FoodNet

Foods, their selection and preparation

1935

Page 270

Presented as published in 1935. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
It is possible to obtain dried cultures of the bacterial ferment for making salt-rising bread. While the commercial ferment is a combination of bacteria and does not con¬ tain any yeast, it is generally known as "salt¬ rising yeast.” It is not on the market in amounts suitable for most homemakers. It is sold in two-and-one-half-pound bags and larger. Very little is needed to make bread in quantities suitable for the home. Bakers use this ferment according to a definite for¬ mula and their results are as certain as when yeast is used. There is no reason why the making of salt-rising bread in the home should not be as easy as the making of yeast bread if the ferment were available in small amounts. Most homemakers, however, do not care to make this bread often and it is available at most bakeries. SELECTED REFERENCES Baking Powder in Action. General Foods Corporation, New York, 1946. Chittick, J. Raymond. Graphic Baking Powder Chart. Jacques Manufacturing Co., Chicago, 1946. Halliday, Evelyn G., and Noble, Isabel T. Hows and Whys of Cooing, 3d ed., pp. 48-51. Univer¬ sity of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1946. Lowe, Belle. Experimental Cookery , 3d ed., pp. 437- 438 and 455-465. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1943. Melnick, Daniel; Oser, Bernard L.; Hochberg, Melvin. "Nutritional Aspects of an Improve¬ ment in Baking Powder Formulation,” Journal of American Dietetic Association, 1945, Vol. 21, No. 9. [295] XXII * Cakes Containing Fat There are at least two groups of cakes: sponge cakes, which contain no added fat, and cakes with a high percentage of fat. Sweet or dessert breads leavened with yeast might make a third group, although these are more often considered variations of yeast bread. Sponge cakes already have been con¬ sidered. This chapter deals with those cakes which contain added fat. Such cakes are sweet, rich muffin mixtures. This means that proportions for cake are built on those for muffins, with more sugar, more egg, and more fat than muffins. INGREDIENTS OF CAKES The basic ingredients for the cakes of this group are the following: flour, liquid, sugar, eggs, fat, leavening, salt, and flavor¬ ing. Flour. A soft-wheat or cake flour is best for cake. There are many brands of special cake flour on the market but any soft-wheat flour may be used. If bread flour is used the amount should be modified in accordance with the suggestion on page 286. Liquid. The liquid in cake is usually sweet milk, although sour milk may be used. When sour milk is used it may be depended upon to help leaven the mixture provided soda is used in proper amounts. Water may be used in place of milk with equally good results as regards the texture of the cake, but the food value is less than with milk. Fruit juice is sometimes the liquid used, especially in fruit cakes.