The home cook book

deliberate motions will invariably turn out a heavy cake ; the quick, energetic cook will have a light, delicious cake. I have seen this result many times in cooking school, where the same materials, the same utensils, the same well-tempered stove were at the disposal of women of different temperaments. To turn again to the cake, which we left at the stage of thoroughly creamed butter and sugar, with a small amount of flour sifted in. Add now a few tablespoons of milk, and beat; then sift in half a cup of flour till it is all in and you have a snowy, light batter. If you are making the cake alone, stop now and beat the whites of the eggs. If some one can help it would be better, at the time you begin the creaming of the butter, that she commence to beat the eggs. When they reach the light, dry, frothy condition which is a necessity, the cake mixture would be ready to have them folded in. If you have to beat the white of egg yourself, it is better to allow the cake to wait for it than to let it wait for the cake. No matter how well whipped it has been, the air will escape from it and it will go back to a condition from which it can never again be beaten stiff. When it is thoroughly whipped, fold it into the batter. By folding I mean put the spoon in edgewise, lift the batter, and turn it over. Repeat until thoroughly mixed. At this point the batter holds millions of little air cells obtained by beating, and the bubbles formed by whipping air into the whites of the eggs. If at this point the batter is subjected to further beating, the imprisoned air bubbles would be liberated and the cake would be heavy. Therefore, put it immediately into the oven for the air cells to be set by the heat. There is a certain knack in pouring cake batter into the pans, which results in a perfectly flat, well-shaped cake. Smooth the batter after it is all in with a spatula, having the mixture come well to the corners and sides of the pans, leaving a slight depression in the centre. Never scrape batter from a knife or spoon on the edge of the pan. If you do, the cake will not rise on that side. Fill the pans three-quarters full if you wish the cake to reach the top of the tins. As to the time and temperature for the baking of cake, consider its thickness. Small patty-pan cakes and layer cakes require a much hotter oven than loaf cake. If you are using a gas range, turn on both burners for the small or thin cakes ; they ought to bake in twenty or thirty minutes. A loaf cake requires a slower heat. Both demand the heat at the beginning coming from below, while all the tiny air-cells are swelling larger and larger. If the heat were to come from above, a crust would form, the rising process would end in the bubbles bursting and the mixture settling down heavy as lead. Allow the cake to stand on the lower shelf of the oven till the pan is full, then very carefully move it to the highest shelf, if it does not seem to be hot enough below. Here it will brown more evenly. Always keep the pans as far as possible from the sides of the oven ; if not hot enough to burn cake, they will likely be hot enough to make it rise unevenly.