Steps to Basic Cake Making

So you want to bake a basic cake? Well, all you have to do is follow every step with love and care and your cake will be ready in no time. Do not expect your cake to be a smooth and even mass of sweet tasting bread the first time around. You become better with practice. And every time you make it you will discover something new. So go easy on yourself while you bake that simple cake. Things that you will need:

A baking pan An oven Cake Flour (Maida)2 and a half cup flour Sugar 1 cup sugar Unsalted butter 2 tablespoons of butter Salt Baking powder 2 teaspoons Vanilla flavour drops A blender A spatula Bowls, jars and measures Some salt

The Process :

Smear the baking pan with butter. Do it just right. You can use a brush to smear the butter inside the pan. Not too less and not too much. Now sprinkle some flour on it and dust the excess of. Your baking pan is ready. Let it set. Pour the cake flour in a bowl. Sieve the flour before you use it so that you do not have any bulbs of flour that are hard to mix and blend. Ensure you have smooth flowing flour without any flour bulbs.

Now take the butter in a bowl and keep adding sugar as you whisk it. Start whisking with a spatula or use a blender. Keep adding butter and sugar and keep whisking until it all blends together. Keep whisking until it turns very fluffy. You can add some drops of vanilla flavour to the butter sugar mix. Drop a pinch of salt in it. Take the sieved flour in a big bowl and add the sugar and butter mixture. Mix it together with a spatula. You can add the flour little by little so that you do not have any lumps. Keep mixing it until you have a smooth mixture that looks fluffy. Add the baking powder now and blend it in the mixture. Do not overuse baking powder. Overusing baking powder can alter the taste of your cake. Pour this mix now in the pan you smeared with butter and sprinkled with flour. Pour and shake it so that the cake mix settles well in the pan. Once you have poured the cake mix flatten the top using a spatula. Give it a shake. Now put it in the oven at 375oF If you have your knife coming out clean then your cake is baked. Avoid over baking the cake, it will harden it. Once the baking time is over and you have checked your cake, remove it from the oven. Wear a pair of thick gloves to remove it. Keep it on the table and let it set.

Your basic cake is ready and you can decorate or frost your cake in a number of ways.

Archive for Black Forest Cakes

How to Make a Black Forest Cake

Does making a Black Forest cake seem like a task to you? Well preparing a Black Forest Cake isnt as difficult as it looks like. A Black Forest cake is easy to make with the right instructions and a little care. If you want your Black Forest cake to turn out like a dream then keep reading. Things you will need

Baking Flour (Maida) Baking Soda

A baking pan Salt to taste Cherries Cookies Butter Sugar Condensed Milk (Sweet) Whipped Cream (Fresh) A plain chocolate bar Cocoa powder A knife A few bowls A baking oven A spatula A foil covered cardboard Mint leaves Aerated Cola

How to prepare a Black Forest Cake

Smear melted butter in a baking pan with the help of a brush. Now powder some cookies and lay it over the buttered bottom. Dust flour on the sides of the baking pan. Set this aside Now take a bowl. Sieve the baking flour into the bowl. Ensure there are no lumps in the flower. Now take add butter, sugar and condensed milk to the flour. Blend it. While you are blending it add baking soda, cocoa powder and salt in this mixture. Now blend it well. Blend it with care so that there are no air pockets in the mix. Now add aerated cola to this batter and mix it well. Just make sure the mix does not become watery it has to thick dough like, brownish batter. After this mix is ready, lay this batter slowly into the baking pan smeared with butter and with the layer of cookie. Shake the baking pan and tap it lightly over the table so that the batter sits flat. Smoothen out the fine lines with a Spatula. Put the baking pan in the oven at 350F and bake for 45 minutes. If you see the cake rising, pierce it with a knife and check if the knife comes out clean. This means the cake is ready. Once the cake is baked remove it out and let it cool. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes. Then slice the cake horizontally. Never try to do this when the cake is hot or you will have the cake breaking into crumbs. When you turn the baking pan over the top covered with crushed cookie layer will be the last one. Lay this layer on a cardboard covered with foil paper first. Now take the cream and whip it. Whip it till is light and fluffy. Now frost the cake. Spread cream and crushed cherry on the cake and start making layers of cake and cream. Now frost the cake with whipped cream and top it with cherries and mint. Now scrape the chocolate bar and dress it all over the cake.

A good black forest cake tastes good if it is light and spongy. So go easy on the baking soda, less sugar and a loving hand. So the next time you want to celebrate a special birthday bake a special black forest yourself!

