SUCCESSFUL CAKE-MAKING

February 17, 2018 / Lyn Jones / 0 Comments

•  A large loaf cake should rise first at the edge, then the middle should come up, crack just a very little, settle back, and the cracks close. If a cake cracks and remains open, your mixture has been too stiff – too much flour has been used.
• With rich cakes such as fruit or madeira, best to make the centre a trifle lower than the edges.
• After removing cakes from oven, stand in their tins for 2-3 mins – no longer – and they will turn out easily without breaking away at the bottom.
• Don’t mix new flour with old. The older flour will be slightly heavier so best used for gravy & sauces. Keep newer flour for pastries and cakes.
• If recipe wants BP or cr tartar, the flour used with it will always be plain.
• If a plain cake is heavy and close-textured, the oven was probably not hot enough. Plain cakes contain more flour:fat, also the mixture is not so dense as in a fruit cake, so need a rather hot oven.
•  If using dripping, a lemon or two squeezed in will take away the fatty taste.
•  Good lard or dripping can be used instead of butter but don’t expect the same results.
• To clean currants quickly, place them in a colander, sprinkle well with flour and rub them hard, placing the colander on a piece of paper or a plate. The stalks and damaged fruit will pass through with the flour.
• In cold weather, when trying to cream b&s, try adding a Tab of boiling water. It does not harm any mixture and produces a very nice smooth cream.
• To soften butter quickly without making it oily, heat a basin with boiling water and invert it over the buttter. A saucepan lid will do quite well for the purpose.