A French pastry chef invented the charlotte in the 1800s. The classic version is the Charlotte Russe. Also try such flavors as chocolate, eggnog, strawberry, Bavarian cream. Cake chemistry Behind any good cake is good chemistry. The role of baking powder is to enlarge the bubbles in the fat, causing the cake to rise to its potential.
Fats tenderize the cake, softening and moderating the structure, and enhance flavor.
Sugar tenderizes and moistens a cake. Low-protein flour is preferred for cakes. Use cake flour, pastry flour or Southern bleached all-purpose flour. Eggs are drying and leavening agents. If a cake is dry, leave out one egg white.