Archive for Brownies

How to Make Brownies

Once you have learned basic cake making then making brownies should not take you very long. Brownies are a quick to eat light dessert that goes well with tea, coffee or soft drinks. Serve it the way your guests like it. A nice brown brownie can be made easily with some easy baking tips and help. Heres some of it to help you prepare brownies. Things you will need

Baking Flour Baking Soda Cocoa Powder Sugar Prune puree Resins Chocolate chips Butter Salt A stand or board A knife A bowl A blender A spatula A baking pan or brownie moulds

Butter paper

Process of making yummy brownies

Decide what shape of brownies do you want? If you want square pieces then use a baking pan or if you like round ones use a mould. Suppose you decide to use a mould then smear the mould with some butter. Cut out butter paper and put it in the mould. Keep it aside and let it settle. Now start preparing the batter for the brownie. Sieve the baking flour in a bowl and add cocoa powder, sugar and butter cream to it. Start blending it all together. Make a mix of sugar and butter separately. Add sugar and butter alternatively and whisk it till the mix turns fluffy. Keep it aside. Now make a prune puree. Grind the prune with honey in a mixer-grinder. Pour in a pan and leave it on low flame to simmer till it becomes thick. Make sure you dont burn the puree making it bitter. Use gentle simmering to get a thick puree and keep stirring till it starts thickening. Now remove it off the flame and let it cool a bit. Wait till it becomes warm. Now add the butter-sugar mix and the prune puree to the flour batter you made. Blend it all together and while you blend it add some baking soda. Keep it just proportionate, not too much. Now drop some chocolate chips in the mix. Mix it with a spatula. Now pour this brownie batter in the moulds or a baking pan smeared with butter and flour. Tap it gently making sure the batter settles down with no air pockets. Put it in an oven at 350 F for 30 minutes. Check if it is done by piercing a knife. If the knife comes out clean the brownies are done. If not bake it for another 5-10 minutes. When it is out piping hot sprinkle some chocolate chips or sugar on top. Once done remove it from the oven and let it cool off. Allow it at least 30 minutes to cool down. Now with the help if a spatula empty the moulds or the baking pan on a tray. Cut the brownie in the baking pan into small square pieces. Line them up in a tray.

Wasnt this whole process fun? Now that you know how to make your own brownies go ahead and have some fun. Serve your guests, sell them to your clients or best eat them yourselves and give yourself a treat!

Archive for Cake Decorating

Cake Decorations to Serve Your Imagination

A cake can really stand for an occasion if it is decorated according to the theme. Decorating a cake requires creative skills and support from decorating items that can make your life easier. So if you have learnt to bake a cake the next step is obviously learning to decorate it. So heres how to decorate a cake and make it as beautiful as it is tasty. Use the frosting creatively Once you have frosted the cake you can use the same frosting creatively. You can use a spatula to tap on the fresh frosting and lift the spatula lightly to give a spiked effect. GO on doing this all over the cake and give it a spiked effect. Do it on the sides too. Now scrape a chocolate bar all over the cake and let it set. You can even sprinkle chocolate chips if thats what you like. You can use a comb like spatula to run on the sides of the cake giving it a combed effect. Now run it vertically on the sides to create a crisscross effect. Fill in boxes alternatively to create chess like effect. Use fruits to decorate cake Use fresh fruits to decorate your cake. Cut strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and cherries and top them in the center of the cake. Place mint leaves on the sides. If you do not want to place mint leaves then simple sink a berry half way to create an edge to the cake. You can use a special scraper to scrape fruit peel like oranges and sweet limes over the cake giving it a tropic feel. You can use a pastry bag filled with frosting to create basket like effect on the sides of the cake. First run it around horizontally then vertically. Once done vertically do another round of horizontal frosting. Use Marzipan Marzipan batter and pre-made marzipans can be easily used to create figures of characters or use

them as flowers, fruits and eggs etc. Marzipans remain stiff and are good to eat. A rose made out of marzipan looks beautiful on a cake. Try them on wedding cakes. Use a pastry bag with a tip Use a pastry bag with different tip sizes to create decorations of your choice. You can make flowers, petals, leaves, stars, dots, frills, swirls and a lot more. A pastry bag of frosting gives you a lot of freedom to create what you like with different tips and placement techniques. You can even write messages with this. Use chocolates You can create a special chocolate cake by decorating the cake with a mars, bounty, twix or dairy milk bars. You can use the favourite chocolate of the person you are baking the cake for and create a special cake. Chocolate cakes are fun to make and eat. They also serve as good decorating items. Use designs and moulds There are a number of moulds and designs available to make your cake interesting. You can use small designs, pearl like designs, swirl textures and ridges to create beautiful cakes. Take a look at in a cake shop that sells cake making tools and cake making kits you are sure to discover something that will help you create beautiful cakes.

Archive for Cake Icing

How to make icing and decorate a cake

The next step from learning to make basic cakes is decorating them. Decorating a cake completely depends upon your imagination and attention. If you have a lot of ideas to make some unique cakes you will need some knowledge of icing and how to use it over your cakes. Cake making and decorating is nothing short of an art. You need to understand the tools available, use them well and sometimes when you are a master you can even create your own tools. Why not? Well, for now read on to know how to use icing and decorate a cake.

Things you will need to make icing All you will need is icing sugar, artificial food colour, water, lots of small sized bowls and a kettle for heating water. How to make icing

Let your cake cool down completely or you will have icing running all over it. Let it cool at room temperature for a while or better refrigerate it for thirty minutes. Now take confectionary sugar or icing sugar. Do not use the granulated form of sugar. For a medium sized cake you will need a cup of icing sugar. Heat little water in a kettle and pout two teaspoons of water in that cup of icing sugar. You do not need a very thick or a running consistency of sugar. You just need it thick enough to be spread on your cake with ease and steadiness. Once you have a good consistency you can add drops of the colour you want your cake to have. Use colour carefully. A drop can give you a lot of colour. You do not want the peoples mouth green or a blue. So use colour with car. Start with a drop and see the effect. You can remove take a little frosting aside and brush it with the coloured icing to see the effect and then use it on the entire cake. Use a paint brush and keep applying strokes of icing. If your icing hardens due to keeping it waiting you can simply it in the microwave for 10 seconds and it will be ready for use again. You can make different designs on your cake. Suppose you are painting a field you can use shades of green to paint it. You can then decorate it with a cone of frosting or with premade decorations or marzipans. On pastries, you can simply pour the icing and let the icing drip. It gives a great appetising effect to the food. You can also spread the layer of icing with the help of a spatula. Pour in the centre and then spread on the sides. You can use a toothed comb like tool to run on the side of your cake and give an absolute professional look.

