PART ONE
Ingredients, Equipment, and Techniques
INGREDIENTS
HOW DELICIOUS YOUR cakes taste and how well they come out depends on the quality of the ingredients and how you handle them. I think about ingredients in two categories: those like eggs, butter, sugar, and flour that are essential to the structure and flavor of the cake, and those like spices, nuts, and vanilla extract that are "add-ins" for flavor and texture.
EGGS
All the recipes in this book were tested with U.S. Grade AA or Grade A large eggs, which weigh about 1.67 ounces each out of the shell or 2 ounces in the shell.
Eggs are a most amazing and perfect food, essential to the art of baking. They are part of the liquid content of the cake, and their protein coagulates so that they bind the ingredients together as they give structure to the cake. They help cakes rise as well as contribute to color, nutrition, and, of course, flavor.
Egg yolks are natural emulsifiers so they help to produce smooth batters, which in turn help in the leavening and texture of the finished cake. They are rich in fat, which tenderizes the cake because the fat weakens ("shortens") the gluten strands in the flour. The fat in the yolks is also what thickens custards, sauces, and fillings.
Egg whites, too, have a unique function in cake-making: They are rich in albumen so they can be stretched enough to hold in air bubbles when beaten, which is why they are essential to the structure of angel food and chiffon cakes.
There is no difference between brown and white eggs in terms of nutrition and other properties; in fact, the only difference between them is the pigment in the shells, which varies according to the breed of chicken. In some parts of the country, brown eggs are more expensive because they are less popular, so you should buy what is freshest and cheapest.
Buying and Storing Eggs
Eggs have recently been implicated in salmonella poisoning, so the American Egg Board recommends you take special care in their handling. Check the expiration date on the carton and make sure the eggs are clean and without cracks. Refrigerate the eggs immediately when you get them home and store them in the carton toward the back wall of the refrigerator, not in the door where they deteriorate more quickly because of the temperature swings that come from opening and closing the refrigerator door.
Whole eggs out of the shell can be stored in a covered jar in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To freeze whole eggs, first stir them gently to blend without incorporating air, and freeze them in a container, leaving 1-2 inch of headroom at the top, for up to 9 months.
Store egg yolks in the refrigerator, by keeping them covered with water in a glass jar so they don't dry out, but use them within 2 days. You cannot freeze whole egg yolks because, upon thawing, they turn into an unusable sticky gel. To freeze them correctly, first pierce each yolk gently with a toothpick, then combine each 1-4 cup of yolks with 1 teaspoon of sugar if you are going to use them in sweet dishes or with 1-8 teaspoon of salt if you are going to use them in savory ones. Transfer them to a container with a tight-fitting lid, leaving 1-2 inch of headroom for expansion, and freeze for up to 9 months.
Store leftover egg whites in the refrigerator in a covered glass jar for up to a week, or freeze them for up to a year. Be sure to thaw them in the refrigerator, however, before using, and don't refreeze them.
Dried Egg Whites
These are dehydrated egg whites that have been pasteurized so they are safe to eat and great to use in situations where you don't cook the egg whites. I use them only for crystallizing flowers.
Handling Eggs in Baking
THE RIGHT TEMPERATURE: Before baking, other ingredients should be between 68°F and 70°F, but eggs should be even a bit warmer. Warm eggs behave more efficiently: Egg whites whip up to a greater volume and egg yolks emulsify more readily. Remove the eggs from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before you are ready to assemble the batter, but if you forget, then set the whole eggs, in their shells, in a bowl of warm water and they will be ready to use within minutes.
ADDING WHOLE EGGS TO A BATTER: When one of my recipes instructs you to "add the eggs one at a time," please don't crack them open right into the batter. To make sure you don't get any shell or blood spots in the batter, crack the egg into a small bowl, then add the egg to the batter. If there are large blood spots in an egg, discard it.
