Identification

• According to the Food Museum Online Exhibit, the word "cake" "denotes a baked flour confection sweetened with sugar or honey; it is mixed with eggs and often, but not invariably, with milk and fat; and it has a porous texture from the mixture rising during cooking."

Types

• To bake a cake, you will need some basic ingredients. Flour---cake flour is highly recommended---milk, eggs, granulated sugar, unsalted butter, leavening, and some flavoring, such as vanilla.

Function

• Flour provides structure, absorbs liquid, contributes flavor, color and nutritional value. Eggs are needed to prevent staling and to add moisture. Fats provide tenderness and flavor. Sugars give the cake color as well as supply the acid the baking soda needs to give the cake volume.

Warning

• Serious bakers measure ingredients by weight, not volume and keep a strict ratio and formula between ingredients.

Fun Fact

• During the Great Depression, some key ingredients weren't widely available so substitutions were made, such as oil for butter and vinegar to react with the baking soda for eggs.