You can dress the cake my colouring the frosting or using icing from a bag. You can even fill jellies, syrups and fruit shavings onto the cake. You can use these creatively and create unique cakes. So now that you know the tricks of the cake why not bake one for the next occasion.

Archive for Cake Supplies And Tools

Cake Making Supplies and Tools
If you want to start your own cake business or want to turn a corner of your kitchen into a cake shop then you will need some supplies and tools that will help you make surprisingly beautiful cakes faster and with ease. So heres a list that may help you find what you will need. Pastry bag A pastry bag is used for filling frosting or icing and used for cake decorations. You can make flowers, stars, dots or festoon like designs with this using couplers.

Tips/couplers Tips or couplers come in a variety of sizes and can be fitted at the tip of a pastry bag to allow you to create the design you want with ease without any mess. Once you are done, you can cover the couplers with a cap. Decorating pens These are pens that can be used for decorating or writing on a cake. They are like thick markers. Icing spatula The icing spatula helps spread and flatten the icing on a cake. It is done easily with a spatula meant especially for spreading icing. Sievers Sievers are important for sieving baking flour. At anytime you must have a pair. Scrapers Scaper are used to scrape chocolate bars, toffees or coconuts over the cake Moulds Moulds are available for a hundred things. You can choose from stars, round, diamonds, pearl shape etc. Go for the one that is tough to make by sugar craft. Cake boards Cake boards are great for preparing and serving the cake. It is not easy to keep shifting a cake every now and then so a cake board can help tremendously. It also gives flat support to the cake, so invest in a dozen. Spatulas Spatulas are important for mixing the ingredients, topping them on the cake and flattening frosting is very important in any cake making exercise. Spatulas also help whisking and removing cakes from the baking pan. Oven A baking oven is prerequisite to any cake making. So make sure you have a good working oven. Hand gloves Invest in a pair of hand gloves. They are very useful while removing cakes from the oven or ice trays from the freezer. Parchment or wax paper Parchment or wax paper helps flattening the frosting or helping the cake to be removes easily from the baking pan. Beaters and Blenders A set of beaters and blenders is of tremendous help. Whether manual or electronic you must have one.

Mats Silicone mats help rolling batter and even cutting out shapes during sugar craft. They help while making fondant too. Wire stands and racks Wire stands and racks help the cakes to cool down letting them have air from all around and give support too. Baking Pans Baking pans are an essential to cake making. A set of different sizes of baking pans is an intelligent investment if you want to run a business or a pair is enough for using at home. Cup cake sleeve Buy cup cake sleeves before the day or week you want to make cup cakes. Tube Covers Buy a few tube covers for your pastry bags if you want to avoid frosting spread all over the place. Cake Slicer A cake slicer helps cut the cake evenly without the fear of crumbs falling. You can use it with both hands too. Cake lifter A cake lifter is good to serve cake or pass it from one board to another without any harm to the fully decorated cake. You cant use this is a three tier or two tier cake. Go take a visit to a cake supplies and tools shop and you will find all that you need to make a perfect cake.

Archive for Chocolate Cakes

How to Make a Chocolate Cake

Making chocolate cake is just another step from your basic cake making. Once you have mastered the art of basic cake making then making a chocolate will not be very difficult for you. So here goes another delicious recipe that will make you an ace chocolate cake maker. Things you will need

Baking flour Cocoa powder Blocks of plain chocolate Sugar Salt Bowls Spatula A blender Baking Soda A scraper A brush A baking pan An oven Thick Gloves Honey Butter Butter cream

The process of making a chocolate cake

Take the baking pan and smear butter with a brush, inside it. Now dust some flour on this and remove excess. Let the baking pan settle. Now take a bowl and sieve the baking flour in it. Make sure there are no lumps of flour. It should be smooth and fine.

