cake help?

[HollyElise]

I'm really pleased with my chocolate cake recipe, but i'm still hunting for excellent white and yellow cake recipes.... i forget what you call them in Scotland... in the U.S. white cakes use egg whites only and yellow cakes use whole eggs, usually separated. I tried an old Betty Crocker recipe recently that someone recommended to me, but i still found it a bit heavy and i don't know if it was my technique or the recipe. Any tips are very welcome!

Especially.... i wanted to ask what people think of how thick the batter should be to get the best height (lightness) of a cake?

[Polwarth]

Originally Posted by HollyElise

I'm really pleased with my chocolate cake recipe, but i'm still hunting for excellent white and yellow cake recipes.... i forget what you call them in Scotland... in the U.S. white cakes use egg whites only and yellow cakes use whole eggs, usually separated. I tried an old Betty Crocker recipe recently that someone recommended to me, but i still found it a bit heavy and i don't know if it was my technique or the recipe. Any tips are very welcome!

Especially.... i wanted to ask what people think of how thick the batter should be to get the best height (lightness) of a cake?

I've never quite fathomed the American 'yellow cake/white cake' thingy! Is the yellow cake what we call a Victoria sponge? Or is it more of a madeira type cake?

As for the white cake.... is that a fatless sponge, do you think?

[HollyElise]

Well the white cake/yellow cake thingy is describing a cake according to what you do with the egg, rather than it's other properties or ingredients.

Because white cakes only use egg whites, they are white in color. Usually with white cakes you beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them in, as you would with an angel food cake.... though you don't use nearly as many. I think white cakes usually don't contain butter or much oil, but i will have to look up some recipes and see if this holds true... i'll get back to you on it. I think they don't usually contain any ingredients that might darken the color, like butter or dark vanilla.... but again, i'm not certain so let me do a little investigating.

With yellow cakes you either beat the whole eggs together, or you separate the eggs, add the yolks into the batter early, and then beat the whites separately and fold them in last. Those cakes are yellow in color because of the egg yolks, thus the name, and they tend to have much more flavor than white cakes. When they are done well they tend to be moist, and not light, but not heavy, either. The crumbs are not as fine as with a white cake, which i'm thinking now is probably what you mean by a sponge cake (the white cakes).

[HollyElise]

Well, it would seem i'm wrong about the butter and vanilla... they are in white cakes, too... at least some of the time. So the white cake/yellow cake things is ONLY about the eggs. I looked up a couple of recipes that are pretty typical to give you an idea, but i'm very open to other cakes as well.

A YELLOW CAKE:

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour, stirred before measuring
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

PREPARATION:
Mix flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Cream sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add half of the flour mixture then half of the milk. Add vanilla. Mix until blended; add remaining flour and milk and beat until smooth. Fill 2 greased and floured layer cake pans or a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with the batter. Bake at 375° for 25 to 35 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched near center.
Frost as desired.

A WHITE CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups sifted cake flour (sift before measuring)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 egg whites, stiffly beaten

PREPARATION:
Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla. Sift flour with baking powder. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beating well after each addition. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites, incorporating evenly. Spoon batter into three greased and floured round cake pans. Bake in preheated 350° oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tests done.

[mstink]

You can use applesauce as a substitution. That makes it softer and moister. I think you substitute the applesause for oil, shortening or butter, etc.

I hope this helps!

[Polwarth]

Hmmmmm ! I've never actually made an Angel food cake - and have never made any tye of cake with only egg whites... so in this case, you have me stumped

It's also difficult to 'translate' the American measurements. We use either lb and oz or grammes and kg and litres!

[kathyv]

Holly, you can get clear vanilla at a cake decorating shop or the Wilton catalog. This works to keep your whites pure in cake and in white icing. Have you experimented with an oil based cake for lightness like a chiffon cake? The trick with them is to keep beating the egg white so much that you go past the gloss stage in them.

An angle food cake uses 12 egg whites beaten stiff with a simple syrup beaten in for sweetening.

Usually a sponge cake in the States is a cake that doesn't have egg whites, the leavening is beaten egg yolk and won't have anything like baking soda or baking powder in it.

I can't remember seeing anything in the UK that I would have thought of as cake. . . but then, why bother with a common cake when you can have all the shortbread you want? heeheehee