TO SEPARATE EGGS: Even though eggs should be at room temperature when you add them to a cake batter, they are easier to separate when cold because the yolk is less likely to run into the white. When I need separated eggs, I separate them while cold, then leave the egg whites and egg yolks to come to room temperature. As they are coming to room temperature, set a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the egg yolks so they don't develop a surface skin and crust over.
To crack open an egg, tap it gently in the center with the back of a knife. Separate the two shell halves along the crack and let the egg white drip into a bowl while you pass the yolk back and forth between the two shell halves. A messier way but less likely to break the yolks is to tap open the egg and let it drop into your slightly cupped hand. Let the egg white drip through your slightly opened fingers while the yolk remains in your hand. A final way is to use an egg separator, which is a little contraption that catches the yolk in the center while the egg white slips through side openings.
Even though I have never seen a professional chef work this way, I recommend that the home baker separate eggs over three bowls to ensure there is no trace of fat or egg yolk in the egg whites, because fat inhibits aeration and foaming. Begin by cracking open the egg over one bowl, then transfer the egg yolk to the second bowl and the egg white to the third. Repeat this procedure with the second egg over the first bowl and continue until all the eggs are separated. The reason it is wise to work this way is that if you have almost finished separating a batch of eggs and accidentally get some yolk from the last egg into the whites, the entire batch of whites will be lost. However, if you work over three bowls and get some yolk into a single egg white, then you can either discard the egg or save it for some other use.
BEATING AND "BURNING" EGG YOLKS: When you beat egg yolks with sugar, begin by beating the yolks on their own to break them up, then add the sugar as you continue to beat. If the recipe advises you to beat the yolks with the sugar until "ribbons" form, that means beating them on medium-high speed until they turn a pale lemon yellow and, when you lift up the beaters, the batter falls back onto itself in flat "ribbon" shapes.
Before adding egg yolks to a batter, don't premix them with other ingredients such as vanilla extract or lemon zest because they will curdle or "burn" as the French like to say. And finally, add sugar to egg yolks at the last possible moment because if you combine egg yolks and sugar in advance and let them stand on the counter for a while, again the yolks will "burn" or turn grainy.
Whipping Egg Whites: The Different Stages
Learning how to whip egg whites properly and make a meringue (whipped egg whites with sugar) is crucial to the art of making cakes. If you underbeat the egg whites, your cakes won't have the texture you want, nor rise enough. Conversely, if you overbeat the egg whites, your cakes might collapse in the oven.
In this book I refer to several stages of beating egg whites, and each is described in the recipe by a crucial word or phrase that is explained more fully below.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN
• Beat the egg whites in a nonreactive metal bowl made of stainless steel or copper, but not of aluminum, which reacts with eggs, nor of plastic, which doesn’t provide enough friction to whip up the eggs. Glass and porcelain work fine but are breakable.
• Make sure the bowl in which you are going to beat the whites is absolutely spotless, dry, and grease-free because fat inhibits the proper aeration of the egg whites.
• Make sure the egg whites are at room temperature so they can incorporate as much air as possible when you whip them. (A trick to maximize the amount of air you incorporate is to first warm the egg whites in a bowl set over simmering water, then start to whip them.)
• Use an electric mixer, either stationary or handheld, for whipping up more than one egg white. Whipping egg whites by hand requires a very strong arm and the patience of Job. When I have only one egg white to whip, I do it by hand, using a large balloon whisk, because it's faster and easier than using an electric mixer.
THE STAGES
Stage # 1: Beat until frothy. Using an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachments, beat on low speed until the whites have large bubbles in them, are still somewhat yellowish clear in color, and look "frothy."
Stage # 2: Beat until soft peaks form. When the egg whites are frothy, add the salt and cream of tartar as indicated in the recipe, increase the speed to medium, and beat until soft peaks form. Salt breaks up the albumen in the whites so they whip up more easily, and the cream of tartar acts as a stabilizer to prevent the beaten egg whites from deflating too quickly. At the soft peak stage, the egg whites are much whiter than before, the bubbles are smaller, more like the foam in a head of beer, and when you lift up the beaters, the egg whites form peaks, the tips of which droop.