Now add cocoa powder and sugar alternatively in the flour. Start adding butter cream. Blend the mix steadily and with gentle hands. Keep blending it until you have a bubble free, smooth mix of chocolate flour. Use a spatula to check for lumps. Keep this mix aside. Now take butter and sugar in a bowl and start whisking it. Keep adding butter and sugar alternatively and keep whisking until you get a fluffy mix. Keep it aside once done. Now take butter cream in a bowl and add the blocks of chocolate in it. Put it in the microwave for 2- 3 minutes. Once you remove it you will get a melted mix of chocolate and butter cream. Add honey to this mix and mix it well. Make sure its a thick mix and not very loose. Set it aside to cool. Do not refrigerate. Now add the butter and sugar mix to the chocolate-flour mix. Sprinkle one or two pinches of salt to it. Add the baking soda. Now mix all this together. Once the mixing is done pour the mix in the baking pan smeared with butter and flour. Divide the mix in the two baking pans. Shake the pans and tap them lightly on the table to let the mix set well. Flatten it with a spatula. Now set the oven on 375 F and shove the baking pan inside for next 45 minutes to an hour. As the cake rises, pierce it with a knife and check if it is done. If your knife comes out clean then the cake is done. Avoid over baking. Now remove the baking pans and let them cool. Dip your knife or spatula in butter and run it around the edges of the pan to free the cake off the pan. Now turn the cakes over on a sheet of butter paper. Let them cool down. You do not want crumbs falling off when you frost it. After twenty to thirty minutes get the chocolate and honey mix you prepared and start frosting the cake. Put the frosting in the centre and keep moving it on the sides as you flatten it with a spatula. Now put this frosted cake on a cardboard covered with foil paper. Now keep the next cake on it and frost it similarly. Also apply frosting on the sides with the spatula. Flatten the frosting with parchment paper to give the cake an even look. If you want to give you cake a fun look then tap the spatula lightly on the frosting and pull it upwards. It will create spikes on the cake. Now take a chocolate bar and scrape it. Sprinkle the shavings on the cake.

Your chocolate cake is ready to serve and eat. Wasnt this easy? Make your chocolate cake with a lot of love and you will surely create a masterpiece. Enjoy!

Archive for How to Frost A Cake

How to Frost a Cake

Frosting a cake is yet another step to add flavour and beauty to your cake. But it is a process that needs a lot of love and care. Frostings can be of a variety of flavours and you can learn to make them too. But right here we have the way to frost a cake with the classical butter cream frosting. The key to frost a cake well is to allow it to cool and settle. Heres how. Things you will need

A napkin or a small tablecloth A spatula Frosting A wire stand A board Parchment paper Lots of care

The process of frosting a cake

Put a towel/napkin or the piece of cloth over the place where you will be frosting the cake. Now keep the wire stand on top of it. Keep your board on it. Turn the cake upside down on the board. Let the freshly baked cool off completely or you will have crumbs falling while you are at work and looking after the crumbs can be another task. So it is best to let the cake cool off and settle. Give it about 30 minutes if you want. Turn the fans on. Once you find that the cake has cooled off you can start applying the frosting on the sides. Take some frosting on the spatula and apply it like the way you apply butter on bread. Keep going smoothly. If there are any crumbs falling still, apply some frosting on them and let them stay.

Once the sides are done you can put a nice dollop of frosting on top of the cake. You can pat it with the spatula and flatten it sideways. Keep adding and flattening. Now work the same way on the sides on top of the cake. If you want absolutely smooth frosting then take a parchment paper and keep it on top of the cake. Flatten the paper with your hands. Do not apply too much pressure just try to make it even. Once you think you are done peel off the parchment paper to find a smoothly layered frosting. You can try this on the sides too. If you are adding another layer of cake then add frosting on top of the cake and flatten out sideways. Add frosting on the sides but not too much. Now place the next layer on the first layer. Apply frosting on the sides now. Use the spatula to fill spaces in the middle of the layers with frosting making it an even looking cake. Once again use the parchment paper on top of the layer and give it a smooth finish.

Remember it is important to let the cake cool off because of you frosting a cake when it is warm you will find frosting melting away all over and making the cake soggy. So let it cool off and create different frosting for different cakes.

Archive for Ice Cream Cakes

How to Make Ice Cream Cakes

If you have tried eating a chocolate cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream you know how heavenly the taste is. If you are fond of ice creams and want to give more meaning to your cakes then an ice cream is a great idea. You can try a lot of flavours. Just let your imagination run wild! Heres some help on how to turn your imagination real by learning to make ice cream cakes. Things you will need

Baking flour Cocoa powder Sugar Baking soda Butter Butter cream Ice cream pack (family pack vanilla flavour) A Spatula A chocolate bar Chocolate frosting A baking tray A freezing tray A cardboard covered with aluminium foil paper Salt to taste

The process of making an ice cream cake

Begin by making a butter and sugar mix in a bowl. Add them alternatively and whisk them together. Keep whisking until the mixture is fluffy. Keep it aside. Remove the ice cream from the pack put it in a tray and spread it in a baking pan. Take a pan similar to the one you are using to bake the cake. Now let it freeze until it is hard. Now smear butter inside the baking pan and dust it with flour. Keep it aside. Now sieve the baking flour in a bowl making sure there are no lumps of flour. Add butter cream to this flour. Add sugar, cocoa powder, a pinch of salt and blend it all together. Once the batter is well blended add baking soda and the butter-sugar mix and blend again. Taste the batter to check of the sweetness is just the way you want it to be. Put this batter in the baking tray. Use a spatula to put entire content s of the bowl into the pan. Tap the baking pan gently on the table to let the batter set well. Now put the baking pan in the oven at 375 F for the next 35- 40 minutes. Check if the cake is baked once the time limit is crossed. Pierce a knife into the cake to check if it is done. If your knife comes out clean your cake is done. Now remove the pan and let it cool. Let it cool until you can touch it with no fear. A cool cake is easier to remove from the pan and you wont have crumbs falling. Once the cake is cool, free the edges of the pan with a spatula or a knife and turn the cake upside down on a tray. Slice this cake from the centre horizontally and divide it in two. Now keep the first slice on the foil covered cardboard. Now remove the ice pan from the freezer. Free its edges with a knife and turn it upside down on the first cake. Now place the next slice over the ice cream layer. Quickly get the frosting and start frosting the cake. Begin from top and keep flattening it out to the sides. Go on the sides and moves the spatula around the edges of the cake covering all three layers. Now take the chocolate bar and scrape it over the cake. Use chocolate kept in a freezer to scrape over the cake. You can even use icing to create a design on the cake or write something if you do not want to use chocolate shavings.

