Chapter 28

1 serving cream of tomato soup (1 cupful) 25.07 178.4 3 soda crackers 9.4 100.0 1 ham sandwich 51.1 316.4 1 portion ice cream (1/8 quart) 7.66 199.2 1 large banana 5.3 100.0 1 glass milk (7/8 cupful) 26.6 140.0 ------ ------ 125.13 1034.0

QUESTIONS

Plan a week's series of school luncheons containing foods which may be obtained at home or at school or at any other place where you eat your luncheon. Calculate the total Calorific value of the menus. Also determine the per cent of Calories derived from protein.

LESSON CXL

PLANNING A DAY'S DIET--COOKING AND SERVING A MEAL

Plan [Footnote 111: See Footnote 72] a day's diet containing the kinds of foods suitable for you and other members of your class and furnishing sufficient Calories to meet the energy-requirement of girls of your age. (Follow the suggestions given in Lesson CV and CXXXIX.) Determine the per cent of the total Calories produced by Calories derived from protein. Compute the cost of the meal.

Cook and serve one of the meals of the day's diet. Follow the English or family style of serving,--either with or without a maid.

LESSON CXLI

REVIEW: MEAL COOKING

MENU

Bread (or Raised Biscuits) Cranberry Jelly (or Fruit Sauce)

See Lesson XIV for suggestions regarding the preparation of the lesson.

LESSON CXLII

HOME PROJECTS [Footnote 112: See Lesson IX.]

SUGGESTIONS FOR HOME WORK.--Bake yeast bread or raised biscuits at your home at least once a week.

SUGGESTED AIMS: (1) To improve the quality of the bread. Score your products each time you prepare them. By careful observation and by consultation with your teacher, determine the cause of any undesirable quality your breads may have and then strive at the next baking to correct your mistakes.

(2) To compare homemade and baker's bread. Determine the weight and cost of a loaf of homemade and baker's bread. Compute the cost per pound of each. Compare the flavor and satisfying qualities of each. Consult other members of your family regarding these two qualities. Name the advantages and disadvantages of baking bread at home.

DIVISION FOURTEEN

CAKE

LESSON CXLIII

CAKE WITHOUT FAT--SPONGE CAKE

COMPARISON OF SPONGE CAKE AND POPOVERS.--See the recipe for Popovers. Compare it with the recipe for Sponge Cake I.

SPONGE CAKE NO. I

4 egg yolks 1 cupful sugar 1 teaspoonful lemon juice Grated rind of 1/2 lemon 4 egg whites 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 cupful flour

What two ingredients are similar in these recipes? What ingredients does Sponge Cake contain which do not exist in Popovers? What ingredients in Popovers are omitted in Sponge Cake? Note the number of eggs in each. What is the wetting material in Popovers? In Sponge Cake? By what means are Popovers lightened? Sponge Cake? How do you account for the difference in the number of eggs?

NOTE.--A typical Sponge Cake contains no baking powder or moisture except that contained in the eggs and flavoring material. To make a cheaper cake, the following modification may be made: Instead of 4 eggs, 2 eggs with 1/4 cupful of water and 1 teaspoonful of baking powder may be used.

METHOD OF MIXING SPONGE CAKE. Beat the yolks of the eggs until thick and lemon-colored. Add the sugar and continue beating; then add the flavoring and any other liquid that the recipe may call for. Beat the mixture well. Add the salt to the egg whites and beat until the whites are stiff. Sift the flour (and baking powder if used) several times. Add part of the dry ingredients through the sifter to the yolk mixture, then add some of the egg whites. Repeat until all the dry ingredients and the egg whites have been added. Mix by cutting and folding the ingredients. Turn at once into an unoiled pan. Bake in a moderate oven (325 degrees F.) for 50 or 60 minutes.

BAKING SPONGE CAKES.--_The baking of a cake, as well as the manner of mixing the ingredients_ and the quality of the ingredients themselves, determines the success of the cake. A practical test for the temperature of the oven is the placing of a bit of flour or white paper in the oven. If at the end of 5 minutes the paper or flour is slightly browned, the oven is of proper temperature for sponge cakes or cakes without fat. The time required to bake a cake should be divided into quarters. During the first quarter the cake should begin to rise; during the second quarter it should continue to rise and begin to brown; during the third quarter it should continue to brown, and the fourth quarter it should finish baking.