Stage # 3: Beat until stiff and glossy peaks form. To get to this stage you increase the speed to medium-high and beat until the egg whites are stiff and, when you lift up the beaters, form stiff peaks, the tips of which point almost straight up, with the teensiest of droops. The whites will be snow white in color and the bubbles will be microscopic. The other key word in this description is glossy because the egg whites must have a sheen to them which indicates they are still moist. If they look dry and dull, like large curds of cottage cheese, they have been overbeaten. When overbeaten, they can't hold moisture and water begins to seep out of the eggs into the bowl, their structure can't stretch any further when the hot air in the oven expands the air cells, and the batter will collapse.
TO WHIP MERINGUES: Whip egg whites with salt, cream of tartar, and sometimes a pinch of sugar until the soft peak stage.
For soft meringues, add the remaining sugar at this stage slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, and to one side of the bowl, so the sugar does not deflate the egg whites.
For stiff meringues, add half the sugar slowly, when the eggs are at the stiff peak stage, then add the other half rather quickly at the end and don't beat much after all the sugar is in. This last method is for the type of meringue you dry out slowly in the oven so that it emerges crisp and crunchy.
TROUBLESHOOTING: SAVING OVERBEATEN EGG WHITES: If you think you have overbeaten egg whites, just add 1 more egg white for every 4 to 6 whites and whip by hand for a few seconds just to moisten the whipped whites.
FATS
Fats, another essential element in cake-baking, contribute to the tenderness, texture, flavor, and keeping qualities of the cake. The word fats is a rather inelegant term used to describe butter, solid vegetable shortening, vegetable oils, margarine, and lard.
Fats contribute to the volume and leavening of a cake by helping in its aeration. Solid fats like butter, margarine, and vegetable shortening can be beaten with sugar ("creamed"). As you cream the fat and sugar, the facets of the sugar cut into the fat, creating tiny pockets that trap air. Fats are also emulsifiers, so they help to keep the liquids suspended in the batter, and because fats draw and keep in moisture, they increase the shelf life of the cake.
Even though I don't like its taste, if you must, for religious or dietary reasons, you can substitute margarine for butter in these cakes. Lard is not used in cake-making.
Butter
All the recipes in this book were tested with unsalted U.S. Grade AA or Grade A butter.
UNSALTED BUTTER: Butter is a substance comprised of about 80% fat with the remaining percentage consisting of water, milk solids, and minerals. I prefer butter to vegetable shortening for almost all of my cakes because it tastes better and it melts at a temperature slightly lower than body temperature, which means cakes made with butter always leave you with a good feeling on the tongue.
I always use unsalted (also sometimes known as "sweet") butter in my recipes because salted butter contains too much water and its saltiness can sometimes mask a less than fresh taste.
The national brand of butter I prefer is Land O'Lakes, which invariably tastes fresh, rich, and sweet.
TO STORE BUTTER: Buy unsalted butter packaged in foil rather than in waxed paper because foil is less porous and the butter will stay fresher longer. Check the expiration date and buy the freshest butter possible. Once the package is open, be sure to rewrap the butter well, because butter is highly perishable and seems to be a magnet for the other flavors and aromas in your refrigerator. It is wise to store butter away from strong-smelling foods, in the special compartment of your refrigerator designed for that purpose. If you don't use butter within 10 days of purchasing, store it in the freezer, where it will keep superbly for 6 months.
Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening
Hydrogenated vegetable shortening, also known as solid vegetable shortening, is nothing more than a solid fat fabricated from purified vegetable oils that are heated and then pressurized with hydrogen so that they are transformed from a liquid into a solid state. Vegetable shortening is pliable, flavorless, and white at room temperature, but is clear when heated.
