Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-06-13
GOOD CAKE-MAKING.
ONE FOUNDATION MIXTURE NEcEs'
SARY FOR ALL FINE KINDS.
Satisfactory Results Cannot Ne Obtained
from Poor Materials Nora
scanty supply.


pretcn. IL one cup OF Dutter anu ohc e"P
of milk. two cups OF sugar. three eggs,
and three cups OF -four
1t IN true. Given that recipe for
foundation, and you can produce an end
less variety OF good cake.
In Its simple form IT is cup-cake. which
may DO favored to taste, with vanilla,
with fresh lemon juice and half the rind,
with almond, or with rosewater.
BY dividing the dough and mixing half
with grated chocolate II makes an excel
lent marble cake.
With the addition Of cuTants, citron,
raisins, or all three and spice, 1t becomes
a plain fruit cake.
BY substituting coffee for milk and add
ing teaspoonful OF cinnamon, 1t is
good coffee cake.
BY using the whites OF the eggs for
one half, and the yolks for the other,
you can have gold and silver cake.
IL is also "a very fair mixture for layer
cake of all kinds.
INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE
Good cooks are always cxtravagant."
ray the uninitiated; but good cooks know
that good results cannot be obtained
from poor materials nor scanty supply.
English cake is as dsayreeably noto-
ton may be found in a standard cook
book. which announces gravely that
where baking powder is used eggs are
not necessary. and that for plain cake
dripping or lard may be used instead Of
butter. This Is no manual designed for
''workngmen's wives" like one that 1
picked up at a railway station. but in
stead is so "extravagant' in its recipes
that many middle class housewives Tor
haar n
Good cake requires good butter. as good
as for the table. IL demands fresh eggs,
pure navoring extracts, and the "founda-
ton" recipe embodies correct proportions.
Opinions differ as to the sugar. Some
insist upon granulated, which docGs say
Is the purest in the market; 1t should,
therefore, certainly be used for all invalid
cookery. Loaf is the same sugar in
other form. some teachers OF cookery
prefer powdered sugar, which is the most
adulterated. The fact that cane and
bcet-sugars are sold Unfortunately rem
ders II necessary for one TO be sure Of
the sweetness Of sugar before relying al
together upon proportions given in a
recipe. The only way to decide Is by
tasting.
when sugar is at all hard or lumpy It
should be rolled perfectly smooth. This
Is best accomplished by placing II on
brown paper. folding the paper over 1t,
and rolling like pastry.
DREAMING.
The butter and sugar should always be
cTeamed together. The mixture should be
Of the consistency and color of hard
sauce. If the butter is too hard to mix
well IL may be softened. but under no
circumstances melted. The delicacy of
the cake would vanish instantly from
such mishap.
EGGS
Oldfashiored cook books give recipes
calling for the weight of certain ingredi-
EMS in eggs. and this rs certainly the
most definite plan for fine cookery such
as IS required for wedding cake, sponge
cake. or pound-cake Eggs average eight
to the pound. small ones ten.
Whites and yolks should invariably be
beaten separately and careful cooks
strain them. The test for sufficient beat
Ing OF the yOlk is that 1t ceases to
string" and fails in drops from the
beater. Eggs not properly beaten make a
cake coarse and tough. Yolks should be
added 10 the creamed butter and sugar
The whites should alternate with the
-four a pinch of salt will facilitate
stimcninE. Chilling the egg heater and
bowl is another plan. The whites should
be stin enough to cut with knife, not
a drop of liquid albumen should be al
lowed to enter into the composition of
cake
TAXING PAINS.
Any one can make good cake. There
Is no magic about ii as there seems TO be
in many branches Of cookery. 1t is a
matter Of taking infinite pains. Measure,
sift. and weigh every time. The best
cook / ever knew was an Old lady nearly
90 who brought out her scale and weights
and weighed her flour as carefully as II
she were selling IL every time she made
bread.
cake should be stirred IN but one direc-
ton. l have tried reversing the motion
again and again as an experiment. only
to learn that there is evidently scientific
principle involved. So, too, there Is a
right order for mixing the ingredients.
and 1t cannot be altered with impunity.
First the butter and sugar; then the
yolks Of the eggs; then little flour be-
fore putting In the milk or liquid TO pre-
vent possible curding; then flour and
whites alternately. the baking powder
being mixed dry with the -four. and the
navor.ng TO be put in last of all.
JUDGMENT REQUIRED.
Where sour milk is used-and sour
milk is much better for many kinds OF
cake, such as gingerbread and the old
fashioned dark molasses cake-soda also
must be used, never baking powder. III
should be dissolved in hot water, and
put In last of all even after the fiavoring.
Sour milk requires less -four than sweet
milk, and this leads us to the considera-
ton OF the judgment required In cake
making.
| have called attention to variations In
sugar and eggs. but these are not or as
much importance as the -four for whether
II cake is too stiff or too thin 1t Is spoiled
and fours so vary that judment IL needed
as TO using according TO recipe. Some
absorb moisture like a sponge, Others
remain dry and hard. and though the
given quantity Of liquid be used neither
will be a success. Cake should never
pour like batter. nor should 1t be stiff
enough to hold spoon upright. 1t should
simply run easily from the mixing bow
into the pan.
RULE FOR OVEN HEAT.
A French authority gives this test fol
the oven: 'Try II with a piece of whit,
paper. IL too hot the paper will blackei
or blaze up; II 1t turns light brown II
is ut for pastry; II II turns dark yellow Il
is ut for bread and the heavier kinds oil
cake: If light yellow 1t is ready for sponge
or the light. plain cakes"
Layer cake requires a quick oven
Sponge cake demands a moderate one
Fruit cake needs a slow heat.
With a moderate oven the door should
not be opened for at least twenty min
utes. Fruit cake may be trusted an hou
without inspection. Beware OF slammin,
the door of an oven in closing it.
cake should never be taken out I,
test It, The best tester is broom stray
thrust into the cake in several pieces-no
one.
All cakes except those baked in shallow
tins should be poured on buttered paper
which should extend well up the sides
No tin should be filled more than three
fourths full. When removed from tn
oven take the cake out, and unless yol
possess one of the new patent cake tins
which are provided with slides TO obviat
this necessity, balance your cake hal
way out OF the tin SO that ii may coo
without sweating"
MARGARET COMPTON.
LOSS OF A POCkET-BOOK.