1832 - Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats

Cakes

DDV CULINARY

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

In making cakes it is particularly necessary that the eggs should be well beaten.
They are not sufficiently light till the surface looks smooth and level,
and till they get so thick as to be of the consistence of boiled custard.

White of egg should always be beaten till it becomes a heap of stiff froth,
without any liquid at the bottom; and till it hangs from the rods or fork without dropping.

Eggs become light soonest when new-laid, and when beaten near the fire or in warm dry weather.

Butter and sugar should be stirred till it looks like thick cream, and till it stands up in the pan.

It should be kept cool. If too warm, it will make the cakes heavy.

Large cakes should be baked in tin or earthen pans, with straight sides,
that are as nearly perpendicular as possible.
They cut into handsomer slices, and if they are to be iced,
it will be found very inconvenient to put on the icing,
if the cake slopes in towards the bottom.

Before you ice a cake dredge it all over with flour, and then wipe the flour off.
This will enable you to spread on the icing more evenly.

Before you cut an ice cake, cut the icing by itself with a small sharp penknife.
The large knife with which you divide the cake, will crack and break the icing.

Large Gingerbread, as it burns very easily, may be baked in an earthen pan.
So also may Black Cake or Pound Cake.
Tin pans or moulds, with a hollow tube in the middle, are best for cakes.

If large cakes are baked in tin pans, the bottom and sides should be covered with sheets of paper,
before the mixture is put in. The paper must be well buttered.

Sponge cakes, and Almond cakes should be baked in pans that are as thin as possible.

If the cakes should get burnt, scrape them with a knife or grater, as soon as they are cool.

Always be careful to butter your pans well.
Should the cakes stick, they cannot be got out without breaking.

For queen-cakes, &c. the small tins of a round or oval shape are most convenient.
Fill them but little more than half.

After the mixture is completed, set it in a cool place till all the cakes are baked.

In rolling out cakes made of dough, use as little flour as possible.
When you lay them in the pans, do not place them too close together, lest they run into each other.

When you are cutting them out, dip the cutter frequently in flour, to prevent its sticking.