This shortening is 100% fat so that when you cream it with sugar, it envelops and protects the fragile air bubbles better than butter does, which means cakes made with solid shortening can be somewhat lighter. That said, I still prefer butter in almost all cases because solid shortening melts at a higher temperature than your body temperature and leaves you with a slight "coated" feel on your tongue. I use solid vegetable shortening, however, when I want a very light crumb or when I want a neutral-flavored cake that allows the taste of the frosting to come to the fore.
I use Crisco brand vegetable shortening, and because I use it infrequently, I store it in the refrigerator. If you use it frequently, store it at room temperature, in a cool dry place.
Vegetable Oil
In general, cakes made with vegetable oil have a tender crumb and are particularly moist but don't have the rich flavor of cakes made with butter. I use vegetable oil in American classics like Wacky Chocolate Cake and in chiffon cakes, which call for oil as a key ingredient. Use a neutral-flavored oil such as safflower, canola, or a nonspecific vegetable oil. Avoid olive oil, which is overpowering and will ruin your cakes.
Cream Cheese
Cream cheese, a high-in-fat, fresh (unaged) cheese, is essential in cheesecakes but is also a great addition to icings. I love the flavor and texture of cream cheese blended with butter in confectioners' sugar frostings, because it brings with it a certain tanginess that is delicious with chocolate.
FLOURS
Flour is perhaps the single most important ingredient in cake-baking because it creates the strength and structure of the cake and because the type of flour used determines in part how tender or tough the cake will be.
Flour is the very finely ground, sifted meal of any type of grain, but for the purposes of this book we are talking about wheat flour exclusively. The use of wheat flour is essential in cake-baking because of the presence of starch and because wheat, unlike other grains, contains two important proteins: gliadin and glutenin. These proteins, when combined with water or another liquid, create a new substance called gluten. Gluten is elastic and strong enough to hold the carbon dioxide created by chemical leaveners or yeast. This in turn allows the cake batter to set in the oven without collapsing so your cakes end up light.
Wheat flours differ from one another depending on the strains of wheat the flour comes from, the environment and climate in which the wheat is grown, and where and how the wheat is milled. All the home baker needs to know is that there are two broad categories of wheat flours: the "strong" flours, high in protein, milled from "hard" wheat, which are great for yeast doughs; and the "weak" flours, low in protein, milled from "soft" wheat, which are perfect for pastries and cakes.
The other crucial component of flour is its starch, which absorbs liquid, swells up (this process is known in baking jargon as "gelatinization"), and thus sets the structure of the cake.
Bleached, Unbleached, Bromated, and Enriched Flour
Freshly milled flour is somewhat weak in strength and yellowish in color because of the natural pigments found in wheat. All flours are then aged to lighten the color and strengthen the proteins. Some flours are aged and lightened (bleached) naturally over time but are described as "unbleached" because no chemicals have been added. But natural aging or bleaching is costly, so millers hasten the process artificially by aging or bleaching flours with chemicals.
Cake flours are bleached with chlorine gas, which is good for cake-baking. This chlorine gas is slightly acidic, and this acidity allows for better liquid absorption, which in turn yields a finer, smoother, and more even-textured cake.
Potassium bromates are chemicals that bleach flours and enhance their baking characteristics, but unbleached flours may contain bromates as well, in which case the package must indicate that the flour is bromated.
Enriched flour means vitamins and minerals have been added to the flour to make up for the nutrients lost in the milling and refining process.
The Strength of Flours
The lower the protein content of the wheat flour, the higher the starch and the better for cakes. So how do you know which flour is low or high in protein, weak or strong? Some package labels indicate the protein content, but if that information is unavailable, write to the manufacturer to find out what it is. Years ago the package label indicated the grams of protein per 1 cup or 4 ounces of flour rounded up to the nearest whole number. So if a particular flour was 8.7 grams of protein per 1 cup of flour, the package would indicate it was 9 grams per 1 cup of flour.
