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Revision as of 02:00, 10 February 2003
A cake is a form of baked food, usually sweet. Cakes normally combine some kind of flour, a sweetening agent (commonly sugar), a binding agent (generally egg, though gluten or starch are often used by vegetarians/vegans), shortening (usually butter or margarine), a liquid (milk, water or fruit juice), flavours and some form of raising agent (such as baking powder).
Cakes can be made using several different basic techniques:
- Creaming method - butter and sugar are creamed together before the rest of the ingredients are gradually added.
- Melt-and-mix - dry ingredients are mixed together and then melted butter and other liquids are added to complete the cake.
- Rubbing method - butter is rubbed into the dry ingredients before the liquid is added.
- 'All-in-together' - the dry ingredients and shortening are placed in the food processer and liquid is gradually added.
- Sponge-making - eggs and sugar are whipped to a froth and flour is carefully mixed in. No raising agent or fat is used in this method and it takes great skill to make a light sponge.
Commonly made varieties of cake include:
- Angelfood cake
- Chocolate cake
- Chiffon cake
- Fruit cake
- Pound cake
- sponge cake
- teacake
- gateaux
- Wedding cake
Many recipes can be found in the Misplaced Pages Cookbook
Savoury foodstuffs are also sometimes referred to as 'cakes' if they involve pressing or forming the food into a small patty, such as fishcake, potatocake
See also: