Some Useful Hints on Making Cakes

Flour
For cakes, take the best grade of Australian, American, or French flour, for these grades of flour take the place of the packaged flour prepared for cakes, while they are cheaper in price and serve the same purpose.

Eggs
Fresh, good eggs must be used in cakes, in biscuits, in creams, in ice cream, and in sweets.

To make sure of the soundness of the eggs, you must

not break the number of eggs you need one on top of another into the same vessel, but rather one egg after another into a small dish; and after you have made sure that the egg is sound, transfer it from the small dish into the vessel in which you intend to beat all the eggs together.

When it is necessary to separate the whites from the yolks, you must not leave any traces of yolk with the whites, because egg whites that contain traces of yolk will not rise in the beating and will not stiffen sufficiently.

Nor should you beat the eggs a little, then leave them, then return to beat them again. Once you have begun beating, continue without interruption until they rise and stiffen.

Butter

For cakes, use fresh, pure butter made from milk, and use the same butter in making creams.

If you wish to make a white cake with egg whites, use white vegetable shortening so as to give the cake a purely white color.

Milk

For cakes, use fresh, good milk; and if none is to be had, you may substitute canned milk — "the kind not sweetened with sugar" — provided you add to it two-thirds its measure of warm boiled water, for canned milk is drawn from a large quantity of milk and is therefore richer in substance and more concentrated.

If you use "powdered" milk, beat it with the sugar and butter, or dissolve it in water and use it in place of fresh milk according to the directions given in the recipe.

Sugar

Coarse sugar is used in making the kinds of jam called "natli," in making cooked creams, and in candies and syrups.

Fine sugar, or sugar pounded and sifted, is used in making the various kinds of cakes, biscuits, and rounds, and for sprinkling over the tops of certain kinds of cakes after they have been made, fried, or baked.

If you wish to use a little dibs (grape or carob molasses) or honey in the recipes in place of sugar, you may reduce the quantity of sugar by as much as you add of dibs or honey, and add to the mixture a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to improve the taste.