On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1050

moresugarandfatthantheydoflour!And
theyserveasabaseforevensweeterand
richercustards,creams,icings,jams,syrups,
chocolate,andliqueurs.Assuitstheir
luxuriousnature,they’reoftenelaborately
shapedanddecorated.
Acake’sstructureiscreatedmainlyby
flourstarchandbyeggproteins.Thetender,
melt-in-the-mouthtexturecomesfromgas
bubbles,whichsubdividethebatterinto
fragilesheets,andfromthesugarandfat,
whichinterferewithglutenformationandegg
proteincoagulation,andinterruptthenetwork
ofgelatedstarch.Thesugarandfatcan
compromiselightnessiftheyweakenthecake
structuresomuchthatitcan’tsupportitsown
weight.Ofcoursedense,heavycakescanbe
deliciousintheirownway.Flourless
chocolatecakes,nutcakes,andfruitcakesare
examples.
Traditional Cakes: Limited Sweetness and


HardWorkWellintothe20thcentury,risen
cakesweretypifiedbytheEnglishpoundcake
or Frenchquatre quarts, “four quarters,”
whichcontainequalweightsofthefourmajor
ingredients:structure-buildingflourandeggs,
and structure-weakening butter and sugar.
Theseproportionspushtheflour’sstarchand
the eggs’ proteins to their limit for holding

thefatandsugarinatender,lightscaffolding;
morebutterorsugarcollapsesthescaffolding
and makes dense, heavy cakes. And because
cake batter must be filled with many small
bubbles without the help of yeasts, which
generategastooslowlyforthebattertohold
them,traditionalcakemakingwashardwork.
In1857,MissLesliedescribedatechniqueby
which the cook could beat eggs “for an hour
without fatigue” and then added: “But to stir
butter and sugar is the hardest part of cake
making. Have this done by a manservant.”
Fannie Farmer warned in 1896 that “A cake
can be made fine grained only with long