Chapter 13

1. Chapter 13 Cakes and Icings

2. Cakes • Are created from liquid batters with high fat and sugar contents. • Ingredients are classified by function: • Tougheners • Tenderizers • Moisteners • Driers • Leaveners • Flavorings

3. Cake Mixing Methods • The goal of mixing cake batter is: • to combine ingredients uniformly • incorporate air cells • develop proper texture • Cake Mixing Methods are divided into two categories: • High fat, whose structure relies on creamed fat and includes butter cakes and high-ratio cakes • Egg foam, whose structure relies on whipped eggs and includes genoise, spongecakes, angel food and chiffon cakes

4. Types of Cakes

5. Creaming • Used for butter cakes & pound cakes. • The ingredients should be room temperature, approx 70°F (21°C). • Fat must be beaten until light & fluffy. • The eggs must be added in small portions, with each one fully absorbed before the next one is added. • The dry & liquid ingredients should be added alternatively to ensure the batter can absorb all of the liquid. http://www.howcast.com/videos/441724-Butter-Cake-Recipes-Call-For-Creaming-Method

6. Two Stage • Used when = higher proportion of of sugar than flour by weight. • High-ratio emulsified shortening is used to help absorb the liquid. • Leavened by a chemical agent rather than use of whip. http://www.howcast.com/videos/442214-Cake-Mixing-Like-the-Pros-With-the-TwoStage-Method

7. Genoise Egg Foam • Whole eggs are whipped until light and fluffy with sugar. • No chemical leaveners. • Slightly warming the egg mixture helps improve the volume • Genoise with melted butter, will be more tender because they shorten gluten strands. • Dry and usually soaked with flavor: liqueur, sugar syrup. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKa1e_CpvoY

8. Sponge • Whip egg yolks and other ingredients. • Egg whites are whipped with portion of sugar to form stiff peaks & fold into batter. • Leavened with air but chemical leaveners can be added. • As a genoise, oil or melted butter can be added. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI3PQ1baI4U&feature=related

9. Angel Food • Made with a large quantity of egg whites. • Made in ungreased pans. • Does not have chemical leavener. • Contain no fat = low in calories. • Not frosted typically. • Topped with fruit, chocolate glaze or simple icing, whipped cream, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afzpDQIA5EI

10. Chiffon • Contains egg yolks and vegetable oil, increasing richness. • Baked in an ungreased pan. • Can be frosted with light butter cream or whip cream or topped with glaze. • Lemon and orange = most traditional. • Common to contain chocolate, nuts and other flavors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm_fg99j3tQ

11. Specific Gravity • The amount of air incorporated into a batter relates to the quality, volume and appearance of the finished cake. • Too little air make a cake with tight grain and low volume. Too much air and the grain may be coarse. • Specific gravity will indicate if a cake batter is properly mixed. • It is a measurement of the weight of a mixture in relation to the weight of water. • Weight of ingredient / weight of water = specific gravity

12. Panning Cake Batter • Most pans must be greased or lined to prevent cakes from sticking. • Fill pans no more than one half to two thirds full.

13. Baking and Cooling • Always preheat the oven before preparing the batter. • Test for doneness: • Appearance – light golden brown; edges pull away from sides of the pan. • Touch – Springs back when lightly pressed • Cake tester – Comes out clean when inserted in center of cake. • Generally allow a cake 10 to 15 minutes in its pan set on a cooling rack after taking it out of the oven. • All cakes should be left to cool away from drafts or air currents that might cause them to collapse.

15. Icings • Or frostings, are sweet decorative coatings used as filling between layers or, as coating over the top and sides of the cake. • There are several types: • Buttercream • Foam • Fudge • Fondant • Glaze • Royal icing • Ganache

16. Types of Icing

17. Troubleshooting Icing

18. Assembling and Decorating Cakes • Before a cake can be decorated it must be assembled and coated with icing or frosting. • The goal is to fill and stack the cake layers evenly and apply an even coating of icing that is smooth and free of crumbs. • Consider the flavor, texture and color of the components used as well as the number of guests served when designing a cake and selecting the filling and icing.

19. Cake Decorating Techniques • Side masking with nuts, crumbs or crushed cookies • Stencils – creating a design on top of a cake with confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder. • Piping on icing in decorative patterns • Learning how to make a disposable icing cone from parchment-paper is a great time saver. • Covering cake with rolled fondant

20. Storing Cakes • Plain cake layers or sheets can be stored for 2 or 3 days at room temperature when well wrapped. • Iced or chilled cakes are usually refrigerated. • Any cake containing custard filling, mousse or whipped cream must be refrigerated. • Although cakes can be frozen with great success, icings and fillings do not freeze particularly well.

21. Convenience Products • Packaged cake mixes are tremendous time savers. • Results are consistent, although usually softer and more cottony than scratch cakes. • Flavor also tends to be more artificial than scratch cakes. • Icings, glazing and toppings are available. • Icings are often exceedingly sweet and overpowered by artificial flavors and chemical preservatives. • The products save time and have consistent results but are more costly than scratch products.