Cake 101: Lesson 2: Ingredients Matter

My apologies for the delay in continuing this series -- the birth of my second daughter at the end of November threw off my schedule for a bit. However, it is a new year and I have a renewed commitment to this blog. I am working on a backlog of posts that should allow me to post on a MWF schedule for the foreseeable future.

Mondays will be a look at cakes I've made and a discussion of the techniques in them. Wednesdays will be free-form musings on cake, and Fridays will be the Cake 101 series. I am also hoping to have a video on drop flowers available in the near future, but that will be dependent upon my editor's schedule and he's a bit busy.

So, without further ado, Lesson 2: Ingredients Matter.

Here is a cake frosting made with powdered sugar, meringue powder, flavoring and shortening (the standard recipe I use) with all of the ingredients at their best:

And here is a cake I made where I ran out of powdered sugar, and the shortening I was using had partially liquefied:

Note the difference in texture and consistency. The second cake has a grainier texture, and the frosting is sliding off the cake. The first cake has nice crisp texture and the decorations are where they should be.

Ingredients matter -- especially those that are going to be the first ones seen by people looking at the cake. Quality matters -- cutting corners will only result in unhappy cakes and unhappy people eating the cakes.

So let's talk ingredients. The following is strictly my opinion based on my experience thus far, your mileage can and will vary.

• Flour - I almost never use cake flour, just standard all purpose and I haven't had a problem to date. I will sift it if the recipe calls for it, but that's about the extent of worrying I do. I also don't adapt my recipes for higher altitude, and haven't had a problem there either.
• Sugar - I tend to prefer dark brown sugar if the recipe calls for brown sugar, use the store brand granulated (white) sugar, and mostly use store-brand powdered sugar. I have not found that using name brand sugar makes a difference.
• Eggs - use whatever the recipe calls for.
• Shortening - I use the store brand and haven't had any problems. I do not use butter flavor for my frosting because it's yellow and it'll tint the frosting.
• Baking soda/baking powder -- I tend to use name brand here, but that's personal preference.
• Spices and extracts - always use the best you can afford. Spices (clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, etc) and extracts (vanilla, orange, peppermint, etc) are where the bulk of the flavor in your cake will come from and cheaping out here will be noticeable. If you're making white frosting and want it to be white, use a clear extract.
• Chocolate - never use cheap chocolate. It's worth it to spend the extra for good chocolate. Although I don't necessarily feel the same about cocoa powder -- my preferred there is Hershey's Special Dark.
• Booze - if the cake calls for booze (liquor or beer) use good liquor or beer. There's a scotch cake I make (with nuts and raisins) that I use Macallan in. If I won't drink it, I won't bake with it.
• Raisins, nuts, molasses, etc - I usually use the store brand as it doesn't make much of a difference.
• Icing colors - I tend to prefer paste over gel and usually buy Wilton, but the gel colors available at Hobby Lobby are also nice.
• Cake release/baking spray - while you could do the butter and flour your pan method, I far prefer baking spray/cake release. Brand does not seem to matter here -- I have had good luck with both the store brand and Baker's Joy.

So there you have it -- know your ingredients and buy what works for you, but try not to skimp on the ones that most affect flavor and appearance. As always, I welcome your feedback -- what do you agree with, what did I forget, and what did I get totally wrong?