These days the labeling guidelines have changed and the numbers are misleading because the protein grams are listed per 1-4 cup of flour, and that number is then rounded up to the nearest whole number. So if you have a flour with 9 grams of protein per 1 cup of flour, that equals 2.25 grams per 1?4 cup, which, rounded up to the nearest whole number, becomes 3 grams of protein. However, flour with 12 protein grams per 1 cup of flour is also 3 grams of protein per 1?4 cup of flour, and the gluten power difference is enormous between 9 grams and 12 grams of protein per 1 cup of flour.
To help you figure this out, I have listed below the average protein content of the better-known brand-name flours. For lesser-known brands, inquire directly from the manufacturer. King Arthur's Baker's Catalogue indicates clearly, to the decimal point, the protein content of each of their flours.
CAKE FLOUR (ABOUT 8 GRAMS PER 1 CUP FLOUR): These flours (national brands like Swan's Down or King Arthur Guinevere) are low-protein flours, milled from soft wheat, high in starch, weak in gluten, and bleached. Some cake flours are selfrising, which means they include salt and chemical leavening mixed into the flour. Be very careful to check the box and don't substitute self-rising for regular cake flour in any of these recipes.
PASTRY FLOUR (ABOUT 9 GRAMS PER 1 CUP FLOUR): Pastry flour is made from a soft wheat and is considered a low-gluten flour but is slightly stronger than cake flour. I like it especially for pie and tart doughs because it gives them a slightly stronger structure than cake flour does yet is not as tough as all-purpose. I have been told by French pastry chefs that it is almost identical to French flour, which is why we used it for all our pastry- and cake-baking at the French Culinary Institute. The only pastry flour I have worked with is available from King Arthur's Baker's Catalogue and is identified as King Arthur Round Table pastry flour. It is unbleached and has about 9.2 grams protein per cup of flour. If you have it on hand, you can substitute it in these recipes for cake flour.
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR (FROM 11 TO 12 GRAMS PER 1 CUP FLOUR): In this book all recipes that call for all-purpose flour were tested with a national-brand bleached and enriched all-purpose flour.
All-purpose flour is a blend of strong and weak flours and comes bleached or unbleached. It was developed for the home cook so that it can be used for all cooking and baking needs, for sauces as well as yeast doughs and cakes. However, not every allpurpose flour is the same and they too vary in protein content.
Unbleached all-purpose flour is high in protein
•Hecker's or King Arthur: 121 grams protein per 1 cup flour
Bleached all-purpose flours
•Gold Medal, Pillsbury: 11 to 12 grams protein per 1 cup flour
Southern bleached all-purpose flours (so weak they qualify as cake flour)
•White Lily, Martha White: 9 grams per 1 cup flour
BREAD FLOUR (ABOUT 13 GRAMS PER 1 CUP FLOUR): This is a high-protein, high-in-gluten flour milled from "hard" wheats, which absorbs more liquid, is low in starch, and is best for breads and yeast doughs. Bread flours come either bleached or unbleached.
Handling Flour
STORING FLOUR: White wheat flour will keep well for up to 1 year in a dry cool cupboard away from light and moisture. If you don't know how long you have had flour on your shelf, smell it before you use it; it will give off a rancid smell if it is spoiled and should be thrown out.
MEASURING FLOUR: For baking, it is better to weigh ingredients, especially flour, than it is to measure them by volume. That said, I realize the majority of American cooks are more comfortable with the volume measurement, so here is how I measure flour the "cup" way.
Set a dry measuring cup (or fraction of a cup if the recipe so requires) on your counter, spoon the flour into the cup, mounding in more than is required. To level the measurement, sweep off the excess flour by passing the back of a knife or a straight metal spatula across the cup. Don't dip your cup in the flour and then sweep off the excess because you will get more weight than is required in the recipe. Also, be sure you know the difference between dry and liquid measuring cups, making sure to use the dry measuring cups.
To measure tablespoonfuls or teaspoonfuls of flour, dip the measuring spoon into the container of flour and sweep off the excess with the back of your knife, just as you do with a cupful measure.
