Aki's Kitchen - Cook's Advice: Cake Making Techniques


Cake Making Techniques	Contents
Cream some fat with some sugar; add in a few eggs and flavourings; stir in soem leavening agents and flour; pour into pan and bake for a while. Voila! You've just baked a cake. However! If you try a different preparation technique, still using the some or all of the above mentioned ingredients, you can come up with a variety of cakes. By using your imagination, and by interchanging fillings and/or toppings, you can create an even greater variety of cakes.	Angel Food Cake
	Basic Cake & Cupcakes
	Genoise
	Sponge
	Muffins

	see also:
Three golden rules applied to all types of cakes:	Cake Baking Techniques
Have all ingredients measured out and at room temperature Preheat your oven according to recipe specifications Prepare pans according to recipe	Cake Making Tools & Equipment
	Cake Pans
	Cake Decorating Ingredients

Angel Food Cake

This technique is somewhat tricky and quite different from the Basic Cake Technique. This technique involves separating eggs and omitting the fat. No leavening agents are required here since the egg yolks and egg whites make up the volume of the cake. These cakes are great for jelly rolls since they can withstand being compressed and formed into a roll. They might seem a little more delicate than a basic cake, however, their texture is very spongy.These cakes also benefit greatly by being drenched in syrup, since their spongy texture absorb syrups without becoming soggy.

Technique:
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, for about five to seven minutes, or until thick and pale yellow in colour and sugar has completely dissolved. Make sure the eggs have at least doubled in volume. If you cheat by not taking the time to complete this stage, you will produce a grainy and coarse textured cake.

Mix in the flavourings. In the other bowl, quickly whip the egg whites to peaks while incorporating sugar into it (sugar stabilizes the whipped egg whites together preventing them from breaking down during the folding process).

Place whipped egg whites on top of the egg yolk sugar mixture. As you begin to fold, sift the flour over the two mixtures and continue folding; avoid deflating the combined mixtures.
One variation of this type of cake is to replace a large amount of the flour with finely ground nuts: almonds, walnuts, pecans or any other nut of choice. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake accordingly.

These cakes usually bake for thirty-five minutes.

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Basic Cake and Cupcakes

These cakes are strong in texture and can be decorated with heavy frostings. When making layered cakes, use thick icing sugar frostings; don't use whipped cream, because it's too light to support the weight of another layer. These cakes do not accept syrup well; they become soggy. These cakes are not suitable for jelly rolls; they crack easily when being handled.

To make cupcakes: Simply use same batter, but instead of baking cake in one or two pans, use muffin tins; grease or line with paper cups; bake accordingly.

Technique:
Prepare cake pan(s). Mix together the fat(s) and sugar(s), for about three to seven minutes. By taking the time to mix the fat(s) with the sugar(s), the sugar dissolves and a finer textured cake will result.

Slightly beat eggs in a separate bowl and then mix them into the fat and sugar mixture; incorporate to combine all ingredients. You risk developing a tough textured cake if you overmix the eggs, when incorporating them with the fat(s) and sugar(s) mixture, at this stage.

Stir in the flavourings. Mix in the flour mixture: flour, leavener, salt. Some recipes call for adding the milk alternately with the flour at this point. Divide flour into fourths and milk into thirds. Start by mixing in one part flour, then one part milk.

Continue until you finish off the mixing by using the last part of flour. Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake accordingly.

These cakes usually bake for thirty-five to fifty-five minutes.

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Genoise

The technique makes a unique type of cake with the best qualities of both basic and sponge cakes. Its texture is more delicate than a Sponge or Basic cake, yet it can maintain a syrup as well as a frosting. This technique is a little more intimidating, however, it is not as difficult as one might believe it to be.

Technique:
Sift cake flour with sugar and set aside. Clarify sweet butter and set aside to a warm place to remain liquefied. Beat whole eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl placed over a pan of hot simmering water (set over the water and never touching it). Beat whole eggs and flavourings until warm to the touch for about three to five minutes until the sugar has been completely dissolved and mixture has slightly thickened.The objective here is to dissolve the sugar without scrambling the eggs. Avoid overheating the mixture as this may cause the eggs to become scrambled.

Remove from heat and whip at high speed to cool off and triple in volume. Alternately sift and fold in the flour mixture with the clarified butter. Pour into prepared pan and bake accordingly. These cakes usually bake for fourty-five minutes. This type of cake makes great layered tortes and birthday cakes.

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Sponge

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Muffins

Muffins are not the same as cupcakes. Cupcakes are miniature versions of basic cakes and are made using the same preparation technique that is used when making basic cakes. Muffins, on the other hand, are dense baked goods that require a different preparation technique.

Technique:
Measure out and mix together all dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients. To complete the mix, simply combine the dry ingredients into the liquid ones; mix lightly and pour into prepared muffin pans and bake accordingly.

Avoid overmixing your batter, otherwise, your muffins will develop little air tunnels during baking. Avoid making a thin batter; once the initial baking period has been complete and the drying out process begins, the muffins can collapse, as a result of not having enough flour to maintain their shapes.

Do not, however, put too much of a leavening agent into the batter; this might cause the muffins to collapse during their baking process and will give baked goods a bitter taste; they can overrise and collapse).

You need a specific ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients to create "peaking" muffins (pay extra attention to the amount of flour that is added; if too much is added, then dry and stiff muffins will result). Bake for about thirty-five minutes.

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