CAKE-MAKING

" Let all things be done decently and in order/' and the first to pat in order when you ace going to bake is yourself. Secure the hair in a net or other covering, to prevent any from falling, and brush the shoulders and back to be sure none are lodged there that might blow off; make the hands and finger nails clean, roll the sleeves up above the elbows, and put on a large, clean apron. Clean the kitchen table of utensils and every thing not needed, and pro- vide every thing that will be needed until the cake is baked, not forgetting even the broom-splints previously picked ofi* the new broom and laid away carefully in a little box. (A kifitting-needle may be kept for testing cake instead of splints.) If it is warm- weather, place the eggs in cold water, and let stand a few minutes, as they will then make finer froth ; and be sure they are fresh, as they will not make a stiff* froth from any amount of beating if old. The cake-tin» should be prepared -before the qake^ when baking powder is used, as it effervesces but once, and there should be no delay in baking, as the mixture should be made firm by the heat, while the efervescing process is going on. Grease the pans with ftesh lard, which is much better than butter ; line the bottom with paper, using six or eight thicknesses if the cake is large, and greas- ing the top one well. (In some ovens, however, fewer thicknesses of paper would be needed on the bottom, and in some the sides ak> should be lined with one or two thicknesses.) Sift flour and sugar (if not pulverized), and measure or weigh. Firkin or very salt but*

60 OAKE-MAKINQ.

tat should be cut in bits and washed to freshen a little; if verj hard, warm carefully, but in no case allow any of it to melt. Good butter must be used, as the heat develops any latent bad qualities. Use pulverized sugar for all delicate cakes; for rich cakes coffee- crushed, powdered and sifted; for dark cakes, the best brown sugars are best; for jelly-cakes, light fruitK^akes, etc., granulated and coffee ''A" are best and most economical. Beat the yolks of eggs thoroughly, and strain ; set the whites away in a cool place 'Until the cake is ready for them, then beat them vigorously iu a cool room, till they will remain ki the dish when turned upside down. Sift a part of the measured flour with the baking-powder or soda and cream tartar through a hand-sieve (which should be among the utensils of every housekeeper), and mix thoroughly with the rest of the flour. In using new flour for either bread or cake-making, it can be * 'ripened" for use by placing the quantity intended for bak- ing in the hot sun for a few hours, or before the kitchen fire. In using milk, note this: that sour milk makes a spongy, light cake ; sweet milk, one that cuts like pound cake ; remembering that with sour milk soda alone is used, while with sweet milk baking powder or soda and cream tartar are to be added.

Having thus gathered the material, cut butter (in cold weather) into small pieces, and warm, not melt; beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the milk in smal] quantities (never use fresh and stale milk in same cake), next the yolks of eggs, then a part of the flour, then a part of the whites, and so on until the whole is used ; lastly, add the flavoring. Many good cake-makers first stir the milk and flavoring into the creiimed butter and sugar, then the yolks, next the whites, and lastly the flour, first taking about two-thirds of it and thoroughly niixia*^ the baking powder through it; the re> raainder of the flour is then left to be used at discretion. A little more or less flour may be needed, according to the climate, or to the kind of flour used, as the " New Process" flour requires one* eighth less than other brands. There is great " knack" in beating cake; don't stir, but beat thoroughly, bringing the batter up from the bottom of the dish at every stroke ; in this way the air is driven into the cells of the batter, instead of out of them — but the cells will be finer if beaten more slowly at the last, remembering that the motion

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liioiild alivays be upwarcL In winter it is easier to beat with the hand, but in summer a wooden spoon is better. An iron spoon turns the mixture dark. Never beat a cake in tin, but use earthen or stoneware. Unskillful mixing, too rapid or unequal baking, or a sudden decrease in heat before it is quite done, will cause streaks in the cake. Always bake a small cake first, fill a patty pan, or cover to a baking-powder can, one-third full, and bake ; then add more or leas flour as required.' If the cake is hard and solid, it needs a few tea-spoons of milk; if more flour is Deeded it will &11 in the middle and be spongy and crumbly.. Powdered sugar may be sifted on the top of any cake while it is a little warm; if it dis- solves add more, when it is cold, keep some for that purpose in a since box with a perforated top. The white portion of orange or lemon-peel should never be used ; grate only the yellow. When recipes call for soda and cream of tartar, baking powder may be used by taking the same quantity as required of both, or Horsford's Bread Preparation will be found excellent *'Milk" always means noeet milk. ''A cup" always means a tea cup, not a cofiee cup. Sour milk may always be used instead of sweet, by using soda only. The proportions of rising-powder to one quart of flour are three tea- spoons baking-powder, or one teanspoon soda and two tea-spoons cream tartar, or one measure each of Horsford's Bread Preparation, or one pint sour milk and one level tea-spoon soda.

