Helpful Hint On Cake Making: Substitutes For Some Rationed Goods

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 70, 19 July 1948, Page 7

Helpful Hint On Cake Making: Substitutes For Some Rationed Goods

Home-made cake never loses its popularity, even though restricted supplies of butter and other ingredients may have made its appearance less frequent than of old. Here is a list of hints which you will find helpful in cake-making:— A measuring cup is invaluable, since success depends on accurate measuring. You can buy them as glasses or jugs, and all ingredients such as milk, butter, sugar, flour can be measured. Butter is the best shortening for any cake—but it is not absolutely essential. Margarine or good clarified fat may be used to replace all or half of the butter in a recipe, provided that when you are using dripping mix it with a little cream of tartar, beat well, and add one teaspoon of lemon juice essence, then add the dry ingredients. Similarly, honey or syrup may replace half the sugar if the amount of liquid is reduced by one-quarter and the cake cooked at a slightly lower temperature. When creaming shortening and sugar for a cake, first soften (but do not melt) the shortening by beating it in a warmed basin for a minute or two. Use a wooden spoon for preference. For all cake mixtures, with the exception of sponges, eggs may be added unbeaten. When in doubt about the type of flour to use remember that plain flour is meant unless the recipe states self-raising flour. Another important point—flour should be folded in, not beaten or stirred. Beating or stirring after flour is added makes the mixture tough. Essences or grated fruit rinds give a more even and lasting flavour if creamed in with the shortening and sugar. An excellent substitute for red wine in cooking is the juice of one large lemon and two tablespoons of currant jelly. A fine steel knitting needle is good for testing cakes if a fine skewer is not available.