If you do not wish to cut the cake then you can bake two separate cakes and use them as layers. You can even have just two layers the first of ice cream and the next of cake. It is absolutely what shape you want to give your creativity with a cool and chocolaty ice cream cake.

Archive for Sponge Cakes

How to Make a Soft Sponge Cake

Making cakes seems very difficult but if done with care and attention it can be a very simple task. If you want to start by baking a simple sponge cake then heres help. To make a sponge cake fluffy avoid over mixing and stirring too much in the process. But make sure you leave no lumps or air pockets. Things you will need for a nice soft sponge cake :

A medium sized baking pan An oven Butter Baking Flour Baking Soda Salt Sugar Vanilla flavour Butter cream A Spatula A Blender A Knife A bowl A handy napkin A brush

The Making of a Sponge Cake

Smear butter with the help of a brush in the baking pan. Dust it with some flour and shake the excess off. Keep it aside to let it set.

Begin by sieving the baking flour. Sieve the flour in the bowl and keep it aside Now take another bowl and add butter and sugar alternatively. Start blending the two. Use a light hand to make the mix. Do not over mix but make sure you have a nice fluffy looking mix. Mix little by little. Now take the baking flour and start adding the butter cream, use a blender to blend the two. Add a little sugar to this mix. Keep blending. Keep adding ingredient one after the other as you go on blending. Once the mix of butter cream, baking flour and sugar is ready you can add the sugar and butter mix you prepared earlier. Start blending it together gently and bit by bit. Add baking soda to this mix and blend it well. Do not forget those drops of vanilla flavour. Now pour this mix in the pan you smeared with butter and flour and set it with a spatula. Check if there are any air pockets in it. Shake the pan and tap it lightly on the table to let the mix settle. Now turn the oven to 375oF and put the pan inside. Allow the mix to bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Once you see it rising, you know it is baked and ready. However pierce the cake with a knife and pull it out gently to check if it is really done. If any mix sticks to the knife it still needs baking. If the knife come out clean, voila! your sponge cake is ready. Turn off the oven and remove the pan. Let it cool for five to ten minutes. Now while you are wearing your hand gloves, you can take a cardboard covered neatly with foil paper and get it ready to lay the cake on. The board can be a circle or a square depending upon the shape of your cake. Run the knife around the pan to free the cake of the pan. You can apply a little butter to the knife before you run it around. Now turn the pan upside down on the foil covered cardboard.

Your sponge cake is right in front of you. Let it cool before you serve it with coffee, tea or sodas. You can decorate your sponge cake with chocolate, cocoa powder, berries or fruits.

Archive for Wedding Cakes

Wedding Cakes

Weddings are a very special time in any couples life and a cake is very important to sweeten the celebration. Wedding cakes are always a very important thing on the list of a wedding planner. A good cake is a major responsibility. The classic three tier cake is seen in most weddings but one can get experimental with cakes too as the style of wedding celebrations undergo a mega change. Designer Wedding Cake If you want to make your wedding cake something as special as the warm fuzzy feeling of saying the vows then get yourself a designer cake. You can special cakes in heart shapes with elaborate decorations. You can try a letter cake with the first letters of the groom and bride set in a heart. You can even try a cake made to look like a wedding ring with real Swarovski set in it. What could get more special than this? (Just decide who takes the crystals) Try a photo cake with the photos of yourself and your partner. It will be hard to cut but surely memorable when you look back at your wedding cake snaps. The Classic Wedding Cake If you are having a traditional white wedding than what better than the traditional three tier wedding cake. Make a white cake with immaculate decorations on the sides. Dress it in fresh flowers if that is what you like. Use white orchids, yellow roses or just petals of pink roses. You can even make a chocolate three tier wedding cake if the groom and brides favourite flavour is chocolate. (By the way chocolate is also a great aphrodisiac) There are many pre-made decorations that are available which can help you dress the wedding cake. You can even use a groom and bride doll on the cake or wedding bells. Wedding Theme cake Weddings are now theme based. Why not the cake? The cakes too can be in tune with the theme of the wedding. If the theme of the wedding is a beach wedding then the cake could be like a beach with sand like decorations, blue waters and the couple doll on the beach. If the theme is a

royal wedding the cake could be a crown, a weapon or a carriage. So depending of the theme of the wedding the wedding cake can be easily customized. Just keep in line with the theme and the wedding cake isnt hard to find. Special Flavour Wedding Cakes We almost forgot the special flavours. Have you felt surprised if you ate a vanilla cake and found chocolate cubes inside your mouth? Thats the magic of special flavours. Wedding cakes can be of special flavours and move beyond the usual variety of chocolate and vanilla. How about making a butter rum cake, a champagne cake, a mint cake or a mocha hazelnut cake? You can give the cake an absolute twist with the flavouring and ingredients you add to it. Find out the flavours your partner savours and try to use it in your wedding cake. It will be a delightful treat and surprise. Watch the expression your partners face when he takes that first bite on finding a new taste melting in his/her mouth. Try it you might like it And for that wedding, it will be another memorable moment that you cant capture in a picture!