If the mixing and the baking have been successful, failure may result after removing the cake from the oven. It should not be placed in a cold place or in a draft. Invert the cake pan on a wire rack and allow the cake to remain until cool. Remove the cake from the pan, and store in a covered tin box.

SPONGE CAKE NO. II

2 or 3 egg yolks l 1/2 cupfuls sugar 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 3/4 cupful water 2 cupfuls flour 1/2 teaspoonful salt 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 2 or 3 egg whites

Mix and bake according to the directions given above. It is advisable to oil the pan for this cake.

WASHINGTON PIE

Sponge Cake with Cream Filling is termed Washington Pie. Follow the recipe for Cream Filling and put it between the layers of Sponge Cake, or as a filling between split sheets of a loaf or thick sheet of Sponge Cake.

QUESTIONS

What is the purpose of cutting and folding the egg whites and the dry ingredients into a sponge cake mixture?

Why is it necessary to add moisture and baking powder to Sponge Cake No. II?

What is the effect of too cool an oven on Sponge Cake?

LESSON CXLIV

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--ONE-EGG CAKE

CLASSES OF CAKES.--Cakes are commonly divided into two classes: (_a_) Cakes without fat and (_b_) Cakes containing fat. Sponge Cake is an example of the first class and the One-egg Cake given below is an example of the second class. The method of mixing cakes containing fat differs from the method of mixing cakes without fat. The temperature of the oven and the length of time required for baking also differ for the two classes of cakes.

COMPARISON OF ONE-EGG CAKE AND MUFFINS.--See the recipe for Plain Muffins. Compare it with the following recipe.

ONE-EGG CAKE [Footnote 113: NOTE TO THE TEACHER.--If a richer cake is desired, follow the Plain Cake recipe given in Lesson CXLV.]

2 cupfuls flour 3 1/2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 3/4 to 1 cupful sugar 1 egg 1 cupful milk or water 1 teaspoonful flavoring 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls fat

What ingredient does cake contain that is not present in muffins? What two ingredients exist in greater quantity in cake than in muffins?

THE INGREDIENTS OF A CAKE CONTAINING FAT.--Materials of the best quality should be used for cakes. Pastry flour and the finest granulated sugar are necessary ingredients.

In determining the kind of fat to use in a cake, one should consider all of the ingredients in a recipe, and then decide which one will give the most pronounced flavor to the combined materials. If a cake contains so much fat that the fat will be one of the predominating flavoring ingredients, table butter should be used alone or combined with some bland fat. When but little fat is used in Plain Cake, there is little difference in the flavor of cake made with butter or substitutes. Oleomargarine, tried-out chicken fat, suet, lard, or vegetable fat may be used for spice cakes or other highly flavored cakes. Cake is one of the foods whose ingredients require the greatest accuracy and care in measuring. When a cake contains much fat, the latter can usually be more easily and accurately weighed than measured.

METHOD OF MIXING CAKE CONTAINING FAT.--Since cakes contain much more fat and sugar than muffins, a different method of mixing the fat with the other ingredients of the cake has been used quite generally. The fat and sugar have usually been blended by creaming them.

However, many experiments in the mixing and baking of cakes have been made. These show that a cake of good quality may be made by following the method of mixing fat in a muffin mixture, _i.e._ melting the fat and adding it to other ingredients. The following is the method of mixing cake when melted fat is used:

Beat the eggs, add the sugar, liquid, and flavoring. Melt the fat and add it to the other ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients, _i.e._ the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add these through a sifter to the egg and sugar mixture. Beat from 1 to 2 minutes.

In cake mixing, the yolks and the whites of the eggs are often separated. When this is done, the yolks and sugar are blended, the moisture, flavoring, melted fat, and dry ingredients are added, the mixture beaten, and finally the beaten whites are folded in.

In combining cake ingredients, great care must be taken to mix all ingredients _thoroughly_. Cakes, except those containing very little moisture and much fat, such as Jumbles or Pound Cake, can be made satisfactorily by adding melted fat. It has been estimated that half as much time is required for mixing a cake in which melted fat is used as one in which the fat is creamed. It has been found [Footnote 114: See Journal Home Economics, Vol. X, pp. 542-7, December, 1918.] that the amount of mixing and the preparation of ingredients in a cake are much more important factors than the manner of combining the ingredients. Too little beating makes a cake of coarse, crumbly mixture. Too much beating makes it compact in texture with "tunnels" through it.