Fruit Cake. Most ladies think fruit cake quite incomplete without wine or brandy, but it can be made equally good on strictly temperance principles, by substituting one-third of a cup of molasses for a wine- glass of brandy. The objection to the use of liquor in sauces does not, however, hold good against that used in cake-making, as the alcohol is converted to vapor by the heat and passes off with the other gases. There are many, however, who object to the use of . liquors in any way, and to keeping them in the house, and such will find the above an excellent and cheap substitute.

Baisins should never be washed, as it is difi^cult to dry out the moisture absorbed by them, and every particle of moisture retained tends to make the cake heavy. To remove the stems and ex« traneous matter, place the raisins in a coarse towel and rub them in

62 CAKE-MAKING.

this untQ as dean as rubbing will make them ; then pick over care- fully, remove any stems or other defects which may be left. The raisins should be prepared before the cake, and added the last thing before putting in the oven, as, being heavy, they sink to the bottom if allowed to stand. To seed, clip with the scissors, or cut with a sharp knife. Do not chop too fine ; if for light fruit cake, seeding is all that is necessary. Slice the citron thin, and do not have the pieces too large, or they will cause the cake to break apart in cut- ting. Currants should be kept prepared for use as follows : Wash in warm water, rubbing well, pour off water, and repeat until the water is clear; drain them in a sieve, spread on a cloth and rub dry; pick out bad ones, dry carefully in a cool oven or in the ''heater" (or in the sun and wind, with a thin gauze over them to keep off flies, insects and dust), and set away for use. When the fruit is all mixed, cream the butter and sugar — this is very im- portant in all cakes — ^add the spices, molasses, or liquors, then the milk (if any used), next the eggs well beaten, adding whites with the flour, as previously directed. Always beat whites and yolks separately if many eggs are used, but if only a few, it is just as well to beat both together. Next add the flour (which in making black fruit cake may be browned), prepared with baking powder or soda and cream tartar, then the flavoring (lemon and vanilla, in equal parts, make the best flavoring), and lastly the fruit dredged with a very little flour. Some prefer to mix the fruit with all the flour. When but little fruit is used it may be dropped into the dough after it is in the pan, and pushed

In making very large cakes that require three or four hours to Imke, an excellent way for lining the pan is the following: Fit three pa|)ers carefully, grease thoroughly, make a paste of equal parts Graham and fine flour, wet with water just stiff enough to spread easily with a spoon, place the first paper in the pan with the greased side down, and spread the paste evenly over the paper about as thick as pie-crust. In covering the sides of the pan, use a little paste to stick a portion of the paper to the top of the jmn to keep it from slipping out of place, press the second paper carefully into ^ts

CAKE-MAKIXO. 63

place, with the greased side up, and next put in the third paper as jou would into any baking-pan, and pour in the cake. Earthen pans are used by some, as they do not heat so quickly and are less liable to bum the cake.

When using a milk -pan or pans, without stems, a glass bottle filled with shot to give it weight, and greased, may be placed in the center of the pan, or a stem may be made of paste-board, rolled up, but the latter is more troublesome to keep in place. The cake is apt to bum around the edges before it is done unless there is a tube in the center.

All exoept layer cakes should be covered with a paper cap, (or a sheet of brown paper, which the careful housewife will save from ber grocers' packages), when first put into the oven. Take a square of brown paper large enough to cover well the cake pan, cut off the comers, and lay a plait on four sides, fastening each with a pin so as to fit nicely over the pan. This will throw it up in the center, 80 that the cover will not touch the cake. Save the cap, as it can be used several times.

Before commencing, clean out the stove, take off the lids and brush inside, rake it out underneath^ get all the ashes out of the comers, have the best of fuel at hand. Don't build a baking fire before it is needed, have it only moderate, and add the extra fuel in time to get it nicely burning.