Evening star., 1900-10-06
THE ART OF CAKE MAKING
USE GOOD MATERIALS AND FOLLOW
RULE CLOSELY.
Measure Carefully All Ingredients
Good Recipe for a Quick
Sponge Cake.
Written for The Evening Star.

Written for The Evening Star.
Use good materials II you want good
cake. There is no alchemy in the oven to
transmute stale eggs, sticky sugar, strong
butter and lumpy flour into something rich
and toothsome Neither will the most skill
full mixing and baking do away with the
acrid flavor resulting from poor baking
powders.
To Judge flour ruf1e the surface Of it
the shadows between the heaps look family
creamy. Blue-whte -four is apt to have a
taint Of corn -four or corn starch, or else to
have been ground from wheat below the
highest grade. Perfect flour. grasped in the
hand, will show when released all the veins
of the palm, as we'll as keep shape. 1t has
also sort of velvet feel, which may be
learned, but cannot be more accurately de-
scribed.
A soft. well favored coffee sugar with
only a faint saccharine smell is for many
sorts of cake better than either granula ted
ply on demand a light yellow soft sugar
much better for dark cakes than any Of the
white sugar tribe.
Butter speaks for itself-to eye and nose.
Eggs carry within the hall mark of fresh
ness 1t is in the air bubble at each end.
between the lining membrane and the shell.
When the bubble Is small and located at
the ends the eggs are at least reasonably
big your thumbs end they are open to
suspicion. Eggs better broken cool
than warm: SO in hot weather 1t is well to
lay them in ice water or set them in re-
frigerator half an hour or SO before using.
Cake making singe-handed is matter
for method. First measure your butter and
set it where 1T will soften without oiing.
Melted butter cannot be creamed, and
creaming is essential to lightness in the
cake. Put 1t in a bowl big enough to admit
Of vigorous stirring. Then measure your
flour, sitting it first, put in the soda or the
baking powder and sift again. Cake flour
should always be sifted twice. If 1t is
measured as it comes out Of the barrel you
will infallibly get too much Of it. If 1t
feels the least bit clammy, or even If the
day is damp, set it where 1t will warm
without scorching until you are ready for 1t.
Next measure your sugar. and be sure
the measure is exact. Sift 1t, and set 1t
also to warm, but be sure it does not heat
Now, break your eggs, and separate yolks
and whites. Break each one over a small
dish-then If you find bad one, you will
not ruin the whole batch. Put the yolks
into the mixing bowl, and be sure it is big
eEough-it should be twice the capacity Of
the finished batter, to allow for beating.
Beat the yolks till they foam and look al
most creamy-white, then put in the sugar,
a cupful at time, and beat again.
After that, cream the butter-really cream
1t. Do not be satisfied when it is soft
enough to stir Keep beating and stirring
it, always the same way, until it drops
from the spoon in a frothy rope. Add 1t
to the eggs and sugar, alternately with the
flour, and take care to stir In every bit OF
-four before you put in more butter.
drop of butter falling upon dry -four makes
lump 1t is almost impossible to be rid of.
When all the butter and flour are in, beat
hard for ten minutes, then go to work
whipping the whites of eggs. Beat them
very stiff and mix in lightly. Now, if you
have used soda alone, put in your lemon
juice-strained, or your sour cream. Beat
the whole mixture, for three minutes
longer add your fiavoring, also a dash of
rum or brandy, then pour into molds and
set in the oven.
Here is an excellent quick sponge cake
especially good to break, and eat hot, or
serve with sauce a dessert Break five
eggs, whites and yolks together, beat them
very light, then add two cups of sifted
sugar-three cups scant ones-of twice
sifted flour Beat smooth, then add cup
of strictly boiling water, in which you
have dissolved half a level teaspoonful of
baking soda. Stir hard, then follow 1t with
the strained juice of two lemons, a tea
spoonful of lemon extract, and the grated
yellow rind of the fruit Last of all stir
in half gill of whisky or brandy. Bake In
quick oven. This makes a fine layer
cake, by baking thin. Spread a layer still
warm with frosting, then strew chopped
nuts and seeded raisins on the frosting,
and put on another layer. Repeat until tie
cake is as high you like. Let cool, trim
smooth all round and frost thickly.