PREPARING THE PANS FOR CAKES CONTAINING FAT.--The pans for cakes that contain fat should be well oiled. It is well to line the pans with paper and to oil the paper thoroughly, or to oil the pans well and to sprinkle a little flour over them before adding the cake batter.

BAKING LAYER AND LOAF CAKES.--If a bit of flour or white paper is delicately browned after being placed for 2 minutes in the oven, the oven is of proper temperature for layer cakes containing fat. For a loaf cake the oven should be cooler, since a longer time for baking is required. It is especially important that a crust does not form over the top of a cake before the cake has risen, or before it has been in the oven one fourth of the time required (see _Baking Sponge Cakes_). To avoid this, the temperature of the oven should be quite low when a thick loaf cake is first placed in it. Some housekeepers find it most satisfactory to cover the top of a pan containing loaf cake with paper until the cake has risen. In general, layer cakes require 20 to 35 minutes for baking and loaf cakes from 40 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. Shortly after taking from the oven, cake containing fat may be removed from the pan, and placed on a wire cake cooler or towel until cold. In a heat-regulated oven, bake layer cakes at 375 degrees F., and loaf cakes at 350 degrees F.

THE QUALITY OF CAKE.--Desirable cake is tender and light, but of fine grain. The quantity of eggs, sugar, fat, and moisture affects these qualities. Too much sugar makes a cake of coarse grain and of waxy or tough texture. On the other hand, a cake containing too little sugar is not as fine grained as one having "just enough."

A cake in which there is too much fat is crisp or crumbly,--i.e. it will not hold its shape. Too little fat may make it tough in texture. Generally the more fat a cake contains the smaller the quantity of moisture needed. Note that the One-egg Cake recipe contains 1 cupful of liquid, but when the fat is increased to 1/2 cupful, the moisture is decreased to 2/3 cupful (see Plain Cake recipe).

Many eggs without a proportionate quantity of fat and sugar produce a tough cake. The toughness occasioned by eggs, may be offset, of course, by the tenderness produced by fat. It is a most interesting study to compare cake recipes. Some are well proportioned, others could be greatly improved by variations in the quantity of ingredients.

The flavor of a cake is largely affected by the proportion of ingredients in a cake. For the sake of economy, however, certain ingredients, especially fat and eggs, must be decreased even though texture, grain, and flavor are sacrificed. The matter of wholesomeness must also be taken into consideration. Many persons can eat with comfort plain cakes, i.e. those containing little fat and a moderate quantity of sugar, while rich cakes distress them.

SCORE CARD FOR CAKE,--DETERMINING ITS QUALITY

Flavor 40 Lightness 20 Grain and texture 15 Baking (crust and color) 15 Appearance (shape and icing) 10 --- Total 100

QUESTIONS

How should cake batter be spread in the pan to prevent it from rising higher in the center than at the edges?

What is the purpose of placing the warm cake on a cake cooler or on a cloth? Mention some substitute other than a cloth for a wire cake cooler. Why not place the warm cake _inverted_ on the cake cooler?

Explain why a hot cake should not be placed in a cool place or in a draft.

Why store a cake in a tightly covered tin box?

Give two reasons for the cracking of the crust of a cake.

What is the effect of using too much fat in a cake? Too much sugar? Too much moisture?

If the quantity of fat is increased, what ingredient in a cake recipe should be decreased?

If the number of eggs in a cake is reduced, what ingredient should be increased?

LESSON CXLV

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--PLAIN CAKE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS (A)

The "Conventional" method of mixing cake is as follows: Cream the fat; then gradually add the sugar. Cream the mixture. Add egg yolks that have been beaten until light. Add the flavoring. Then add some of the milk and part of the dry ingredients. Repeat until all the milk and dry ingredients have been added. Beat the mixture thoroughly. Cut and fold in the whites of the eggs quickly; then turn into oiled pans. Bake layer cakes at 375 degrees F., and loaf cakes at 350 degrees F.

PLAIN CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 2 eggs 1 cupful sugar 2/3 cupful liquid 1 teaspoonful flavoring 1/4 to 1/2 cupful fat

Mix according to the directions above or according to _Method of Mixing Cake Containing Fat_.

_Compare_ this recipe with that for One-egg Cake. Note that the eggs and fat are increased, while the baking powder and moisture are decreased. Can you account for these variations?

