Many old-fashioned cooks still maintain that really good batters cannot be made without a great many eggs. But the high prices of eggs have made many a cook resort to substi- tutes when making cake and other batters. Baking powder is the most popular substitute, and a very light batter can be made with it, but it will not supply the flavor, richness or color that eggs will supply. Bakers often use a material called "egg color" which gives the yellow color produced by eggs and also some slight element of the same flavor, but it adds little or nothing to the richness of the batter and the iminitiated Digitized by Google CAKES 133 are led by it to wonder how a cake can be so yellow and at the same time so tasteless. Bakers also use desiccated eggs to a very great extent. These are better than the ''egg color" and really impart the substance of the egg which has been dried and reduced to a powder. If made by a reliable firm using none but fresh eggs, the desiccated form is of genuine value and much cheaper than new-laid eggs. The art of making a good batter lies largely in the beating, which should be done in such a manner that the air will be beaten into the substance. For Review Definition of Batters A batter, which really means something battered or beaten, as used in cooking means a mixture of some starchy substance, such as flour or meal, and some Uquid, such as water, milk, or molasses, in such proportions that the mixture can be beaten. A batter may be either thin or thick. A pour batter, the thinnest batter we have, is one that can be poured from a dish without breaking. A drop batter is one that breaks when poured from a dish, but is not thick enough to handle. Table of Proportions of Ingredients Pour batter — 1 c liquid to 1 c dry matter. Drop batter — 1 c liquid to 2 c dry matter. Modification of Batters The liquid and flour or meal are often combined with other ingredients, called leavening agents, shortening and flavoring. Leavening agents, air, steam and gas, are added to make the batter light and porous so that it is more easily digested. Short- Digitized by Google 134 DOMESTIC SCIENCE ening agents, eggs, butter, lard, meat drippings, etc., are added to make the mixture tender. For flavor, seasonings, eggs, spices, salt, and extracts are added. To get different textures, different methods of combining the ingredients are used. The difference in the kind of liquid and the grades and kinds of meal or flour also make a difference in the batter. Methods of Combining Ingredients 1. Batter method: Mix and sift all dry ingredients. Mix egg and milk, if egg is used; having egg beaten together first, and add the liquid gradually to the flour, stirring constantly, but add liquid fast enough so that the batter will not become too stiff in the center. Add the melted shortening last. 2. Butter cake method: Cream the shortening, but do not heat it, by mixing it with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and creamy. Then add the sugar gradually and beat thoroughly till there results a smooth, creamy mixture and the sugar is dissolved. If eggs are to be added whole, beat them and put them in next. If they are to be separated, beat the yolks and' add them now. Then add the flour and milk alternately, reserving the baking powder for the last of the flour. Add salt and flavoring, and if whites have been separated, cut and fold them in, after stiffly beating. General rules: All batters should be salted. Always have all ingredients and utensils ready before starting to make anything. Griddle cakes:

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Many old-fashioned cooks still maintain that really good batters cannot be made without a great many eggs. But the high prices of eggs have made many a cook resort to substitutes when making cake and other batters. Baking powder is the most popular substitute, and a very light batter can be made with it, but it will not supply the flavor, richness or color that eggs will supply. Bakers often use a material called "egg color" which gives the yellow color produced by eggs and also some slight element of the same flavor, but it adds little or nothing to the richness of the batter and the uninitiated Digitized by Google are led by it to wonder how a cake can be so yellow and at the same time so tasteless. Bakers also use desiccated eggs to a very great extent. These are better than the ''egg color" and really impart the substance of the egg which has been dried and reduced to a powder. If made by a reliable firm using none but fresh eggs, the desiccated form is of genuine value and much cheaper than new-laid eggs. The art of making a good batter lies largely in the beating, which should be done in such a manner that the air will be beaten into the substance. For Review Definition of Batters A batter, which really means something battered or beaten, as used in cooking means a mixture of some starchy substance, such as flour or meal, and some Uquid, such as water, milk, or molasses, in such proportions that the mixture can be beaten. A batter may be either thin or thick. A pour batter, the thinnest batter we have, is one that can be poured from a dish without breaking. A drop batter is one that breaks when poured from a dish, but is not thick enough to handle. Table of Proportions of Ingredients Pour batter — 1 c liquid to 1 c dry matter. Drop batter — 1 c liquid to 2 c dry matter. Modification of Batters The liquid and flour or meal are often combined with other ingredients, called leavening agents, shortening and flavoring. Leavening agents, air, steam and gas, are added to make the batter light and porous so that it is more easily digested. Short- Digitized by Google ening agents, eggs, butter, lard, meat drippings, etc., are added to make the mixture tender. For flavor, seasonings, eggs, spices, salt, and extracts are added. To get different textures, different methods of combining the ingredients are used. The difference in the kind of liquid and the grades and kinds of meal or flour also make a difference in the batter. Methods of Combining Ingredients 1. Batter method: Mix and sift all dry ingredients. Mix egg and milk, if egg is used; having egg beaten together first, and add the liquid gradually to the flour, stirring constantly, but add liquid fast enough so that the batter will not become too stiff in the center. Add the melted shortening last. 2. Butter cake method: Cream the shortening, but do not heat it, by mixing it with a wooden spoon, until it is soft and creamy. Then add the sugar gradually and beat thoroughly till there results a smooth, creamy mixture and the sugar is dissolved. If eggs are to be added whole, beat them and put them in next. If they are to be separated, beat the yolks and' add them now. Then add the flour and milk alternately, reserving the baking powder for the last of the flour. Add salt and flavoring, and if whites have been separated, cut and fold them in, after stiffly beating. General rules: All batters should be salted. Always have all ingredients and utensils ready before starting to make anything. Griddle cakes:

Domestic science (1914 text-book)