The Baking Answer Book (28 page)

Angel food.
The leanest of all foam cakes, and the sweetest, it contains no oil, butter, or egg yolks and is leavened solely by egg whites whipped with sugar. The large quantity of sugar is necessary to stabilize the whites until their proteins coagulate in the heat of the oven.

Meringue.
Meringue cake layers are made by whipping egg whites with sugar, piping the mixture onto parchment paper in the desired shape (rounds, squares, rectangles, hearts), and baking at a low temperature until crisp. The brittle meringues soften when layered with fruit, cream, buttercream, and other fillings.

Dacquoise.
Dacquoise is meringue made with ground nuts. This term can also refer to a finished cake made by layering nutmeringue disks with buttercream or whipped cream and fruit.

Shortened Cakes

Shortened cakes contain butter or vegetable shortening and rely on a combination of creaming and chemical leaveners for their rise. The two basic recipes can be used to make a variety of related cakes, including Bundt cakes, coffee cakes, and cupcakes.

Pound cake.
So named because the original recipe called for one pound each of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. Today’s recipes are slightly altered, but pound cake is still characterized by its rich flavor and dense texture.

Butter cake.
The American-style butter cake evolved from pound cake, but introduced liquid, most often milk, to the recipe. The resulting cake is a little lighter than traditional pound cake, better for splitting into layers to fill and frost than pound cake, which may overwhelm these other ingredients with its density and richness.

Custard cakes

Custard cakes more closely resemble bread puddings, soufflés, and other oven-baked custards than they do foam or shortened cakes, but are included because they are baked in cake pans and sliced and served like cakes.

Cheesecake.
Cheesecakes range in style from the dense and rich New York cheesecake to the light and fluffy Italian ricotta cheesecake. They get their tang from mild cheese, such as cream cheese or ricotta, and often contain sour cream or heavy cream for richness. Cheesecakes are baked custards, thickened with eggs. Like all custards (think of crème brûlée or bread pudding), they need to be cooked gently, whether that means in a water bath or at a very low oven temperature, to prevent the eggs from curdling as they cook.

Flourless chocolate cake.
A very simple cake made of chocolate, butter, eggs, and sugar, sometimes flavored with liqueur. Like cheesecake, this cake requires gentle baking, preferably in a water bath, to allow the chocolate custard to set. While the large quantity of chocolate will prevent the eggs from curdling, the cake will dry out around the edges, becoming chalky and hard, if it is baked too quickly at too high a temperature.

Q
My génoise recipe says “beat the egg mixture until it has reached the ribbon stage.” How do I know if I’ve beaten the eggs and sugar long enough? What will happen if I don’t beat the eggs long enough?

A
The ribbon stage is just what it sounds like. When you lift the paddle or beaters up and away from your batter, it will fall back into the bowl in billowy, cream-colored ribbons. But reaching this point takes time — at least 5 minutes on medium-high with a powerful stand mixer and up to 8 or 10 minutes with a less powerful handheld machine. Egg foam beaten to this stage has large, evenly spaced bubbles and is very stable, as compared to the bubblier foams not beaten quite as long, which contain fragile air bubbles more likely to pop. Cake batters beaten to the ribbon stage will rise higher and taste lighter than cakes made with inadequately beaten eggs.

Q
I’d like to bake an angel food or chiffon cake, but am terrified of whipping the egg whites incorrectly. What is the best technique for whipping whites for these cakes, and how do I know when they are ready?

A
Your concern is well placed, because the success of both of these cakes depends upon properly whipped, stable egg whites. Here are some tips that will help you get there.

For angel food cake, beat the whites on low to break them up. Add some cream of tartar and a pinch of salt, increase the speed to medium, and whip until the egg whites are cloudlike and soft. With the mixer still on, add the sugar in a slow stream (sprinkle in one teaspoon at a time) until the whites are shiny and hold soft peaks. This means that when you lift the beaters from the bowl, the peaks will flop over. Don’t overwhip your whites when making angel food cake, or you will have difficulty folding in the dry ingredients without deflating them.

For chiffon cake, the technique is slightly different; the whites for this cake are whipped without sugar and to a stiffer stage. Break up the egg whites as for angel food cake, and add some cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Then beat the whites on medium-high until they are very stiff. If the whites aren’t whipped sufficiently the cake will be damp on the bottom and not well risen. They won’t be shiny as whites whipped with sugar are, and it’s okay if they begin to clump up into dry blobs. When folding the whites into the batter, be sure to incorporate them well, gently crushing the blobs against the side of the bowl before blending them with the rest of the ingredients for a light but smooth mixture.

Q
When I tried to roll up my jelly roll after baking, it resisted and cracked in places. Why did it do this and how can I make sure it rolls up smoothly next time?

A
A couple of tricks, practiced together, will allow you to successfully roll up your cake. First, don’t overbake it. If your cake is too dry, it will be more difficult to roll and more likely to crack. Don’t wait too long before you turn your cake out of the pan and roll it up; as it cools it will become less pliable and more difficult to roll. As soon as the cake is out of the oven, invert it onto a large, clean kitchen towel (a couple of inches bigger all around than your cake), dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Trim away the edges of the cake, which will be tougher than the rest of the cake. Tightly roll the cake, using the towel as a guide, into a spiral and let it cool completely.

Q
I’d like to turn my chocolate roulade into a bûche de Noël for the holidays. Could you give a few simple tips to a novice cake decorator on achieving this transformation?

A
You are right in recognizing that a bûche de Noël (or yule log cake) is simply a dressed-up roulade. Depending on how far you want to go, fill, roll, and chill your roulade, and then work your way down the following list to achieve the effect.

Steps to the Perfect Bûche de Noël

Shaping and frosting.
Trim the cake and frost it so it looks like a log. First, trim a thin piece diagonally from one end of the cake and discard. Trim a larger 2-inch-thick piece at the same diagonal angle from the other end and set it aside. Transfer the cake-log to a serving platter. Spread chocolate frosting (setting aside ½ cup) over the log and the ends. Attach the 2-inch piece about two-thirds of the way along the top side of the log, pressing lightly so it adheres. Cover the smaller piece with the reserved frosting to look like a bump on the log. Drag the tines of a fork along the length of the log, including the bump, to simulate bark.

Leaves.
For the easiest embellishment, place a few jelly candy spearmint leaves around the cake as garnish. Fresh raspberries or cranberries can stand in for holly berries. Or you could color some marzipan or fondant (see Resources) green and cut leaves freehand or using a small cookie cutter. Roll marzipan or fondant into a thin (about
inch thick) “vine” to connect the leaves.