instead of water.

EGG FROSTING

1 egg white 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 1 cupful confectioner's sugar Salt

Put the unbeaten egg white into a bowl; add the lemon juice, then the salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Spread on warm cake.

The lemon juice may be omitted, and _chocolate_ (or cocoa) and vanilla added, as in Water Frosting.

GOLD FROSTING

2 egg yolks Confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoonful lemon juice or vanilla Salt

Add the flavoring and salt to the unbeaten yolks. Add enough confectioner's sugar to the mixture to make it thick enough to spread. Use on White Cake when it is warm.

BOILED FROSTING

3/4 to 1 cupful sugar 1 teaspoonful vinegar 1 teaspoonful flavoring 1/3 cupful water 1 egg white Salt

Mix the sugar, water, and vinegar in a saucepan. Cook _gently_ until the sirup (when dropped from a spoon) "spins a thread" 3 inches long.

Remove from the fire, and gradually pour the sirup over the egg white to which a pinch of salt has been added and which has been beaten stiff.

Continue to beat the mixture; when it begins to stiffen, add the flavoring, and spread over cooled cake.

The less quant.i.ty of sugar produces a more delicate and less dense frosting than the greater quant.i.ty.

CHOCOLATE-MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

1 cupful sugar 1/4 cupful boiling water 1/8 teaspoonful salt 12 marshmallows 2 ounces chocolate 3 tablespoonfuls water 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla

In a saucepan stir the sugar, boiling water, and salt. Then place over a low flame and heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Cut the marshmallows in halves, add to the sugar mixture, and beat until the marshmallows have melted. Cut the chocolate in pieces and mix with 3 tablespoonfuls water. Stir and cook over a low flame until a thick, smooth paste is formed. Add to the sugar mixture. Beat until the frosting is of proper consistency to spread, then stir in the vanilla.

QUESTIONS

Give the reason for the greater quant.i.ty of fat in cake when egg yolks are omitted.

If the conventional method of mixing cake is followed, what can be done in cold weather to hasten the creaming of fat? What is the result of insufficient creaming?

Why is the cake mixture beaten thoroughly before the whites of eggs are added?

What is the purpose of cutting and folding in the whites of eggs in the cake mixture?

What kind of fat should be used for white cake? Why?

Why use hot water rather than cold water for Water Frosting (see Experiment 11)?

When egg whites alone are used in cake, give at least three uses for the yolks of the eggs.

Why is Egg Frosting used on warm cake, rather than on cold?