Cake

A layered pound cake filled with raspberry jam and lemon curd, and finished with buttercream frosting

Cake is a form of bread or bread-like food. In its modern forms, it is typically a sweet and enriched baked dessert. In its oldest forms, cakes were normally fried breads or cheesecakes, and normally had a disk shape. Determining whether a given food should be classified as bread, cake, or pastry can be difficult. Modern cake, especially layer cakes, normally contain a combination of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter or oil, with some varieties also requiring liquid (typically milk or water) and leavening agents (such as yeast or baking powder). Flavorful ingredients like fruit pures, nuts, dried or candied fruit, or extracts are often added, and numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients are possible. Cakes are often filled with fruit preserves or dessert sauces (like pastry cream), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders or candied fruit.[1]

Cake is often the dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions, particularly weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. There are countless cake recipes; some are bread-like, some rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have been simplified that even the most amateur cook may bake a cake.

Varieties

German chocolate cake

Cakes are broadly divided into several categories, based primarily on ingredients and cooking techniques.

Yeast cakes are the oldest and are very similar to yeast breads. Such cakes are often very traditional in form, and include such pastries as babka and stollen. Cheesecakes, despite their name, aren't really cakes at all. Cheesecakes are in fact custard pies, with a filling made mostly of some form of cheese (often cream cheese, mascarpone, ricotta or the like), and have very little flour added, although a flour-based or graham cracker crust may be used. Cheesecakes are also very old, with evidence of honey-sweetened cakes dating back to ancient Greece. Sponge cakes are thought to be the first of the non-yeast-based cakes and rely primarily on trapped air in a protein matrix (generally of beaten eggs) to provide leavening, sometimes with a bit of baking powder or other chemical leaven added as insurance. Such cakes include the Italian/Jewish pan di Spagna and the French Gnoise. Highly decorated sponge cakes with lavish toppings are sometimes called gateau; the French word for cake.

A large cake garnished with strawberries

Butter cakes, including the pound cake and devil's food cake, rely on the combination of butter, eggs, and sometimes baking powder or bicarbonate of soda to provide both lift and a moist texture.

Beyond these classifications, cakes can be classified based on their appropriate accompaniment (such as coffee cake) and contents (e.g. fruitcake or flourless chocolate cake). Some varieties of cake are widely available in the form of cake mixes, wherein some of the ingredients (usually flour, sugar, flavoring, baking powder, and sometimes some form of fat) are premixed, and the cook needs add only a few extra ingredients, usually eggs, water, and sometimes vegetable oil or butter. While the diversity of represented styles is limited, cake mixes do provide an easy and readily available homemade option for cooks who are not accomplished bakers.

Special-purpose cakes
Cakes may be classified according to the occasion for which they are intended. For example, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, Christmas cakes and Passover plava (a type of sponge cake sometimes made with matzo meal) are all identified primarily according to the celebration they are intended to accompany. The cutting of a wedding cake constitutes a social ceremony in some cultures. The Ancient Roman marriage ritual of confarreatio originated in the sharing of a cake. Particular types of cake may be associated with particular festivals, such as stollen or chocolate log (at Christmas), babka and simnel cake (at Easter), or mooncake. There has been a long tradition of decorating an iced cake at Christmas time; other cakes associated with Christmas include chocolate log and mince pies.

Shapes
Cakes are frequently described according to their physical form. Cakes may be small and intended for individual consumption. Larger cakes may be made with the intention of being sliced and served as part of a meal or social function. Common shapes include:

Bundt cakes Cake balls Conical, such as the Kransekake Cupcakes and madeleines, which are both sized for a single person Layer cakes, frequently baked in a springform pan and decorated Sheet cakes, simple, flat, rectangular cakes baked in sheet pans Swiss roll cakes

Cake flour

Special cake flour with a high starch-to-gluten ratio is made from fine-textured, soft, lowprotein wheat. It is strongly bleached, and compared to all-purpose flour, cake flour tends to result in cakes with a lighter, less dense texture.[2] Therefore, it is frequently specified or preferred in cakes meant to be soft, light, and or bright white, such as angel food cake. However, if cake flour is called for, a substitute can be made by replacing a small percentage of all-purpose flour with cornstarch or removing two tablespoons from each cup of all-purpose flour.[3][4][5] Some recipes explicitly specify or permit all-purpose flour, notably where a firmer or denser cake texture is desired.

Cake decorating

A chocolate cake decorated with icing, strawberries, and silvery sugar beads or Drages.

A slice of strawberry cake with garnishing of strawberry.

