According to the Recipe Encyclopedia, “Cake is a term describing a variety of sweet, baked foods with a texture similar to bread, usually made from flour, sugar, eggs, and a liquid. Cakes are grouped according to the relative proportions of these basic ingredients used to their preparation and the method in which they are made. Many cakes have a ceremonial or symbolic significance, such as Christmas cake which was originally part of a religious feast, the wedding cake which dates from the time of ancient Greece, christening cakes, and birthday cakes.”(p.130)
Delicious, soft, and moist—these are the words that come to mind when thinking about a pound cake made from scratch. The process of making a homemade cake is slightly complicated but worth the reward of knowing that you, the baker, made it. Baking a homemade pound cake is no easy feat, but is definitely worth the time and trouble one puts into baking it.
Before baking the cake one must gather all of the baking ingredients. The quality of the ingredients will determine the quality of the cake. The basic ingredients of a pound cake are eggs, flour, sugar, milk, oil, salt, butter, margarine, lemon extract, and vanilla extract. The amount of each ingredient will vary depending on the size of the cake one desires to bake and the kind of cake.
The pound cake recipe calls for two sticks of butter and one stick of margarine. The reason the recipe uses two sticks of butter and one stick of margarine is because butter is more fattening but has a better taste than margarine. The recipe also calls for three cups of flour and sugar, five eggs, one cup of whole milk, one half cup of oil, one teaspoon of salt, one tablespoon of vanilla extract, and one fourth tablespoon of lemon extract. The tools needed to bake a cake are measuring cups, measuring spoons, a sifter, mixing bowl, beater, and a spatula.
The very first step in baking cake is preheating the oven to 325 degrees. The next thing that must be done is to allow the butter and margarine to come to room temperature. This is an important step because the butter and margarine mix much better when they are soft. Once the butter and margarine have been bought to room temperature they need to be beaten into a creamy texture. The five eggs must also be brought to room temperature.
The sugar needs to be added to the butter and margarine next. The sugar needs to be beat in until no little grains of sugar can be seen in the mixture. After beating the butter, margarine, and sugar, the batter should look about twice the size. The eggs need to be added to the mixture one at a time to ensure they are mixed in properly.
When the milk is added to the batter the vanilla and lemon extract should be added at the same time to make mixing easier. After adding the milk, vanilla and lemon extract the oil should be added. The oil should be added while beating the batter to ensure that it mixes properly. The properties of the oil do not mix very well with the rest of the batter, which is why it needs to be added slowly. This is a good time to add the salt to the batter as well.
Adding the flour to the batter is a process by itself. Before adding the flour, one must sift it several times. What sifting does to the flour is make it even more powdered and lighter than it already is. The more sifted the flour is the lighter the cake will be; and it will also help the cake rise better. The flour should be sifted two to three times and then it should be stirred in to the batter with the spatula. One does not want to beat in the flour because it will go all over the place. After getting the flour mixed in good, it is okay to mix the batter for a little while with the beater.
After one finishes preparing the batter, prepping the pan for baking is next on the list. The pan needs to be oiled on the inside where the batter will be poured. After the pan is oiled, flour needs to be put in the pan and spread around. This is done to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan and coming apart when it is removed from the pan. The batter then needs to be poured in to the cake pan. Make sure the batter is spread out evenly to avoid having an uneven cake with lumps.
The cake shall then be placed in the oven for about one hour and 30 minutes or until the top of the cake is a dark golden brown. One should not open the door to check the cake because every time the door opens the oven loses heat and causes the cake to bake at an uneven temperature. When the cake is ready, simply take the cake out and set it in a place where it can cool for at least one hour. After the cake has cooled one may take the cake out the pan by flipping it onto a cake grate and then flipping it onto a plate where it can be decorated or cut.
If one desires icing for the cake, then, like the cake, it should be from scratch. To make basic vanilla frosting, beat together about one pound (one small box) of confectioner’s sugar and one half cup (one stick) of softened butter or margarine, three to four tablespoon milk, and vanilla, in a bowl until light, fluffy, and smooth. Keep about one cup of confectioner’s sugar just in case the mix is too soft.
Baking a homemade pound cake is no easy feat, but is definitely worth the time and trouble one puts into baking it. Baking a cake from scratch is something that everyone can appreciate and will enjoy. The proof is in the looks of the faces of the people that are savoring the delicious dessert. The proof is also on the tongues of those who make requests time after time for one’s homemade pound cakes.
Work Cited
Recipe Encyclopedia
