School and Home Cooking Part 79

What is the use of vinegar in Boiled Frosting (see Christmas Candy)?

Why should the white of egg be beaten while the hot sirup is being poured over it?

LESSON CXLVI

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--PLAIN CAKE AND ITS MODIFICATIONS (B)

CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cupfuls flour 3 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful salt 2 ounces chocolate _or_ 1/3 cupful cocoa 1/2 cupful water 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda 2 eggs 1 1/2 cupfuls sugar 1/2 cupful milk 1 teaspoonful vanilla 1/3 cupful fat

Cook the chocolate or cocoa in the water until a smooth paste is formed, stirring constantly while cooking. Cool, and add the baking soda.

Beat the egg yolks and whites separately. Mix as plain cake, adding the chocolate mixture after the egg yolks have been mixed with the sugar. Use the less quant.i.ty of salt if b.u.t.ter is used for the fat.

Bake in layers at 375 degrees F., placing Chocolate Filling between the layers and Boiled Frosting on the top layer.

Sour milk may be subst.i.tuted for the sweet milk. When this is done, increase the baking soda to 1/2 teaspoonful and decrease the baking powder to 2 teaspoonfuls.

Baking soda is used with chocolate to neutralize a small quant.i.ty of acid (tartaric) contained in it. Its use with chocolate will also darken the cake.

CHOCOLATE FILLING

1/2 cupful sugar 1/3 cupful flour 1 cupful milk 1 ounce chocolate 3 tablespoonfuls water 1/4 teaspoonful salt 1 egg yolk 1 teaspoonful vanilla

Mix all ingredients except the egg yolk and flavoring in the same manner as Chocolate Corn-starch Pudding. When sufficiently cooked, add the egg yolk as directed for b.u.t.terscotch Tapioca. Continue cooking until the egg is coagulated. Remove from the fire, cool, add vanilla.

3 tablespoonfuls of cocoa may be subst.i.tuted for the chocolate. When this subst.i.tution is made, mix the cocoa with the flour and sugar and omit the water.

The egg yolk may be omitted. When this is done add 1/2 tablespoonful of corn-starch to the flour and sugar mixture.

Compare the recipes for chocolate and plain cake. How do you account for the difference in the quant.i.ties of sugar (see _Chocolate Corn-starch Pudding_)?

Does the water used for making the chocolate paste change in quant.i.ty during the cooking? Explain. What ingredient do both chocolate and cocoa contain which aids in thickening the cake? From this can you account for the greater quant.i.ty of moisture used in Chocolate Cake?

Would it be advisable to use a greater quant.i.ty of fat (1/2 cupful) for Chocolate Cake? Why?

NUT CAKE

Follow the recipe for Plain Cake, use the smaller quant.i.ty of fat, and add 1 cupful of chopped nuts. A convenient way of chopping nuts is to put them through the food chopper, using the coa.r.s.e knife.

CAKE CONTAINING FRUIT

Follow the recipe for Plain Cake, but add 1 cupful of raisins or currants.

Clean the fruit, then dry, and sprinkle it with flour. Raisins may be chopped, or cut in two pieces (see _To Prepare Raisins for Cooking_).

Citron may also be added. It should be cut in thin slices or put through the food chopper.

When light brown sugar is used instead of white sugar, dates make a pleasing addition. These should be cleaned, stoned, cut into pieces, and added as are the raisins or currants.

Spices give pleasing flavor when dried fruits are used. 1 teaspoonful each of cinnamon and nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoonful of cloves make desirable flavoring.

QUESTIONS

Mention the kinds of fat that could be used for spice cakes and for Chocolate Cake. Give the reason for the selection made. From _U. S.

Department of Agriculture_, Bulletin 28, tabulate the percentage composition of some common nuts. Of chocolate and cocoa.

Explain why the minimum quant.i.ty of fat should be used for Nut Cake.

Why are the dried fruits floured?

Why are nuts not floured?

Compare cakes made with the least and the greatest quant.i.ty of fat. Which is the more tender? Which has the better taste?

Calculate the cost per pound of Sponge Cake. Calculate the cost per pound of cake containing fat (see _Plain Cake_).

LESSON CXLVII

CAKE CONTAINING FAT--COOKIES

CLa.s.sES OF COOKIES.--Cooky mixture may be thin like a drop batter and dropped by spoonfuls on to a pan or it may be about as stiff as a soft dough and rolled and then cut into rounds or other shapes. Hence cookies may be cla.s.sified as:

(1) Drop Cookies.

(2) Cut or Rolled Cookies.

TEXTURE OF COOKIES.--Drop cookies may or may not contain fat. Cut or rolled cookies usually contain fat. Since a dough is prepared in making the latter kind of cookies, fat is needed to make the mixture sufficiently tender. A dough containing little or no fat usually produces a tough cut cooky. A skilled cooky maker, however, can secure a soft cut cooky containing little fat by making a very soft dough.

If crisp, cut cookies are desired, the dough should be rolled thin. To secure soft cookies roll the dough to at least 1/4 inch thickness. If cookies containing fat are stored in a tightly covered box, they become softer after several days.

COMPARE the recipe for Sugar Cookies with that for Plain Cake. Account for the difference in the quant.i.ty of milk. Explain why the quant.i.ty of milk is decreased rather than the quant.i.ty of flour increased.

SUGAR COOKIES

2 cupfuls flour 2 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 1 egg 1 cupful sugar 1/2 cupful fat Milk or water (about 3/8 cupful) 1 teaspoonful flavoring or spice

Mix as for Plain Cake (do not separate the eggs), adding just sufficient milk to make the dough stiff enough to be rolled out. Put the dough in a cool place to chill. Roll out in small portions; then sprinkle with sugar.

Cut and bake at 375 degrees F. 10 minutes or until browned.

SOUR MILK OR CREAM COOKIES