Making Cake. — Part I 1451 



Effect of fruit on shorlcnin^. — A'lorc shorteninj^ should be used for 

 cakes made with dried finiil than for those made with fresh fruit or fruit 

 pulp, because more flour is needed with the former. 



Effect of fruit on baking. — The presence of particles of dried fruit in- 

 creases the difficulties in baking cake, as fruit scorches easily and some 

 of the fruit will be at the surface of the cake. Rich fruit cakes should 

 therefore be baked in a very slow oven. This not only prevents scorching, 

 but also improves the flavor, since the fruit flavor blends with the flavor 

 of the other ingredients. 



*t>* 



Chocolate and cocoa 



Chocolate. — Chocolate contains a hard fat which adds richness to 

 cake, but which tends to make it stiff as it dries out or if the cake is kept 

 in a very cold place. Chocolate cake that is made with sour milk and 

 soda is usually softer and darker in color than that made with sweet 

 milk and baking powder. Chocolate contains starch, which thickens the 

 batter, so that less flour is needed for chocolate cake than for white cakes. 

 Alkali darkens a chocolate mixture, and a little soda added to the melted 

 chocolate before putting it into the batter will not only darken the cake, 

 but also neutralize any free fatty acid in the chocolate and help to make 

 the cake light. The large amount of soda in some recipes for chocolate 

 cake serves the same purpose. 



Cocoa. — Cocoa should be substituted for chocolate by weight instead 

 of by measure. In manufacturing cocoa nearly all of the fat has been 

 removed from it, so that cakes made by substituting cocoa in a recipe 

 calling for chocolate are likely to be bready unless a small quantity of 

 additional fat is added (the equivalent of about one half tablespoonful 

 of butter for each ounce, or one fourth cupful, of cocoa used). 



Molasses 



Molasses contains free acid, and when used in cake the acid should be 

 neutralized by adding one half of a teaspoonful of soda for each cupful of 

 molasses. Molasses may be substituted for sugar in rich fruit cake; 

 when this is done the amount of liquid should be decreased proportionately 

 to the amount of molasses used. One cupful of molasses contains only 

 as much sugar as seven tenths of a cupful of sugar. 



Spice 



When spice is added to cake, it should first be scalded with boiling 



water; about two teaspoonfuls of boiHng water should be added to each 



teaspoonful of spice. The boiling water thickens the spice, insures better 



mixing, takes away any raw taste of spice in the cake, and gives a rich 