Chocolate layer cake with chocolate frosting and shaved chocolate topping

A finished cake is often enhanced by covering it with icing, or frosting, and toppings such as sprinkles, which are also known as "jimmies" in certain parts of the United States and "hundreds and thousands" in the United Kingdom. Frosting is usually made from powdered (icing) sugar, sometimes a fat of some sort, milk or cream, and often flavorings such as vanilla extract or cocoa powder. Some decorators use a rolled fondant icing. Commercial bakeries tend to use lard for the fat, and often whip the lard to introduce air bubbles. This makes the icing light and spreadable. Home bakers either use lard, butter, margarine or some combination thereof. Sprinkles are small firm pieces of sugar and oils that are colored with food coloring. In the late 20th century, new cake decorating products became available to the public. These include several specialized sprinkles and even methods to print pictures and transfer the image onto a cake. Special tools are needed for more complex cake decorating, such as piping bags or syringes, and various piping tips. To use a piping bag or syringe, a piping tip is attached to the bag or syringe using a coupler. The bag or syringe is partially filled with icing which is sometimes colored. Using different piping tips and various techniques, a cake decorator can make many different designs. Basic decorating tips include open star, closed star, basketweave, round, drop flower, leaf, multi, petal, and specialty tips.

Royal icing, marzipan (or a less sweet version, known as almond paste), fondant icing (also known as sugarpaste) and buttercream are used as covering icings and to create decorations. Floral sugarcraft or wired sugar flowers are an important part of cake decoration. Cakes for special occasions, such as wedding cakes, are traditionally rich fruit cakes or occasionally Madeira cakes (also known as whisked or fatless sponge), that are covered with marzipan and either iced using royal icing or sugarpaste. They are finished with piped borders (made with royal icing) and adorned with a piped message, wired sugar flowers, hand-formed fondant flowers, marzipan fruit, piped flowers, or crystallized fruits or flowers such as grapes or violets.

History
The term "cake" has a long history. The word itself is of Viking origin, from the Old Norse word "kaka".[6] Although clear examples of the difference between cake and bread are easy to find, the precise classification has always been elusive.[7] For example, banana bread may be properly considered either a quick bread or a cake. The Greeks invented beer as a leavener, frying fritters in olive oil, and cheesecakes using goat's milk.[8] In ancient Rome, basic bread dough was sometimes enriched with butter, eggs, and honey, which produced a sweet and cake-like baked good.[7] Latin poet Ovid refers to the birthday of him and his brother with party and cake in his first book of exile, Tristia.[9] Early cakes in England were also essentially bread: the most obvious differences between a "cake" and "bread" were the round, flat shape of the cakes, and the cooking method, which turned cakes over once while cooking, while bread was left upright throughout the baking process.[7] Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain.[10]

Torte

Sachertorte from Hotel Sacher, Vienna

A torte is a rich, usually multilayered, cake that is filled with buttercreams, mousses, jams, or fruits.[1] Ordinarily, the cooled torte is glazed and garnished. A torte is made with little to no flour, but instead with ground nuts or breadcrumbs, as well as sugar, eggs, and flavorings.[2]

Origin
Tortes are Central European in origin. The word torte is derived from the German word Torte (pronounced [tt], which has a somewhat different meaning), which was derived from the Italian word torta, which was used to describe a round cake or bread.[2] The most well-known of the typical tortes include the Austrian Sachertorte and Linzertorte, the German Schwarzwlder Kirschtorte and the many-layered Hungarian Dobos torte. But other well-known European confections are also tortes, such as the French Gteau St. Honor. Tortes are commonly baked in a Springform pan. An element common to most tortes is sweet icing. (Exceptions include several French tortes, such as Gteau Mercds and Gteau Alcazar.) When the cake is layered, a thick covering of icing is placed between the layers, and there is almost always icing on the tops and sides of the torte. A number of European tortes do not have layers.

Well-known European tortes

Esterhazy torte Dobos torte Gteau Mercds Gteau Pithiviers Gteau Progrs Linzer torte Napoleon Torte Reform Torte Prinzregententorte Sacher torte Schwarzwlder Kirschtorte (Black Forest cake) St. Honor Cake Tarta de Santiago Vasa's Torte

Pie
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search This article is about the baked good. For the mathematical constant, see Pi. For other uses, see Pie (disambiguation). "Raspberry pie" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Raspberry Pi.

A slice of an apple pie

A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies are defined by their crusts. A filled pie (also single-crust or bottom-crust), has pastry lining the baking dish, and the filling is placed on top of the pastry, but left open. A top-crust pie, which may also be called a cobbler, has the filling in the bottom of the dish and the filling covered with a pastry or other covering before baking. A two-crust pie has the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Flaky pastry is a typical kind of pastry used for pie crusts, but many things can be used, including baking powder biscuits, mashed potatoes, and crumbs. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

Contents

1 History 2 Regional variations 3 Pie throwing 4 Types of pies o 4.1 Savory pies o 4.2 Sweet pies 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

Homemade meat pie with beef and vegetables.