SIFTING FLOUR: You need to sift flour to aerate it so that it properly absorbs moisture and is lump-free. Cake flour is finer than all-purpose and must always be sifted because it tamps down. You will also need to sift flour with other dry ingredients such as baking soda or cocoa powder in order to thoroughly and evenly distribute these throughout the flour. After you have accurately measured the flour, transfer it to a sifter or to a double-meshed strainer. To sift through a strainer, hold the strainer with one hand as you tap the side with the other hand. Sift it over a large sheet of parchment or waxed paper or over a mixing bowl. If the recipe instructs you to sift twice, return the sifted ingredients to the strainer or sifter and repeat the procedure.
STARCHES
Cornstarch
This is a gluten-free pure starch made from the endosperm of the corn kernel. Cakes made with cornstarch are velvety smooth and tender. Cornstarch is also used to thicken pastry creams and other dessert fillings and sauces.
If you are trying to weaken the gluten structure of an all-purpose flour to simulate a cake flour, substitute 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for 2 tablespoons of flour for each 1 cup of flour called for in the recipe.
Potato Starch
This gluten-free pure starch is extracted from cooked dried and ground potatoes. Like cornstarch, it is used in cake batters as a substitute for flour and produces a moist velvety texture. It is used a lot in Passover cakes when the use of flour is forbidden.
LEAVENERS
Leaveners such as baking powder, baking soda, and yeast are added to cake batters to give them volume and hold up their structure.
Chemical Leaveners
Chemical leaveners refer to baking soda and baking powder, which, in reaction to moisture, acids, or heat, release gases into the dough that help cakes rise and become stable structures.
BAKING SODAÂ This is the common name for sodium bicarbonate, which, in the presence of moisture and some type of acid, releases carbon dioxide gas into the batter. I use baking soda in many of these cakes because almost all of them have the requisite acid, in the form of chocolate or cocoa, to make the baking soda work. Other acidic ingredients include buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, fruit juices, fruit purées, honey, and molasses.
Because baking soda reacts immediately once introduced into the batter, you must quickly get the cake in the oven or much of the leavening power will dissipate.
The leavening power of baking soda, in the presence of acid, is about four times as strong as that of baking powder. You might think it a good idea then to add more baking soda than is called for in order to give your cakes greater lift, but please resist that temptation. You need very little baking soda to enhance the air bubbles already present in the batter—no more than 1-4 teaspoon per cup of flour. If you add too much baking soda to a batter, your cake may have a nasty soapy aftertaste.
Note that baking soda and cocoa cause the batter to develop a reddish hue.
BAKING POWDER: Baking powder is a compound that includes sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), an acid that activates the baking soda, and a starch (usually cornstarch) to prevent lumping and to stabilize the leavening power. While single-acting baking powder exists (although it is no longer available commercially), the baking powder used in this book is double-acting. Single-acting baking powder starts to work immediately in the presence of moisture, so as soon as you mix it into the batter, you must get the cake into the oven fast or the leavening power is lost.
Double-acting baking powder works twice. The first reaction begins immediately when you mix the baking powder with liquid and a small percentage of the gases are released into the batter. A second and more powerful reaction occurs when the cake batter goes into the oven and most of the gases are released by the heat. The advantage of double-acting baking powder is that you can mix the batter and let it stand for some time before baking without loss of leavening power.
As with baking soda, don't use more baking powder than is called for or your cakes could have an unpleasant bitter aftertaste, could rise too rapidly in the oven and then sink, or could end up with a crumbly texture.
Store baking soda and baking powder in tightly closed containers away from heat and moisture, because if they are left exposed to air, they absorb moisture and their leavening power is diminished. Baking powder especially loses power fast, and once the can is opened, it should be replaced every 3 months.
