Technically, cakes are a sweet foodstuff prepared by baking a wheat flour-based dough or batter into a compact form. Butter cakes, also called creamed cakes, contain butter, margarine or vegetable shortening, which contribute to a finely textured, tender and moist cake. Cakes that do not contain fat, such as sponge, angel food and chiffon cakes, are often referred to as foam cakes. These have a larger proportion of egg than butter cakes. Both butter cakes and foam cakes lend themselves to limitless variations, depending on the flavorings added to the basic ingredients, the shapes of the pans used in baking, and fillings, icings and decorations used.
Cakes come in all sizes and shapes, from layer cakes to jelly rolls to miniature cakes and cupcakes.
In addition to the basics, a large and varied selection of ingredients are used to give cakes flavor and character. These include fruits, spices, nuts or chocolate, to name a few. Cake flour, a fine, silky flour milled from soft wheats, is preferred by bakers for cake making. Cake flour has low protein and soft gluten strength, which allows it to blend easily into the batter and to absorb and retain moisture. It is especially suitable for foam cakes because it folds easily into the egg-rich batters.