Making Cakes
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You may not know the differences between the
two types of cakes; foam and butter, and the different techniques
used to make them. Cake making usually begins by trying a
recipe that catches your interest and whether it is a sponge cake,
butter cake, chiffon cake, or genoise doesn't matter at first, only
how it tastes and looks. But as you gain
experience, you start to develop definite taste preferences.
Frustration often results when a recipe doesn't work or meet your
expectations. This is when you need to learn more about technique
and cake types so you can become better at; choosing recipes that
match your preferences, avoiding mistakes, and even changing a
recipe to suit your own taste.
There
are two types of raised cakes:
1)
FOAM Cakes
2)
BUTTER or SHORTENED Cakes
 FOAM
cakes have a high proportion of eggs to flour. They are
leavened solely by the air beaten into whole eggs or egg whites.
They contain very little, if any, fat and have a spongy texture.
The three categories of foam cakes are:
i) Those that contain
no fat
-
Angel Food Cakes,
Meringues, and
Dacquoises.
ii) Those where the
only fat is
from egg yolks
-
Sponge Cakes, some
Biscuits,
Roulades
iii) Those that
contain fat
(butter, shortening) plus
 egg
yolks.
-
Genoises and
Chiffons
BUTTER or
SHORTENED
cakes contain fat (butter, margarine, shortening)
and rely on a chemical leavener (baking powder, baking soda) for
their rise. They are flavorful, and have a good texture and
volume. The American-style butter cake
 evolved
from the English pound cake recipe of 1 pound of flour, 1 pound of
sugar, 1 pound of butter, and 1 pound of eggs. The French
called the pound cake "quatre-quarts" which translates to
four-quarters, meaning 1/4 of the recipe is flour, 1/4 sugar, 1/4
butter and 1/4 eggs. The first pound cakes had no artificial
leavener and volume was obtained through the mixing (aeration) of
the batter.
Other examples of butter cakes are the white and yellow cake, coffee
cakes, teacakes, and fruitcakes. Some butter cakes are
rich and flavorful enough to stand alone (fruitcakes, teacakes) or
with a
sifting
of confectioners sugar or drizzled with a glaze. Others, layer
or sheet butter cakes, taste even better with a layer of
frosting, lemon curd, jam and preserves, nuts, or even ice cream.
Most American-style butter cakes are prepared using
one of three methods. The most popular of the three is the
creaming
method. This is the easiest and produces the lightest cake with the best
volume. The
one bowl, quick, or blending
method is the quickest and easiest cake to make and produces a
melt-in-your-mouth texture but it is denser with less volume than a
cake made with creaming method. The
combination method is
similar to the creaming method but involves whipping the egg whites
separately from the yolks and then adding them to the batter.
FROSTINGS (ICINGS) FOR CAKES
TROUBLESHOOTING BUTTER CAKES
Cakes can
also be classified by their ingredients:
Chocolate
cakes and cheesecakes fall into this category.
Types of Chocolate used in
making Chocolate Cakes
CHEESECAKES
have a filling made from cream cheese, cottage cheese
or ricotta
 cheese
mixed with eggs, sugar, and other flavorings. The crust
can be made from graham cracker crumbs, wafer crumbs, gingersnaps,
finely ground nuts, or pastry. They are baked in a spring form
pan or cheesecake pan and can have a layer of sour cream on top.
The texture varies from light and airy to heavy and rich (New
York Style cheesecake).
Cracks on the surface of a
baked cheesecake is a common problem caused when too much moisture is lost as
the cheesecake bakes. This is from over baking which is easy to do as it is
difficult to determine when a cheesecake is done. This is because the
center (a 2-3 inch (5-7 cm) circle) of the cheesecake will still be wobbly when
done and there is a tendency to want to bake it a little longer. However,
even though the center does not look baked, once it cools it will firm up and be
the correct consistency.
Cheesecakes that have no
starch in them need to be baked in a
water bath at a low temperature. This results in a wonderfully smooth
and creamy cheesecake. (Make sure you wrap the cheesecake pan in aluminum
foil before placing in the
water bath to prevent leakage.)
Some recipes that are not baked in a
water bath benefit from placing
a shallow pan of hot water on the bottom shelf of the oven to increase the
oven's humidity. Also, greasing the cheesecake pan will also help prevent
the cheesecake from cracking. As the cheesecake cools it will shrink and
if the pan is greased the cheesecake will not stick to the sides, causing
cracking.
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