Yeast
This is a one-celled, live, microscopic fungus. When combined with flour and liquid, the yeast eats the starch in the flour, then converts it to sugar and, in the process, gives off carbon dioxide and alcohol. It is the release of these gases that produces the leavening action. There is only one yeast cake in this book, which was tested with dry active yeast (dormant, yet still alive). You can find dry active yeast on the refrigerated dairy shelves of your supermarket. Check the expiration date on the package to make sure the yeast is fresh and that you are not buying "rapid-rise" yeast, which is a yeast that makes the dough ferment twice as fast.
LIQUIDS
Liquids are an essential part of any cake batter for several reasons. They activate the gluten in the flour, which gives structure to the cake; they turn to steam in the oven, which then pushes up the cells of the batter, thus giving the cake its lift and delicate texture. The moisture also activates the baking powder and baking soda, which would remain inert if left dry.
It is important that the ratio of liquids to flour and other solids be correct so that the final structure and texture of the cake be right. Too much liquid overactivates the gluten, thus making the cake tough, whereas too little makes the cake leaden.
Fresh Milk Products
CREAM: The percentage of butterfat in cream determines how you are going to use it.
Heavy cream (sometimes identified as "whipping cream"or "heavy whipping cream") has a 36% to 40% butterfat content. Heavy cream is reserved for cake fillings and icings like whipped cream or ganache, as well as for sauces.
Try to buy heavy cream that is not ultrapasteurized. Ultrapasteurized means the cream was boiled for a longer time than regular pasteurized cream and at a higher temperature so as to destroy bacteria and prolong the cream's shelf life. This process makes it harder to whip the cream, so manufacturers introduce stabilizers to make up for the decreased whipping ability.
Ultrapasteurized cream has a slightly "cooked" taste.
Light whipping cream has a 30% to 35% butterfat content and can be whipped somewhat but will never achieve the volume of whipped heavy cream.
Light cream has an 18% to 20% butterfat content and is sometimes known as "table"or "coffee" cream.
Half-and-half has only a 10% to 12% butterfat content. I use light cream and half-and-half in certain cake batters, icings, and in dessert sauces.
MILK: Milk is a crucial element in baking. It is 91% water, so it functions in baked goods mostly in the development of gluten. The milk solids and butterfat contribute to flavor, color, and keeping qualities of baked goods. Unless otherwise stated, all milk used in this book is whole, pasteurized, and homogenized, with a 3.5% butterfat content. Please don't substitute low-fat for whole milk because it will throw off the balance of the cake.
Pasteurized means the milk has been heated up to a fairly high temperature for a specific period of time in order to thoroughly kill bacteria.
Homogenized means that the butterfat in the milk is evenly distributed throughout the liquid and won't separate and come to the top as a layer of cream.
Evaporated Milk is whole milk that has been heated until about 60% of the water is evaporated. It is a canned product used in frostings.
Sweetened Condensed Milk is a mixture of whole milk and sugar that has been heated until about 60% of the water is evaporated. It is a sweet and thick, sticky canned product that can be used in frostings.
Fermented Milk Products
The advantage of adding fermented milk products to cake batters, fillings, and sauces is that they are acidic and tangy. The tanginess changes the flavor, and the acidity helps cut or shorten the gluten strands, which makes the cakes more tender. Do not substitute fresh milk for fermented milk products as it will throw off the balance of baking soda and baking powder.
BUTTERMILK: Originally, buttermilk was a naturally occuring, slightly sour residual liquid left after churning milk into butter. Buttermilk is thus low in fat because all the original butterfat has been congealed and solidified into butter.
Today buttermilk is a "cultured" product, which means skim milk has been cultured with a lactic-acid bacteria that makes it taste slightly sour. For recipes in this book, I use 1% butterfat buttermilk sold in the refrigerator case in the supermarket.
If you come across the phrase "sour milk" in an old cookbook, use buttermilk instead.
SOUR CREAM: This is an 18% "light" cream that has been soured by adding a lactic-acid bacteria. Sour cream makes the cake crumbs especially tender.