Cake Making

Cake making There are 4 different methods of cake making 1. Whisking 2. Rubbing in 3. Melting 4. Creaming -Traditional -All in one

Whisking Method Used for making sponge cakes Contains no fat – so becomes stale quickly Should be eaten within 1-2 days of making Ingredients used are: Flour Self raising- gives lightness Plain -needs to be well sieved Sugar Caster sugar gives lightness Eggs Should be at room temperature, if colder will take longer to whisk

Rubbing -In Used for ‘plain’ cakes i.e. cakes with a low ratio of fat to flour Fingertips should be used to rub the fat into the flour Block margarine is better than soft as it is less sticky when being rubbed into the flour Cakes will keep fresh for 1-2 days due to the low fat ratio

Melting Less often used than other methods Plain flour is usually used with bicarbonate of soda as the raising agent Bicarbonate of soda has a strong taste so usually used with cakes containing spice e.g. ginger Cake usually improves with keeping as the flavour develops and the cake becomes more moist Fat, syrup or treacle are melted in a pan then poured into the flour and dry ingredients

Creaming method Have equal quantities of fat, sugar and flour These are called ‘rich’ cakes Keep fresh for longer because of higher %of fat Ingredients used:- Self-raising flour- no extra baking powder needed Margarine – soft is easier to cream than block Caster sugar- smaller granules mean it blends more easily into the mixture Eggs- should be at room temperature Variations- add chocolate/cocoa/coffee powder, glaće cherries, chocolate chips, dried fruit Air is trapped in the mixture during the beating of the margarine and sugar and acts as a raising agent Eggs should be added a little at a time in order to emulsify with the fat and prevent curdling (separating). Air is also trapped to act as a raising agent A metal spoon should be used to fold in the flour lightly so as not to lose the trapped air in the mixture