Plain Cake

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. butter
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c. milk
• 1 c. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Method

1. 1

   Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and egg well beaten.

2. 2

   Sift the flour and add alternately with the milk.

3. 3

   Then add the vanilla, and lastly fold in the baking powder, sifted over the top.

4. 4

   Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a shallow pan.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Domestic science, principles and application (1914) by Pearl La Verne Bailey, page 112. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

14: tsp. salt 1 tsp. milk 1 c. flour Jelly 1 tbsp. melted butter Method. — Beat eggs until light, add the sugar gradually, and then milk, flour, salt, baking powder, and melted butter. Line a dripping pan with buttered or oil paper, turn in the mixture, spread evenly, bake 12 minutes in a moderate oven. When baked turn on a cloth covered with powdered sugar. Cut a thin strip ofi^ of sides and ends of cake, spread with jelly while still hot, and roll up cake by, means of the cloth. Keep roll in shape until cake cools. Rolling must be done quickly while cake is hot, to prevent cracking. 6. Uncooked Frosting 2 egg whites 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tbsp. water 2 c. powdered sugar Method. — Put water and egg whites in a deep dish and gradually add the sugar and vanilla; beat constantly until the frosting is of the consistency to spread without running. More or less than 2 cups of sugar may be required, depend- ing on the size of the eggs. Chocolate uncooked frosting is made by adding 2 squares of melted chocolate to the above rule when about half of the sugar is in. LESSON 18 CAKES WITH BUTTER Method of Mixing Cakes with Butter. — Measure ingre- dients, dry first and then the Hquids and butter. Cream the butter; then add the sugar and cream together until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is creamy. Beat egg yolks with a )over beater. Beat the whites with an egg whip. Add beaten yolks to creamed mixture; then add liquid alternately with sifted flour, to keep the mixture about the same consistency. If spices are used, sift in with the flour. If fruit or nuts are used, cover them with flour to prevent them from sticking together and settling to the bottom. Add the whites beaten stiff at the last, by cutting and folding in very carefully ; add the flavoring and baking powder at the same time. Do not stir the mixture after the egg whites are in. Why? Pans for Butter Cakes. — Grease pans thoroughly for butter cakes, sift a little flour in the pan after it is greased. See that the corners of the pan are well greased. Fill the pans only two-thirds full of the cake mixture. Oven Test for Butter Cakes.— White paper turns light brown in 5 minutes. Butter cakes require a hotter oven than those without butter. If the oven gets too hot, place a cover of paper over the cake or set a pan of cold water in the oven. Frosting a Cake. — Cake may be frosted as soon as baked, if desired. Either cooked or uncooked frostings may be used for either class of cakes; but for cakes without butter, uncooked frosting is very good and keeps the cake more moist. (268) CAKES WITH BUTTER 269 General Proportions of Ingredients. — For butter cakes use — }^ to 3^ as much butter as sugar. ^ as much liquid as flour. Regard butter or shortening as so much Hquid. Sour milk or molasses does not thin a mixture as much as sweet milk or water. Mixtures for fruit must be a little stiffer than those without. The proportion of baking powder and flour is the same as in quick breads, but the more eggs in a cake the less baking powder is needed. Variations for Plain Butter Cakes. — Many kinds of butter cakes may be made from a plain-cake recipe. The following are examples: — 1. White cake, — use 3 egg whites. 2. Yellow cake, — use 4 egg yolks. 3. Chocolate cake, — add one ounce melted chocolate (use less flour). 4. Spice cake, — add 3^ tsp. cinnamon, 3^ tsp. mixed allspice, nutmeg, and cloves. 5. Fruit cake, — add 14 c raisins, 3^ c. currants, }4 c cut citron. 6. Nut cake, — add 3^ c. cut walnuts or almonds. Make in layers and use different fillings and frostings. If bread flour is used, use a little less than when pastry flour is used. APPLICATION 1. Plain Cake M c. butter 3^ c. milk ^ c. sugar 1/^ c. flour }4 tsp. salt 3 tsp. baking powder 1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla Method. — Cream the butter, add sugar gradually, and egg well beaten. Sift the flour and add alternately with the milk. Then add the vanilla, and lastly fold in the baking powder, sifted over the top. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a shallow pan. This rule may be varied in many ways, as stated above. {Basis for 2 girls, 3^ rule.) 270 DOMESTIC SCIENCE 2. Cup Cakes % c. butter 1 c. milk 2 c. sugar 3^ c. flour 4 eggs 4 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. vanilla or lemon Method. — Cream the butter and sugar, add yolks of eggs, beat hard, add the milk, and then the flour mixed and sifted with the baking powder. Add flavoring, and bake in individual tins. Cover with uncooked frosting. Makes 3 dozen cakes. {Basis for 2 girls, M ride.) 3. Lemon Queens }/2 c. butter 1 c. flour

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.