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CHAPTER TWO

THE CAKE ITSELF

In the excitement to get to the most glamorous part of making a cake – decorating it – it is tempting to rush through the preceding steps. But if your cake is to look and taste as good as you want it to, you must master the recipes for classic fruit and sponge cakes, and the all-essential techniques of levelling, cutting and filling cakes.

Fruit Cake

Nothing beats the rich aroma of fruits and spices that wafts through the house when a fruit cake is baking. It is the ideal winter warmer.

The only drawback to making a fruit cake is that it should ideally be baked three months before it is needed to give the flavours plenty of time to develop. (The Timesaving Tip below offers a shortcut, however.) Fruit cake is also rather high maintenance after baking, requiring a big ‘drink’ of alcoholic mixture – drizzle 60 ml (4 tbsp) over a 20-cm (8-in) cake – immediately after it comes out of the oven, followed by a series of smaller ‘drinks’ – drizzle over roughly 15ml (3 tbsp) – every one to two weeks thereafter.

After you have given your fruit cake its first big ‘drink’, wrap the cake in two layers of greaseproof (waxed) paper, then wrap it loosely in a plastic bag or put it into an airtight container. Never wrap a fruit cake straight into kitchen (aluminium or tin) foil; the fruit reacts with the foil, and the cake eventually takes on a metallic taste. Store it in a cool, dark place, only removing it to give the cake its small ‘drinks’ every week or so.

Timesaving Tip

If you are short of time and need a fruit cake quickly, wrap it in greaseproof (waxed) paper after you have fed it and it has cooled down, and put it in the freezer. Freeze the cake for a minimum of 24 hours, then defrost it at room temperature for another 24 hours at least. This helps with the maturing process and draws out the flavours. Once the cake has defrosted, you can continue with the marzipan stage (see Working with Marzipan, page 30).

Feeding Fruit Cakes

A mixture of alcohol, glycerine and hot water makes for a lovely, moist cake. Each time you make a fruit cake, blend a fresh batch made up of two parts alcohol, one part glycerine and one part hot water, and store it in an airtight bottle until you need it. Substitute this mixture with pineapple juice if you are making a fruit cake for someone who does not like the flavour of alcohol.

Making a Fruit Cake

INGREDIENTS

(See Fruit Cake, page 111, for specific amounts and recommended baking temperature and times)

Glacé (candied) cherries, chopped

Currants

Sultanas (golden raisins)

Raisins

Mixed fruit peel

Lemon rind, grated

Plain (all-purpose) flour

Almonds, chopped

Ground cinnamon

Nutmeg

Mixed (pumpkin pie) spice

Butter or margarine

Brown sugar

Eggs

Black treacle (molasses)

METHOD

1.Put the cherries in a mixing bowl with the currants, sultanas (golden raisins), raisins, mixed fruit peel and lemon rind.

2.In a separate bowl, blend the plain (allpurpose) flour, almonds, ground cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed (pumpkin pie) spice.

3.Cream the butter/margarine until it is light, fluffy and white in colour. Add the brown sugar and mix a little further.

4.Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter, with a little of the flour mixture.

5.Stir in the remaining flour mixture and the dried fruit.

6.Add the black treacle (molasses) and blend.

7.Spoon the mixture into a lined tin (pan) and make a slight depression in the centre of the mixture. This helps to keep the cake level as it bakes.

8.After baking, feed the cake and either freeze it for 24 hours (see Timesaving Tip) for immediate use, or wrap it in two layers of greaseproof (waxed) paper and store it in a plastic bag or airtight container for three months (see Fruit Cake).

Sponge cake

Quick to make, sponge cake is the ideal option if you need to make a cake with little advance notice. It has a short shelf life, so it should only be covered and decorated a few days before it is going to be eaten. (Thinking Ahead, above, offers a way around this, however.)

It is possible to extend the life of a sponge cake by adding a small amount of glycerine to the recipe. You could also substitute part of the self-raising (selfrising) flour with ground almonds. A good rule of thumb is to substitute approximately 25g (1oz) of every 225g (8oz/2 cups) of flour with ground almonds. Whichever method you use, bear in mind that the cake’s life will be extended by only a few days, depending on the season (its shelf life is much shorter in the summer) and where it is stored. Cakes always last longer if they are kept in a cool, dark place.

Thinking Ahead

Though a sponge cake must be covered and decorated just before it is going to be eaten, the cake itself can be made and frozen up to a month in advance. When you are ready to use it, defrost the cake at room temperature, which should take a couple of hours, then wrap it in greaseproof (waxed) paper until you are able to begin decorating.

Making a Sponge Cake

INGREDIENTS

(see Sponge Cake, page 115, for specific amounts and recommended baking temperature and times)

Butter or margarine

Caster (superfine) sugar

Eggs

Self-raising (self-rising) flour

Milk or water

METHOD

1.In a mixing bowl, blend together the butter/margarine and the caster (superfine) sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy.

2.Break the eggs into a separate mixing bowl and whisk them with a fork.

3.Alternately pour the eggs and the selfraising (self-rising) flour into the butter mixture, then fold it together with a spoon.

