Читать книгу German Baking - Dr. Oetker - Страница 11

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Even Finer: if some finely grated raw marzipan is mixed into the dough, the sponge cake develops a delicious aroma.

Even Longer: when cool, cakes can be stored for a few days if they are well wrapped.

Even Colder: cakes can also be frozen. They should be left to thaw slowly in their wrapping at room temperature.

Even Smoother: if the recipe indicates additional cornflour (cornstarch) or cocoa powder, it is usually mixed with the flour (exception e.g. marble cake).

This is how you make a sponge

Preheat the oven correctly

To avoid any unnecessary delays, preheat the oven at the required temperature. It is a good idea to find out in advance at which height it should go in the oven.

Prepare the baking sheet

Using a pastry brush, grease the baking tin generously and evenly with spreadable margarine or butter. In the case of a springform mould, you should only grease the base and not the sides so that the sponge does not slide down along the sides. To make it easier to remove the cake from the tin, sprinkle some flour, breadcrumbs, ground almonds or other ground nuts after greas-ing the tin or mould and distribute them evenly by tipping and tapping it. A rectangular tin can also be lined with baking parchment after greasing – this will make it easier to remove the cake from the tin. To ensure that the baking parchment fits the tin properly, place the base of the tin on the baking parchment and draw round it, then tip the tin on each side – one side after the other – and draw lines round them too.

Finally cut out the corners, fold the lines along the bottom – and you have the liner for your tin!

Mix the butter or margarine

Whether you are using butter or margarine it must spreadable, which means that it must be neither too liquid nor too hard. It is therefore important to take the butter or margarine out of the refrigerator in good time. Using a hand-mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the butter or margarine at the highest setting until it is soft.

Add the flavouring

Flavouring will give the cake a kick – provided that it is added in the right amount. In the case of flavour essence, it is essential to follow the manufacturer’s instructions.

Add the eggs

Add the eggs to the softened butter/ margarine-sugar mixture one after the other. Whisk each egg into the mixture on the highest setting for about ½ minute before whisking in the next egg. If the eggs are too cold, the butter or margarine may curdle and the sponge may look grainy – but don’t worry, it will not influence the result.

Mix together the flour and baking powder

The flour and baking powder must be mixed together well before being added to the egg-sugar-butter mixture. If you are also adding cornflour (cornstarch) or cocoa powder, these should be mixed with the flour now too, except in the case of marble cake where the cocoa powder is only added to one part of the sponge.

Whisk in the flour

Using the medium setting, whisk in about half the flour, alternating briefly with any liquid (milk), then the other half of the flour. Only add enough liquid so that the sponge mixture slips heavily from a wooden spoon – this is the right texture. If you add too much liquid the cake will not only be soggy but solid ingredients such as raisins will sink to the bottom because the sponge is too soft.

There is one exception, namely when the sponge contains a lot of butter and eggs and little or no liquid. This mixture can be runny because the eggs will firm up the sponge while baking.

Add the other ingredients

When you have added all the ingredients and the mixture is ready, you can begin adding the raisins or fruit as indicated in the recipe. Tinned fruit or fruit preserved in jars should be drained thoroughly to prevent too much liquid getting into the mixture. After draining, put them on a piece of kitchen paper so that any remaining juice is absorbed. Then fold the fruit or other solid ingredients into the sponge, using a pastry scraper.

You can also stir them in with a

hand-mixer on the medium setting – briefly! Be careful not to squash the fruit, since this would also colour the sponge in a rather unsightly manner. Cherries or other heavy ingredients will not sink to the bottom if you sprinkle them with a little flour before stirring them into the sponge.

Put the sponge in the mould

Now transfer the sponge mixture into the prepared mould or tin and smooth the surface; it is best to do this with a spatula or a pastry scraper. The mould or tin should be about two-thirds full.

Bake the sponge

The sponge mixture must be baked as indicated in the recipe immediately after it has been made.

Before removing it from the oven at the time given in the recipe, check whether it is done. Insert a wooden skewer in the highest part of the cake: if it comes out dry and is not sticky with sponge mixture, the cake is ready.

Leave the cake in its tin on a cake rack for about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, then turn it out and leave it to cool on the rack. Bases baked in a fruit flan mould can be removed from the mould immediately.

Correct storage

Wrapped in aluminium and stored in a cold place, a cake will remain fresh for several days. If the cake has been frozen it should be allowed to defrost at room temperature while still wrapped.

Cakes with whipped cream or quark should be kept in the refrigerator or freezer. If frozen, defrost them in the refrigerator.

Baking powder begins to work as soon as it comes into contact with liquid. This is why it is first mixed with the flour and is only stirred in towards the end of the preparation process. This will ensure that the texture of the cake remains light and fluffy and prevent air holes from forming.