WHITE CAKE

Follow the Plain Cake recipe, using 4 egg whites instead of 2 eggs and the greater quantity of fat. Vanilla or almond flavoring are pleasing in White Cake. If almond extract is used, add only 1/2 teaspoonful.

White Cake is mixed according to the general directions, except, of course, that the egg yolks are omitted; the egg whites are beaten until stiff and folded into the other ingredients.

A cheaper but tasty white cake may be made by following the recipe for One-egg Cake and using 2 egg whites instead of 1 whole egg.

FRESH COCONUT CAKE

Break open a fresh coconut, save all the milk and use it as part of the liquid for a White Cake. Add milk to the milk of coconut to make the 2/3 cupful of liquid in the plain cake recipe. Prepare a White Cake in two layers.

CAKE

Break the coconut into pieces, pare these and put them through a food chopper or grate them. Prepare Boiled Frosting. When the frosting is ready to spread on the cake, add about 3/4 of the chopped coconut. Spread the mixture on the cake layers and sprinkle the remainder of the coconut over the frosting on the top layer of the cake.

A fresh coconut cake will keep moist for a week.

WATER FROSTING

1 cupful confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoonful hot water, milk, or cream Salt 1 tablespoonful lemon juice

Stir the hot water into the sugar and add the salt and lemon juice. If too stiff, add a little more boiling water.

3 tablespoonfuls of _cocoa_ or 1 ounce of _chocolate_ may be mixed with 3 tablespoonfuls of water, cooked for a few minutes, and used in place of the moisture and lemon juice. 1/2 teaspoonful of vanilla should be added when these materials are used. When cocoa is used the addition of 1 tablespoonful of butter improves the flavor.

_Mocha frosting_ may be made by mixing the cocoa or chocolate with strong coffee instead of water.

EGG FROSTING

1 egg white 1 tablespoonful lemon juice 1 cupful confectioner's sugar Salt

Put the unbeaten egg white into a bowl; add the lemon juice, then the salt and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Spread on warm cake.

The lemon juice may be omitted, and _chocolate_ (or cocoa) and vanilla added, as in Water Frosting.

GOLD FROSTING

2 egg yolks Confectioner's sugar 1 tablespoonful lemon juice or vanilla Salt

Add the flavoring and salt to the unbeaten yolks. Add enough confectioner's sugar to the mixture to make it thick enough to spread. Use on White Cake when it is warm.

BOILED FROSTING

3/4 to 1 cupful sugar 1 teaspoonful vinegar 1 teaspoonful flavoring 1/3 cupful water 1 egg white Salt

Mix the sugar, water, and vinegar in a saucepan. Cook _gently_ until the sirup (when dropped from a spoon) "spins a thread" 3 inches long. Remove from the fire, and gradually pour the sirup over the egg white to which a pinch of salt has been added and which has been beaten stiff. Continue to beat the mixture; when it begins to stiffen, add the flavoring, and spread over cooled cake.

The less quantity of sugar produces a more delicate and less dense frosting than the greater quantity.

CHOCOLATE-MARSHMALLOW FROSTING

1 cupful sugar 1/4 cupful boiling water 1/8 teaspoonful salt 12 marshmallows 2 ounces chocolate 3 tablespoonfuls water 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla

In a saucepan stir the sugar, boiling water, and salt. Then place over a low flame and heat until the sugar is dissolved.

Cut the marshmallows in halves, add to the sugar mixture, and beat until the marshmallows have melted. Cut the chocolate in pieces and mix with 3 tablespoonfuls water. Stir and cook over a low flame until a thick, smooth paste is formed. Add to the sugar mixture. Beat until the frosting is of proper consistency to spread, then stir in the vanilla.

QUESTIONS

Give the reason for the greater quantity of fat in cake when egg yolks are omitted.

If the conventional method of mixing cake is followed, what can be done in cold weather to hasten the creaming of fat? What is the result of insufficient creaming?

Why is the cake mixture beaten thoroughly before the whites of eggs are added?

What is the purpose of cutting and folding in the whites of eggs in the cake mixture?

What kind of fat should be used for white cake? Why?

Why use hot water rather than cold water for Water Frosting (see Experiment 11)?

When egg whites alone are used in cake, give at least three uses for the yolks of the eggs.

Why is Egg Frosting used on warm cake, rather than on cold?

What is the use of vinegar in Boiled Frosting (see Christmas Candy)?

