Cr f'° Vol . 3 State College of Was hington No. 30

HOM E E C O N O M I C S N EW S S E R V I C E EXTENSION SERVI CE u.s.D.A. COLLEGE OF HOt'!E ECONOMIC S ***•****** *** *** ********************************* ****** *********************** ******** Release Not Before Friday July 2, 1937 Coll e ANGEL FOOD AND SPONGE CAKES of Washing n by L. ll ii Leila Wall Hunt He ad of Foods and nut r i t i on College of Home Economics Stat e Coll ege of Washi ngton

"Cakes are forms of sweetened, f lavor ed , and ornamented bread., that signalize an

evolution of cookery., a.nd , like confectionery or i ncl uding it, a.re a measure of cult ure . "

Though cakes have appeared in the menus of the different nations of the wo rld

since early times , our conception of thei r importance as a food is compar ativel y modern.

With a reali zation that cake was not an accessory, but a nut r iti ous food in

itself, more attention was given to its me.king. The result has been that cake making

is no longer considered to be purely an art, but is known to be a science as well.

All cakes are one of two classes--butter cakes, made with fat; and sponge cakes ,

made without fat . In this paper, we are to deal only with the second class, of which

Angel Food and Sponge are a good exa.~ple. A true sponge cake does not contain any bak­

ing powder. We have imitation sponge cakes me.de by reducing the number of eggs and add­

ing baking powder and a small amount of liquid. These, of course, are less expensive,

and when eggs are high in price are certainly to be recommended. A true sponge cake de­

pends entirely on the air which is beaten into the eggs to make it light. It does not

make much difference how the ingredients are combined, just so we retain the air which

we have beaten into them. The sugar may be added in ru:zy form, granulated, powdered, or as a syrup, to either the beaten yolks, or to the beaten whites. The flour, however,

must be folded in carefully in order to preserve the delicate air cells as much as

possible.

(MORE} - 2- Add Angel and Sp onge Cakes Cakes for family use are usually made in a tube pa.n , because the tube acts as

~ support to the cake during the baking process . In choosing a pan see that the tube is higher than the edge of the pan, so as to insure a circulation of air all around the cake while cooling. Baking is best accomplished by a low temperature over a compara­ tively l ong period of time . For baking ·any cake of the sponge class, an ove:i thermo­ meter of some kind should be used. It is not safe to trust to the feel of the oven. All cakes of the sponge variety should be inverted immediately after their re- moval from the oven, while they are cooling. In this position, the air bubble spaces are left in suspension and therefore make for a lighter cake. If the cake was re­ moved f rom the pan as soon as it is ta.ken from the oven, the weight of the cake will press t he air cells down while cooling. By means of experiL'lents, experts have deter1nined correct proportions of ingre.. dients, correct methods of manipulation, and proper oven temperatures, so that re­ sults are uniformly dependable. There is no guess work about it and the careless cook can no longer say she had "poor luck" with her cake today. On t he basis of some research carried out by the College of Home Economics, State College of 1\Tashington, several conclusions we:te drawn which are contrary to pop­ ular belief. These experiments show that egg whites to be used i n Angel Food Cake are better to be beaten at room temperature, 7o degrees F., rather than at a cold temperature, or about 40 degrees F. This is about the temperature that is maintained in a modern electric refrigerator. In other words, a larger volun1e of air can be in­ corporated in egg whites at room temperature than when they are cold. So it is advis- able that the housewife, contemplating the making of an Angel Food or Sponge Cake, take the eggs from the ice box an hour or more before using. This way the eggs will become more nearly the proper temperature for beating. In the beating of egg whites, do not beat so stiff as to be~• It is best to beat just long enough that they may

come to a point when removing the whip. These experiments also show that eggs fresh from the poultry pen are not so desirable as those from three days to two weeks of

age 1 because fresh egg whites will not whip to as large a volume as whites from older eggs. The third result showed that eggs which are watery in consistency can be used for Angel Food Cake and are not to be condemned for that reason