white paper in the oven and close the door for five min-
utes. If the paper is then of a rich yellow hue, the oven
is right ; but if of a light yellow, it is too cool, or if of a
dark brown, it is too hot. Should the oven by any acci-
dent be found too hot after the cake is in, so that the
cake browns almost at once, lift a lid off the stove, and
cover the cake with a well buttered paper. The cake will
not be so fine, but this is the only course to be pursued.
Measure everything carefully before beginning. The
sugar used should be the fine granulated. Powdered
sugar makes a dry cake, while coarse granulated sugar
does not melt, so that cake made with it is coarse and
heavy. Cookies, layer-cakes and small cakes require a
rather quick oven. The paper used in testing should
turn a dark brown in five minutes. Never move a cake
in the oven, unless it is a layer-cake ; and do not put any-
thing in the oven while a cake is baking, or the cake will
surely fall.
If necessary to look at a cake while baking, do so as
quickly as possible ; and never throw the door of the
oven wide open for the purpose. Also be careful not to
jar a cake while it is baking; shut the door of the oven
very gently. Let loaf cake partially cool in the pan be-
fore taking it out. A delicate cake is often made heavy
by disturbing it while too hot. Never run straws or
splints into a cake to test it ; a very little experience in
cake-making will teach the beginner when the cake is
done. A reliable guide is to watch for the separation of
the cake from the sides of the tin ; when this takes place,
the straw may be entered, if desired. But the main ob-
jection to using a splint or fine knitting-needle, as some
recommend, is that if the cake is not quite baked, the air
CAKE. 517
flows through the hole thus made, and the cake falls in
consequence.
Always sift the flour before measuring, unless the
recipe orders the reverse. As flour differs in thickening
qualities, a little inspection should be made of the first
baking of cake from a package of flour to determine
just how much is needed. When the cake rises in the
center and cracks open, too much flour has been
used.
In a recipe that calls for two tea-spoonfuls of baking-
powder, two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar and one of
soda may be used instead. Sift the cream of tartar with
the flour, dissolve the soda in a table-spoonful of cold
water, and add it to the cake before the whites of the
Of the makes of baking powders there is no end, and
each kind seems to furnish unimpeachable testimonials
from chemists as to strength, purity, etc. The writer, hav-'
ing tried several kinds, has found that while the "Royal "
makes fine biscuit and other edibles of the same nature,
it does not make as good cake as the " Cleveland," which
is, perhaps, the best on the market for that purpose.
This powder makes a fine-grained, spongy cake, much
lighter, with the same materials, than that in which
" Royal " has been used. The writer has tested this
point with a considerable interest, and always feels sure
of her cake when the "Cleveland" powder is at hand.
The *' Royal " powder produces a coarser grained cake,
as if the sugar was too coarse.
Page 225
Presented as published in 1890. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
white paper in the oven and close the door for five minutes. If the paper is then of a rich yellow hue, the oven is right ; but if of a light yellow, it is too cool, or if of a dark brown, it is too hot. Should the oven by any accident be found too hot after the cake is in, so that the cake browns almost at once, lift a lid off the stove, and cover the cake with a well buttered paper. The cake will not be so fine, but this is the only course to be pursued.
Measure everything carefully before beginning. The sugar used should be the fine granulated. Powdered sugar makes a dry cake, while coarse granulated sugar does not melt, so that cake made with it is coarse and heavy. Cookies, layer-cakes and small cakes require a rather quick oven. The paper used in testing should turn a dark brown in five minutes. Never move a cake in the oven, unless it is a layer-cake ; and do not put anything in the oven while a cake is baking, or the cake will surely fall.
If necessary to look at a cake while baking, do so as quickly as possible ; and never throw the door of the oven wide open for the purpose. Also be careful not to jar a cake while it is baking; shut the door of the oven very gently. Let loaf cake partially cool in the pan before taking it out. A delicate cake is often made heavy by disturbing it while too hot. Never run straws or splints into a cake to test it ; a very little experience in cake-making will teach the beginner when the cake is done. A reliable guide is to watch for the separation of the cake from the sides of the tin ; when this takes place, the straw may be entered, if desired. But the main objection to using a splint or fine knitting-needle, as some recommend, is that if the cake is not quite baked, the air
flows through the hole thus made, and the cake falls in consequence.
Always sift the flour before measuring, unless the recipe orders the reverse. As flour differs in thickening qualities, a little inspection should be made of the first baking of cake from a package of flour to determine just how much is needed. When the cake rises in the center and cracks open, too much flour has been used.
In a recipe that calls for two tea-spoonfuls of baking powder, two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar and one of soda may be used instead. Sift the cream of tartar with the flour, dissolve the soda in a table-spoonful of cold water, and add it to the cake before the whites of the
Of the makes of baking powders there is no end, and each kind seems to furnish unimpeachable testimonials from chemists as to strength, purity, etc. The writer, having tried several kinds, has found that while the "Royal " makes fine biscuit and other edibles of the same nature, it does not make as good cake as the " Cleveland," which is, perhaps, the best on the market for that purpose. This powder makes a fine-grained, spongy cake, much lighter, with the same materials, than that in which " Royal " has been used. The writer has tested this point with a considerable interest, and always feels sure of her cake when the "Cleveland" powder is at hand. The *' Royal " powder produces a coarser grained cake, as if the sugar was too coarse.