Bread, cakes, and biscuits / collected and described by S. Beaty-Pownall.

Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Bread, cakes, and biscuits / collected and described by S. Beaty-Pownall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    such calcos fit to cat till they hare been seasoned thus. Cakes, however, made with baking powder dry too quickly to make storage in their case advisable. At the risk of repetition, it cannot be too strongly impressed on tlie amateur confectioner that real success depends in the very greatest degree on the quality and freshness of the materials used, and, though such excel- lence may apparently add to the expense in the beginning, it is really the truest economy in the end. The eggs used should bo of the freshest, and should always be broken separately before adding them to the mixture to avoid the least risk of one being unsatisfactory, and so spoiling the batch. Even preserved eggs are to be avoided in delicate pastry-baking, as they are apt to acquire a strawey taste, which is destructive to the flavour of delicate cakes. There is a knack in egg-beating, which, however, is speedily acquired. To whip the whites break the eggs carefully into a bowl, being very particular to remove the “ speck,” and not to allow the smallest drop of yolk to get in; then whisk steadily with a wire whisk or a Dover egg-beater (the latter takes the least time) till they are in a dry stiff froth. As soon as the whites have reached the proper stiffness stop beating at once (or they will become curdled and broken- looking, and will make anything to which they are added close and heavy); you will know when this stage is reached, as the froth will stand up in points as the whisk is drawn out, or if, as many cooks do, you use a knife for whisking, stop beating directly you can cut the mixture cleanly with the knife. At this stage, if the froth is to be used for meringue, add in the caster sugar very lightly, rather folding than beating it in. Always whisk eggs in a cool place, for the colder and fresher the eggs the quicker will they beat to a stiff froth. To beat the yolks, put them into a basin and whip them with a fork or a whisk till the yolks become quite light, will drop clean from the whisk without strings, and are of a lemon colour. This is the time to add in the