A slice of pecan pie

An 19th century pie crimper made of ivory, in the collection of The Children's Museum of Indianapolis

Jene Genevois plum pie

A chicken pie with a traditional pie bird

The need for nutritious, easy-to-store, easy-to-carry, and long-lasting foods on long journeys, in particular at sea, was initially solved by taking live food along with a butcher or cook. However, this took up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies adopting the style of hunter-foraging. The introduction of the baking of processed cereals including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat brittle bread loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake, while the Romans had a biscuit called buccellum.[1] The first pies appeared around 9500 BC, in the Egyptian Neolithic period or New Stone Age, when the use of stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding became common, the domestication of plants and animals, the establishment of permanent villages, and the practice of crafts such as pottery and weaving. Early pies were in the form of galettes wrapping honey as a treat inside a cover of ground oats, wheat, rye or barley. These galettes developed into a form of early sweet pastry or desserts, evidence of which can be found on the tomb walls of the Pharaoh Ramesses II, who ruled from 1304 to 1237 BC, located in the Valley of the Kings.[2] Sometime before 2000 BC, a recipe for chicken pie was written on a tablet in Sumer.[3] With the knowledge transferred to the Ancient Greeks, historians believe that the Greeks originated pie pastry. Then a flour-water paste (add fat, and it becomes pastry),[4] wrapped around meat, served to: cook the meat; seal in the juices; and provide a lightweight sealed holder for long sea journeys. This transferred the knowledge to the Romans who, having conquered parts of Northern Europe and southern Spain were far more adept at using salt and spices to preserve and flavour their meat.[2] The 1st century Roman cookbook Apicius make various mention of various recipes which involve a pie case.[5] By 160 BC, Roman statesman Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) who wrote De Agri Cultura, notes the recipe for the most popular pie/cake called Placenta. Also called libum by the Romans, it was more like a modern day cheesecake on a pastry base, often used as an offering to the gods. With the development of the Roman Empire and its efficient road transport, pie cooking spread throughout Europe.[2] Pies remained as a core staple of diet of traveling and working peoples in the colder northern European countries, with regional variations based on both the locally grown and available meats, as well as the locally farmed cereal crop. The Cornish pasty is an excellent adaptation of the pie to a working man's daily food needs.[2] Medieval cooks were often restricted in cooking forms they were able to use, having restricted access to ovens due to their costs of construction and need for abundant supplies of fuel. Pies could be easily cooked over an open fire, while partnering with a baker allowed them to cook the filling inside their own locally defined casing. The earliest pie-like recipes refer to coffyns (the word actually used for a basket or box), with straight sealed sides and a top; open top pies were referred to as traps. This may also be the reason why early recipes focus on the filling over the

surrounding case, with the partnership development leading to the use of reusable earthenware pie cases which reduced the use of expensive flour.[6] The first reference to "pyes" as food items appeared in England (in a Latin context) as early as the 12th century, but no unequivocal reference to the item with which the article is concerned is attested until the 14th century (Oxford English Dictionary sb pie).[2] Song birds at the time were a fine delicacy, and protected by Royal Law. At the coronation of eight-year old English King Henry VI (14221461) in 1429, "Partryche and Pecock enhackyll" pie was served, consisting of cooked peacock mounted in its skin on a peacock filled pie. Cooked birds were frequently placed by European royal cooks on top of a large pie to identify its contents, leading to its later adaptation in pre-Victorian times as a porcelain ornament to release of steam and identify a good pie.[2] The Pilgrim fathers and early settlers brought their pie recipes with them to America, adapting to the ingredients and techniques available to them in the New World. Their first pies were based on berries and fruits pointed out to them by the Native North Americans.[2] Pies allowed colonial cooks to stretch ingredients and also used round shallow pans to literally "cut corners," and create a regional variation of shallow pie.[7]

Regional variations

Apple pie crust

Meat pies with fillings such as steak, cheese, steak and kidney, minced beef, or chicken and mushroom are popular in the United Kingdom,[8] Australia and New Zealand as take-away snacks. They are also served with chips as an alternative to fish and chips at British chip shops. Pot pies with a flaky crust and bottom are also a popular American dish, typically with a filling of meat (particularly beef, chicken or turkey), gravy, and mixed vegetables (potatoes, carrots and peas). Frozen pot pies are often sold in individual serving size.

Fruit pies may be served with a scoop of ice cream, a style known in North America as pie la mode. Many sweet pies are served this way. Apple pie is a traditional choice, though any pie with sweet fillings may be served la mode. This combination, and possibly the name as well, is thought to have been popularized in the mid-1890s in the United States.[9]

Pie throwing
Main article: Pieing

Cream filled or topped pies are favorite props for humor. Throwing a pie in a person's face has been a staple of film comedy since Ben Turpin received one in Mr. Flip in 1909.[10] More recently, pieing has also become a political act.

Types of pies
Main article: List of pies Savory pies

Bacon and egg pie Butter pie Chicken and mushroom pie Corned beef pie Cottage pie (or shepherds' pie) Game pie Fish pie Homity pie Meat pie Pasty Pizza pie Pork pie Pot pie Quiche Scotch pie Curry pie Stargazy pie Steak pie Steak and kidney pie Tourtire

Savory pies

A chicken pie

A traditional Cornish pasty filled with steak and vegetables

Sweet pies

Some of these pies are pies in name only, such as the Boston cream pie, which is a cake. Many fruit and berry pies are very similar, varying only the fruit used in filling. Fillings for sweet or fruity are often mixed, such as strawberry rhubarb pie.

Apple pie Banoffee pie Blackberry pie Blueberry pie Buko pie Cherry pie Chess pie Cream pie Custard pie Fried pie Key lime pie Lemon meringue pie Mince pie Pecan pie Pumpkin pie Rhubarb pie Shoofly piea pie filled with molasses Strawberry pie

Sugar pie Sweet potato pie

Sweet pies

Pumpkin pie

Blackberry pie and ice cream