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Cake is a lie!

Varieties of cake

GLaDOS is commeth! Gief caek! It are lie :(

Cake flour

Caek are li portal pwnz

Cake decorating

caekarelie.com

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 [[Image:Birthday cake.jpg|thumb|A [[birthday cake]] decorated with fruit, shaved chocolate, and candles. The text "Happy Birthday" is a pre-manufactured plastic decoration]]
+'''Cake''' is a lie!
-'''Cake''' is a form of [[food]] that is usually sweet and often [[Baking|baked]].  Cakes normally combine some kind of [[flour]], a [[sweetener|sweetening agent]] (commonly [[sucrose|sugar]]), a binding agent (generally [[Egg (food)|egg]], though [[gluten]] or [[starch]] are often used by [[vegetarian]]s and [[vegan]]s), [[fat]]s (usually [[butter]], [[shortening]], or [[margarine]], although a fruit purée such as [[applesauce]] is sometimes substituted to avoid using fat), a liquid ([[milk]], [[water]] or [[fruit juice]]), [[flavoring|flavors]] and some form of [[leavening agent]] (such as [[yeast]] or [[baking powder]]), though many cakes lack these ingredients and instead rely on air bubbles in the dough to expand and cause the cake to rise. Cake is often frosted with [[buttercream]] or [[marzipan]], and finished with piped borders and crystallized fruit.<ref>[http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1776175 Videorecorded conference (cake finishing elucidation at 1:21)]</ref>
-Cake is often the dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions, particularly [[wedding]]s, [[anniversaries]] and [[birthday]]s. There are literally millions of cake recipes (some are bread-like and 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 so perfected and simplified that even the amateur cook may easily become an expert baker.
 ==Varieties of cake==
 [[Image:Layered Chocolate Cake.JPG|thumbnail|A piece of chocolate cake.]]
+GLaDOS is commeth! Gief caek! It are lie :(
-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 [[bread]]s. Such cakes are often very traditional in form, and include such pastries as [[babka]] and [[stollen]].
-*[[Cheesecake]]s use mostly some form of cheese (often [[cream cheese]], [[mascarpone]], [[ricotta]] or the like), and have very little to no flour component (though it sometimes appears in the form of a (often sweetened) crust). Cheesecakes are also very old, with evidence of honey-sweetened cakes dating back to ancient Greece.
-*[[Sponge cake]]s 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 [[Génoise cake|Génoise]].
-*[[Butter cake]]s, including the [[pound cake]] and [[devil's food cake]], rely on the combination of butter, eggs, and sometimes baking powder to provide both lift and a moist texture.
-Beyond these classifications, cakes can be classified based on their appropriate accompaniment (such as [[coffee cake]]), contents (e.g. [[fruitcake]] or [[flourless chocolate cake]]), or occasion ([[wedding cake]], [[birthday cake]], or Passover plava, a type of Jewish sponge cake sometimes made with [[matzo]] meal).
-Cakes may be small and intended for individual consumption (for example [[Madeleine (cake)|madeleine]]s and [[cupcake]]s). Larger cakes may be made with the intention of being sliced and served as part of a meal or social function. 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]] (at [[Christmas]]), [[babka]] and [[simnel cake]] (at [[Easter]]), or [[mooncake]].
-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. Such mixes are available under a number of brand names, including [[Betty Crocker]], [[Duncan Hines]], and [[Pillsbury]]; 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.
 ==Cake flour==
+Caek are li portal pwnz
-{{Main|Flour}}
-Special '''cake flour''' with a high starch:gluten ratio is made from fine-textured, soft, low-protein wheat. It is strongly bleached, and compared to all-purpose flour, cake flour tends to result in cakes with a lighter, less dense texture<ref>[http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FlourTypes.htm Types of Flour]</ref>. Therefore, it is frequently specified or preferred in cakes meant to be soft, light, and or bright white, such as [[angel cake]]. However, cake flour is generally not considered mandatory for good results, and its effect on the cake's texture can readily be simulated by adding corn starch and/or baking soda to all-purpose flour<ref>[http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,186,158187-237198,00.html Make cake flour from regular flour, method 1]</ref> <ref>[http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,186,159186-237199,00.html Make cake flour from regular flour, method 2]</ref> <ref>[http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,176,149185-252199,00.html Make cake flour from regular flour, method 3]</ref><ref>[http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/equivalents_substitutions.asp?index=C&tid=591 Cake flour properties and substitutions]</ref> <ref>[http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=282618 Is cake flour necessary?]</ref> Some recipes explicitly specify or permit all-purpose flour<ref>[http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,166,143188-242196,00.html Carrot-Ginger cake recipe]</ref><ref>[http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,176,130176-241192,00.html White chocolate & mango cake recipe]</ref>, notably where a firmer or denser cake texture is desired.
 ==Cake decorating==
 {{main|Cake decorating}}
+caekarelie.com
-[[Image:Cake with rose.jpg|thumbnail|A cake decorated with "chocolate plastic," a fondant rose and chocolate leaves.]]
-A finished cake is often enhanced by covering it with [[icing (food)|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|vanilla extract]] or [[Chocolate|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.
-[[Image:GermanChocolateCake.jpg|thumbnail|left|German chocolate cake.]]
-Special tools are needed for more complex [[cake decorating]], such as [[piping bag]]s 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 cake]]s (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]]. Some famous kits are the [[Betty Crocker]] kits.
 ==References==

Revision as of 19:12, 6 February 2008

Varieties of cake

Cake flour

Cake decorating

References

See also