4.Gradually add the milk/water to the mixture to soften its consistency.

5.Spoon the mixture into a lined tin (pan) and make a slight depression in the centre of the mixture. This helps to keep the cake level as it bakes.

6.After baking, use the cake immediately or freeze it either plain or buttercreamed for up to one month (see Thinking Ahead, page 23).

Levelling Sponge Cakes

Cakes are always covered with a sheet of sugarpaste (rolled fondant or ready- to-roll icing) before they are decorated. Unfortunately, any bumps or gaps in the cake will be highlighted by the covering, so it is essential that the top of the cake is perfectly smooth.

The easiest way to achieve this is to turn the tin (pan) upside down onto a clean board (see Cutting Sponge Cakes in Half, opposite) to release the cake. This prevents you from having to ‘lever’ the cake out of the tin, potentially damaging it, and gives you a nice, smooth top to decorate later. But what do you do if the top of the cake (now the bottom) is uneven and the cake will not sit flat on the board?

1.Place the cake back in the tin, with the uneven surface facing upwards.

2.Slide a sharp knife across the top of the tin, frame or novelty tin (Figs 1, 2 and 3). When you turn out the cake, it will be level on both the top and the bottom.

If the cake does not rise to the top of the tin, put a small drum inside the tin and set the cake on top of this. The cake should now sit high enough for you to level it.

Cutting Sponge Cakes in Half

Classic sponge cakes are sliced in half, then filled with buttercream and a jam (jelly) glaze, which is essentially watered-down jam that is then reduced to a glaze (see recipe, page 30). Many novices saw through the cake with a knife, more often than not ending up with two halves that resemble steeply angled ski slopes.

You can avoid this by following either of the two methods outlined below. Before you get started, place the cake on a board that has been thoroughly cleaned with kitchen paper (paper towels) and Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) (Fig. 1), which you can find at any sugarcraft or cook shop. This cleans away dirt particles or bacteria that may have gathered on the board and prevents the growth of mould between the cake and the board. If you cannot find IPA, use any white alcohol, gin or vodka. Warm, previously boiled water will also do.

Method One

Position the cake and board on a turntable. Horizontally embed the knife midway up the cake with one hand and place your other hand on top of the cake to hold it in position. Keeping the point of the knife in the same position all the time, use the hand that is holding the top of the cake to gently rotate the turntable. You will be able to see what you are doing and will know where the point of the knife is at all times (Fig. 2). Slip a thin, 4-mm (¼-in) board beneath the top half of the cake, ease the cake onto it (Fig. 3), then set it aside.

Method Two

Again, position the cake and board on a turntable, though this is not essential. Wrap a cake wire round the cake halfway down the sides. Hold the ends of the wire in one hand and place your other hand on top of the cake to hold it in position. Pull the wire through the cake, keeping your hand at the same level all the time (Fig. 4). If you do not have a cake wire, take a length of fine food grade wire, wrap each end round a dowel, then tape over it. This will prevent the wire from moving. Lift the top half of the cake with a thin, 4-mm (¼-in) board, as in Method One.

Tools of the Trade

If you cannot find cake wire, use a length of plain dental floss. Wrap it round your fingers or tie it round two dowels, then proceed as for the cake wire (see above). This is a very hygienic way of cutting a cake, because the dental floss is disposable.

Filling Sponge Cakes

Fillings are a matter of personal choice, but many people opt to use classic buttercream, which keeps well in the refrigerator for up to one month.

Making Buttercream

INGREDIENTS

(see page 121 for specific amounts)

Butter or margarine

Icing (confectioners’) sugar

Hot water

METHOD

1.Cream the butter/margarine in a mixing bowl until it is almost white in colour.

2.Stir in the icing (confectioners’) sugar a little at a time.

3.Continue stirring in the icing sugar and gradually add the water. (The main purpose of the water in this recipe is to soften the consistency of the buttercream if necessary.)

4.Blend until the buttercream has a smooth, spreading consistency.

5.Use the buttercream immediately or freeze it in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to a month. Give it a thorough stir just before use.

If you are filling a cake with both jam (jelly) and buttercream, remove the top half of the cake, leaving the bottom half and board on a turntable, as described in Cutting Sponge Cakes in Half, page 25. Use a palette knife (metal spatula) to spread the buttercream on the bottom half of the cake, then top this with the jam (Fig. 1).

Avoid putting on too much of any filling, because it will ooze out when the top of the cake is set in place. Do not worry if the filling does not initially go right up to the edges of the cake. You will find that the weight of the cake’s top half will spread it out, and the whole cake will have plenty of filling when it is cut.

To put the top half of the cake back in position, pick up the board and tilt it until the cake is perfectly centred on the bottom half (Fig. 2). Press the top half down gently with your hand. Spread a thin layer of buttercream on the top and sides of the cake with one hand, using your other hand to gently rotate the turntable (Fig. 3). The buttercream coating will act as a masking to which the sugarpaste (rolled fondant or ready-to-roll icing) covering, which you will add later, will stick.