Foods and home making

| cup shortening lj cups sugar, white sugar or 1§ cups brown sugar 2 eggs 1 cup milk 2 1 cups sifted cake flour 1 2 or 3 teaspoons baking powder 2 \ teaspoon salt | teaspoon cinnamon f teaspoon nutmeg | teaspoon cloves CHOCOLATE CAKE 1 or \ cup shortening 2| cups sifted cake flour 1 if cups sugar 2 or 3 teaspoons baking powder 2 2 to 4 eggs \ teaspoon baking soda 3 \ cup sour milk f teaspoon salt 3 ounces chocolate or \ cup cocoa 1| teaspoons vanilla extract \ cup water 1 Or 2 cups all-purpose flour. 2 See footnote, page 88. 3 Baking soda is used because the cake contains both sour milk and chocolate. Hospitality S5» Cook the chocolate or cocoa and water into a smooth paste. Add this paste to the other ingredients after mixing the egg yolks, milk, sugar, and fat. In using chocolate, add the smaller amount of shortening. Sweet milk may be used, but sour milk makes a more tender cake. (Why is more sugar and less milk used in chocolate cake than in the standard cake ?) Should butter be used in making cake? Butter is the most expensive of the solid fats. Can we economize in making cake and use a cheaper fat? The answer to this question depends upon the other ingredients used in the cake. If a cake is strongly flavored with molasses or spices, a fat other than butter may be used. The flavoring material covers up the taste of the fat. But if a cake contains no flavoring material other than vanilla or other extract of delicate taste, butter will help to make the cake taste good. Butter gives white cake an especially good flavor. There are, however, some vegetable oils and butter or lard substitutes that have no flavor. Such fats add nothing to the taste of cake, but do not detract from its flavor. A combination of butter and a tasteless fat can often be used. Such a mixture gives cake a good taste, and costs less than butter alone. What are the causes of some cake failures? When you bake a good cake, do you give the credit to good luck? When you have a cake failure, do you lay the blame upon bad hick? There are no such things as good and bad luck in making cake. If your cake is heavy or coarse, or has an uneven surface with a crack in it, there is a reason for the imperfection. If you follow a reliable recipe, use the right kind of materials, measure them accurately, mix them carefully, and bake them at the proper temperature, you are bound to make a good cake. A good cake is either level on the top or slightly convex. It is evenly browned. The score card on page 55Q will help you to know what the inside or crumb of a cake should be. Perhaps it will help you to know what are the causes of some cake failures. Cakes 559 1. Outside appearance: a. Cracked crust — too hot an oven or too much flour b. Hard and coarse crust — too much sugar c. Uneven thickness — oven of uneven temperature or cake placed too close to the side of the oven. 2. Inside or crumb of cake: a . Coarse grain — too much moisture or sugar or baking powder b. Dry — too much flour or too slow an oven c. Tough — too little fat d. Heavy — too little baking powder or falling during baking or after removing from oven. Falling of cake may be due to (1) Too much fat or sugar or baking powder (2) Too little flour (3) Jarring during baking How is a cake scored? Cake may be judged with the aid of a score card. SCORE CARD FOR CAKE Perfect Score