Why should the white of egg be beaten while the hot sirup is being poured over it?

LESSON CXLVI

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--PLAIN CAKE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS (B)

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful salt 2 ounces chocolate _or_ 1/3 cupful cocoa 1/2 cupful water 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda 2 eggs 1 1/2 cupfuls sugar 1/2 cupful milk 1 teaspoonful vanilla 1/3 cupful fat

Cook the chocolate or cocoa in the water until a smooth paste is formed, stirring constantly while cooking. Cool, and add the baking soda.

Beat the egg yolks and whites separately. Mix as plain cake, adding the chocolate mixture after the egg yolks have been mixed with the sugar. Use the less quantity of salt if butter is used for the fat.

Bake in layers at 375 degrees F., placing Chocolate Filling between the layers and Boiled Frosting on the top layer.

Sour milk may be substituted for the sweet milk. When this is done, increase the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoonful and decrease the baking powder to 2 teaspoonfuls.

Baking soda is used with chocolate to neutralize a small quantity of acid (tartaric) contained in it. Its use with chocolate will also darken the cake.

CHOCOLATE FILLING

1/2 cupful sugar 1/3 cupful flour 1 cupful milk 1 ounce chocolate 3 tablespoonfuls water 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoonful vanilla

Mix all ingredients except the egg yolk and flavoring in the same manner as Chocolate Corn-starch Pudding. When sufficiently cooked, add the egg yolk as directed for Butterscotch Tapioca. Continue cooking until the egg is coagulated. Remove from the fire, cool, add vanilla.

3 tablespoonfuls of cocoa may be substituted for the chocolate. When this substitution is made, mix the cocoa with the flour and sugar and omit the water.

The egg yolk may be omitted. When this is done add 1/2 tablespoonful of corn-starch to the flour and sugar mixture.

Compare the recipes for chocolate and plain cake. How do you account for the difference in the quantities of sugar (see _Chocolate Corn-starch Pudding_)?

Does the water used for making the chocolate paste change in quantity during the cooking? Explain. What ingredient do both chocolate and cocoa contain which aids in thickening the cake? From this can you account for the greater quantity of moisture used in Chocolate Cake?

Would it be advisable to use a greater quantity of fat (1/2 cupful) for Chocolate Cake? Why?

NUT CAKE

Follow the recipe for Plain Cake, use the smaller quantity of fat, and add 1 cupful of chopped nuts. A convenient way of chopping nuts is to put them through the food chopper, using the coarse knife.

CAKE CONTAINING FRUIT

Follow the recipe for Plain Cake, but add 1 cupful of raisins or currants. Clean the fruit, then dry, and sprinkle it with flour. Raisins may be chopped, or cut in two pieces (see _To Prepare Raisins for Cooking_). Citron may also be added. It should be cut in thin slices or put through the food chopper.

When light brown sugar is used instead of white sugar, dates make a pleasing addition. These should be cleaned, stoned, cut into pieces, and added as are the raisins or currants.

Spices give pleasing flavor when dried fruits are used. 1 teaspoonful each of cinnamon and nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoonful of cloves make desirable flavoring.

QUESTIONS

Mention the kinds of fat that could be used for spice cakes and for Chocolate Cake. Give the reason for the selection made. From _U. S. Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin 28, tabulate the percentage composition of some common nuts. Of chocolate and cocoa.

Explain why the minimum quantity of fat should be used for Nut Cake.

Why are the dried fruits floured?

Why are nuts not floured?

Compare cakes made with the least and the greatest quantity of fat. Which is the more tender? Which has the better taste?

Calculate the cost per pound of Sponge Cake. Calculate the cost per pound of cake containing fat (see _Plain Cake_).

LESSON CXLVII

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--COOKIES

CLASSES OF COOKIES.--Cooky mixture may be thin like a drop batter and dropped by spoonfuls on to a pan or it may be about as stiff as a soft dough and rolled and then cut into rounds or other shapes. Hence cookies may be classified as:

(1) Drop Cookies.

(2) Cut or Rolled Cookies.

TEXTURE OF COOKIES.--Drop cookies may or may not contain fat. Cut or rolled cookies usually contain fat. Since a dough is prepared in making the latter kind of cookies, fat is needed to make the mixture sufficiently tender. A dough containing little or no fat usually produces a tough cut cooky. A skilled cooky maker, however, can secure a soft cut cooky containing little fat by making a very soft dough.