The Essential Guide To Baking

themselves to being served with all sorts of fresh fruits. Strawberries, peaches, blueberries

and cherries are deliciously complimented by Angel Food cake. A dollop of whipped cream makes

fruit and Angel Food cake a very special dessert.

TIPS ON ANGEL FOOD CAKE:

A tiny amount of shortening or salad oil in the baking pan or on any mixing utensils will bring

disaster to your Angel Food cake. The mix will not tolerate any sort of oil. Anything that

touches your Angel Food cake batter must be washed in hot soapy water, rinsed in hot clean water

and thoroughly dried.

Boxed Angel Food cake mixes are good, but will produce a different texture than an Angel Food

cake made from scratch. Try both ways and choose the way you like the best.

Baking time is critical for Angel Food cakes. A little under bake will cause the cake to pull

itself from the sides of its baking pan and fall. A little over bake will cause the cake to

stick fast to its pan and become tough. Bake your Angel Food cake until the top is golden brown

and is not sticky.

Always invert the Angel cake pan as soon as it is removed from the oven. A glass bottle makes a

good stand to hold the Angel Food cake pan. If the cake touches a wire rack, it may fall.

However, with some boxed cake mixes, cooling on a wire rack is fine.

Add vanilla extract and a little almond extract to your Angel Food cake batter. The almond

extract will provide a good background flavor.

Gently push down around the sides and stem of the Angel Food cake pan before tapping the cake

out.

If you like a darker crust on your Angel Food cake, wet the Angel Food cake pan with cool water

before filling with batter.

TIPS ON WHITE CAKE:

Cream part of the cake flour with the shortening (one half or more of the required flour). This

will make the cake hold moisture.

Using all−purpose flour will cause white cake to be moist, but it will also have a clumpy grain

and a slight off color.

Using cake type flour is best for white cake. Cake flour will give it the proper grain and

crumb color.

Try using a 50/50 mixture of all−purpose flour and cake flour when making a white POUND cake.

All−purpose flour will make white pound cake more moist and will give it a texture that will be

acceptable for pound cake.

Add a little almond extract along with vanilla extract. Use only a drop or two of almond extract

because this extract is much stronger than vanilla and will make an excellent background flavor.

Use ice cold water to mix white cake, whether using a box cake mix or from scratch. Proper

Helpful Tips With Cakes