The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-25
A CAKE SECRET.

By Mrs Martha Taft Wentworth. Copy
right, 1902.
There is certainly no witchery about
plain everyday cooking, yet friend of
mine recently had occasion to think there
must be. She had in her kitchen a
green girl, who had been in this coun-
try put one year, and whom She had
taught-as she supposed-al she knew
about cooking. My friend is an expert
enced as well as a practical, housewife,
famous for her light touch with either
roll1ng pm or spoon, yet here in her home
there was girl who could make, from
her own recipe, a better cake than she
could. Determined to find out the secret,
she said to her:
Gretchen, you make lovely cake. What
is your ruler
Yours, mistress, answered he girl;
"a eupful of butter, two of sugar, three
of flour, four eggs and a cup of milk
My friend looked at her moment, and
then said:
Simply this and nothing more,
Gretchen? Are you sure?''
The girl was truthful, and the catch
phrase caught her, for she looked up with
a laugh and answered:
well, I'll tell you, mistress, what the
secret is. Friday we always have cara
mel cuStard, and I save out the whites
of two eggs and use them with the other
four for the cake on Saturday; that Is
all"
That was all, but it was, the secret OF
cake of velvety texture, light as sea
foam, and also the kind that, if proper
iy shut away in a cake box, will keep
fresh for week.
The girl had been taught to be very
careful about Dreaming the butter, blend
ing it with the sugar until the 6: ans
were all gone, using always line gran
ulated sugar. And that reminds me- nave
you noticed that your grocer has TWO
kinds of granulated sugar, one coarse and
the other very fine? Coarse sugar is often
the cause of poor cake. Haven you seen
cake and cookies whose crust seemed full
of An No ma rlZn Y ?
They are caused by coarse grained sugar,
which was not properly dissolved. Get
always the fine, and you will have no
such trouble.
I have been asked for a jelly roll that
would not crack in rolling. Jelly roll
should always be made from some good
sponge cake recipe; if made otherwise the
shortening will surely cause 1t to break.
The butter should be poured to half an
inch in depth in a long tin, and baked
quickly If on taking it out of the oven
the edges are hard or crusty, trim them
off with sharp knife. Wiring cloth IN
hot water and spread on the table turn
the cake out upon this, spread with jelly
and roll at once, making the first fold or
nicely rolled, roll in a dry towel and put
away. 1t is best cut the day after 1t IS
baked.
TkSre are a great many sponge cake
recipes feat these tayS, ana when che
has good one it IS well TO stick ID that
tu- I will give one here which IS mine
own and that l can vouch for, having
used it for years. Cream one-half cup
full of butter with one and one-haf cup
fuls of sugar add three eggs well beaten,
and beat together for five minutes; add
one-half cupful of cold water, two cup
fuls of -four, into which has been siftcd
one teaspoonfuI of cream of tartar and
one-half teaspoonful of soda; beat again
another five minutes. and it is ready Tor
the oven. In using this for jelly roll, use
half of the mixture, but be sure 70 use
two eggs, as the eggs give it the touch
ness necessary for successful rolling.
This sponge batter is also nice as a
laver cake, and in my next number
will give you several of my faVorite fill
fOOG