CAKE

Cake, in general, any of a variety of breads, shortened or unshortened, usually shaped by

the tin in which it is baked; more specifically, a sweetened bread, often rich or delicate. In the
codified cuisine of France, all cakes, or gâteaux, derive from one of eight basic doughs: short
pastry, flake pastry, sweet pastry, savarin, brioche, baba, chou pastry, and genoise. To these are
added an infinite variety of flavouring and decorative ingredients, such as marzipan, sugar icing,
spices, fruits, and cremes. The torte is a very rich cake found throughout Europe, often of
numerous thin layers and containing nuts, fruit, creme, and chocolate in combination. The claim
to invention of the world-famous chocolate Sachertorte is disputed between two Vienna hotels.

In the United States, cakes usually are made by one of three methods. In the
conventional method the sugar and fat are creamed together, the egg added, and a mixture of
flour, salt, and baking powder mixed in alternately with the liquid, beginning and ending with
dry ingredients. In the quick-dump, or one-bowl, method, all the ingredients except the
leavening agent are put into a bowl and mixed vigorously (preferably with a power mixer), the
leavening agent added, and mixing completed. As a modification of the method, the eggs and
part of the milk may be added as a separate stage. The muffin method involves adding the
combined liquid ingredients to the combined dry ingredients; but, although rapid and easy, this
method unmodified produces a cake that tends to be coarse textured and to have poor keeping
quality. Chiffon cake is made by a modification of the muffin method in which the egg white is
beaten separately and blended with the other mixed ingredients. Shortened cakes made by
these methods can be baked in flat layer pans, in loaf pans, or in individual cups and can be
baked at oven temperatures of 350–400 °F (177–204 °C).

English cake recipes using fat are of two main types. The rubbing-in method can be used
for most mixtures in which the amount of fat is not more than half the amount of flour by
weight. The fat is rubbed into the sifted flour, salt, and leavening agent until the mixture is like
fine bread crumbs; sugar and other dry ingredients such as dried fruit are added next, followed
by beaten eggs together with any other liquid in the recipe. The ingredients must be mixed
thoroughly without beating or overmixing for satisfactory results. The creaming method is used
when the proportion of fat to flour is half or more by weight, thus producing rich cakes. The fat
and sugar are creamed well together, the egg beaten into this mixture, and sifted flour and salt,
together with raising agent if necessary, folded carefully in, followed by dried fruit and any
liquid in the recipe. Baking temperatures vary from 290 °F (143 °C) for very rich fruit cakes to
425 °F (218 °C) for small buns.

Spongecake and angel food cake are examples of unshortened mixtures. These cakes
depend largely upon incorporated air for leavening, and, unless modified recipes are used,
chemical raising agents are unnecessary, sufficient air to produce a light product being
incorporated by whisking the eggs. In angel food cake, only the white of egg is used, beaten
with cream of tartar, which is acidic and tends to stabilize the egg-white foam; the blended
flour, sugar, and salt then are gently folded in and the desired flavouring added. A portion of the
sugar may be beaten with the egg whites. When making spongecake, two methods are possible:
in the first, the unseparated eggs are whisked with the sugar and any flavouring, and the sifted
flour is then cut and folded into this thick, light mixture; in the second, the egg yolks are beaten
with lemon juice and all or part of the sugar, and the egg whites are beaten separately, with or
without part of the sugar, the flour and salt being added to the yolk mixture and the whole
combined with the beaten whites. Baking temperatures for unshortened cakes range from 300
to 450 °F (149 to 232 °C), the higher temperatures being used for thin products such as Swiss
rolls. Cake or pastry flours give lighter, finer grained, and more tender cakes than do stronger
flours, which are used for breadmaking.

Throughout Europe and the United States, particular cakes are associated with particular
celebrations—e.g., the French Twelfth-Night cake, the German Easter torte, and the Christmas
fruitcake of the United States. The nature of the wedding cake, traditional throughout the West,
varies from country to country.