CAKE-MAKING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 138, 13 June 1934, Page 12

CAKE-MAKING.

FILLINGS AND ICINGS.

When once the cook has got so far as to expect consistent success with her cakes she may like to try out something more complicated. While even an experienced cook is well advised not to vary the basis of a cake, which is usually the result of thought and experiments on the part of experts, yet in the matter of decorations, fillings and icings she can let. her ingenuity have full play. It is, however, not easy to achieve the professional touch, and, while the icing of a cake mav appear the simplest part of the whole process, in reality the appearance of a cake may be spoilt by icing or decorations clumsily applied. The best kind of icing to start on_ is a simple glace icing, which can be varied in flavour and colour to suit the cake it is to cover. Four ounces of icing sugar will be sufficient to ice the top of a cake thinly. Roll out any lumps with a roll-ino-pin, sift the sugar into a saucepan, which should be placed over a gentle heat; add one to two tablespoonfuls of water and stir with a wooden spoon until the icing is soft enough to run over the spoon but does not entirely drip off it. Pour qnickly over the cake, and leave it to set. This icing sets almost as soon as it -touches the cake. It should not be smoothed with a knife, as this spoils the gloss; it is therefore necessary to have the icing at just the right consistency to run over the cake before it solidines. Only a little liquid should be used, for it should be remembered that the sugar itself melts as it warms. Orange- or lemon juice can be substituted for tne water for.orange or lemon cake, coffee

essence for mocha cake, or a liqueur such as maraschino if no particular flavouring is required. j-«s„„if Chocolate icing is a little more difficuU, and it has a tendency to be gritty if not carefully made. The easiest to mix two dessertspoonfuls of chocolat powder to a smooth paste with_ ge smallest possible «£ *** -S&1&& for in two U Jrth areeicing sugar in the usual way. Almond Icing. I "large rich cake containing fruit should have a layer of almond icing to is applied. This improves both flavour and Appearance and if stored m a dry nTace such a cake will keep for months Ff required. Almond icing is easy to manipulate, provided it is jot made too sticky To half a. pound of giound almonds and half a pound of icing sugar use one small beaten egg, a little lemon iuice, and flavouring essence or liqueur. Put almonds and sugar through a sieve, add the liquid, and knead or beat well together until the paste is perfectly smooth. The 1 white icing to be applied over this should be mixed with unbeaten white of egg. This does not set immediately and so is easier to handle when a lar<*e cake is being covered. Use two whites of eggs and the juice of a lemon to a pound of icing sugar; beat lor several minutes until smooth, without heating. This, unlike the glace icing, can be put on with a knife and smoothed with the knife dipped into boiling water. Two coats are better than one, and while the first is being applied the rest of the icing should be covered with a wet

cloth to keep it pliable. When done the cake should be put in a just-warm oven for the icing to dry, but if the oven is too hot the icing will discolour. Shortly before the cake is to be used it is usual to <nve it another coat of hard, transparent icing, after which it can be decorated. . . To make the icing boil a pound of loaf sugar with half a pint of water until it looks like a thick syrup; this will take about a quarter of an hour. Then pour the icing into a basin and beat it with a wooden spoon until it goes thick and creamy. As soon as it thickens and coats the back of the spoon pour it over the cake. This transparent icing can also 1 be used advantageously on small cakes. Pretty Decorations. When this is set the cake can be decorated. Crystallised fruits or flowers make good ana simple decorations. Designs and lettering are best done with a forcing-bag and the fancy tubes which are sold for the, purpose cheaply. These are not'difficult to use, though practice is required. For this purpose icing mixed with the white of an egg should be used, as it does not harden so quickly. Each cake to be iced should have its appropriate filling, unless the cake mixture is already a rich one. The simplest filling is to beat together to a smooth paste twice as much icing sugar as butter. To this may be added chocolate powder, coffee essence, grated lemon or' orange rind and juice, or drained chopped fruit or nuts, according to the kind of cake. When making a fresh-cream filling the cream should be whipped stiffly with some icing sugar to taste and vanilla essence added. A little finely grated milk chocolate mixed with this goes excellently with an iced chocolate cake.