C&H SweetSpot - What's New For Bakers Like You

Sweet Spot Archives

Last Call for 2004 SugArt Entries

We are closing in on the deadline to enter C&H’s second annual SugArt® contest! For all kindergarten-through-fifth-grade artists who haven’t entered this year’s C&H SugArt Competition, download the form now and enter this sweet contest! Your SugArt sculpture could win you and your school a generous prize!

So far we’ve had an outstanding response – students have built replicas of California Missions as well as national and international landmarks! Use C&H sugar cubes, glue, paint, and other materials to create imaginative sculptures. Teachers, this is a great project to assign your class as part of your existing lesson plan. Students can use SugArt to help produce history, science or art projects. Entries must be postmarked no later than April 30, 2004.

Sweet Spot Archives
January 2004
Fall 2003
Summer 2003
Spring 2003
Winter 2003
Fall 2002
Summer 2002
Spring 2002
Winter 2002
Holiday 2001

Piece of Cake!
Think of a celebration—a birthday, anniversary, or wedding—and chances are you think of cake.


	Classic Yellow Layer Cake

But why wait for a special occasion to try your hand at cake baking? Simple, delicious cakes are welcome any day of the year at family dinners and casual get-togethers.

Here are some of our favorite everyday cake recipes, along with suggestions for making them party-worthy…and tips and techniques that will have you “taking the cake” every single time.

Getting Started

Use fresh, high-quality ingredients such as C&H pure cane sugar, real butter, and real vanilla. Use cake flour only if it’s specified in the recipe.
Invest in good-quality, heavy-gauge metal pans. A basic assortment includes one or two 9" x 2" round pans for layer cakes, a 10" x 15" jelly-roll pan for sheet cakes, and a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan for pound cakes. Angel food, sponge, and chiffon cakes call for tube or Bundt pans; don’t get the nonstick kind, because these cakes need “traction” to rise up the sides of the pan.
An electric stand mixer can be a big time- and arm-saver, but isn’t necessary.
Precise oven temperature is important to prevent cakes from falling. Test the temperature with an oven thermometer; for best results, set your pan on a rack positioned in the bottom third of the oven.
Remember: there are thousands of cake recipes, but only two basic types of cake—butter cakes and foam cakes.

Butter Cakes

Rich and substantial, butter cakes start with creamed, room-temperature butter into which sugar is beaten. The jagged sugar crystals cut into the butter, creating tiny pockets of air; the finer the crystals, the more numerous the air cells. (Our C&H Ultrafine Baker’s Sugar is perfect for this job!) During baking, those tiny pockets fill with carbon dioxide, which causes the cake to rise.


Powdered Sugar Pound Cake

Pound cakes originally called for a pound each of butter, flour, sugar, and eggs (that’s a whopping nine eggs!). Today, a pound cake is any rich, buttery cake regardless of recipe proportions. Easy to mix (usually in a single bowl) and bake (often in a loaf pan), pound cakes can be dressed up with a simple glaze, a dusting of powdered sugar, or seasonal berries and whipped cream. They keep and freeze well; in fact, they usually taste better a day or two after baking. And though simple, they can be surprisingly varied: see how different types of sugar yield delectably distinct flavors in our Brown Sugar Pound Cake, Classic Pound Cake with Warm Lemon Sauce, and Powdered Sugar Pound Cake.

Layer cakes are similar to pound cakes but are usually made with more leavening (baking powder and soda) and poured into round pans. To make it easier to remove the cake, prepare the pan by lining it with a round of parchment paper, then greasing and flouring it. Use a serrated knife or a specialized cake leveler to create smooth, even sides that make a perfect base for frosting. Some of our favorite classic recipes include Classic Yellow Layer Cake, C&H Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, and Carrot Layer Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting.

Sheet cakes are easy to make and ideal for bringing to parties and potlucks. They can be frosted and cut into squares or bars. Try our Choco-Nut Sheet Cake for a delicious alternative to brownies.


	Pound-of-Chocolate Cake

Butter cakes can take other shapes as well. Pound-of-Chocolate Cake (yes, it uses 16 ounces of bittersweet chocolate!) is baked in a decorative Bundt pan, while spicy Walnut Pumpkin Torte is baked in a springform or Bundt pan and topped with whipped cream, glaze, or a dusting of powdered sugar.

Foam Cakes

Eggs beaten with sugar to a frothy foam are the basis for classic angel food, chiffon, and sponge cakes. The sugar stabilizes the egg proteins and creates the cake’s structure; sugar also tenderizes the flour, preventing it from forming gluten. After baking, the sugar keeps the cake moist.

Angel food cake is low in fat because it contains only egg whites. For best results, the egg whites should be slightly cooler than room temperature—about 60º is ideal. Make sure you add the sugar gradually so as not to weigh the egg whites down. Our Deluxe Angel Food Cake with Rich Chocolate Glaze uses C&H Pure Baker’s Sugar and Powdered Sugar for a divinely light texture.

Sponge cake literally acts as a sponge to soak up sweet toppings. Dress up a plain sponge cake with edible flowers or a citrus-flavored glaze. Our Lemon Meringue Cake and Chocolate Sponge Cake are unusual in that they’re baked in round pans instead of the traditional tube.


	Spicy Apple Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cake is a relative newcomer to the recipe box: invented in 1927, the recipe wasn’t released publicly until 1947. It’s usually made from whole eggs; vegetable oil, which contributes tenderness; and a little leavening such as cream of tartar or baking powder to produce a springy texture. Brown Sugar Chiffon Cake has a subtle brown-sugar flavor and is topped with lighter-than-air whipped-cream frosting. Spicy Apple Chiffon Cake takes liberties with tradition in substituting butter for oil—the flavor makes it worth it!

Angel food, sponge, and chiffon cakes can be a little tricky to remove from their pans. Many recipes suggest inverting the pan over the neck of a bottle, but that can get wobbly. Instead, try this: Remove the cake from the oven and invert it, in its pan, over a footed colander. The holes allow steam to escape and the feet keep the cake stable as it cools.

Quick Tip:
If your attempts at cake-frosting have been yielding a bumper crop of crumbs, here’s a nifty solution. Make a “primer” by thinning a little frosting with milk; then smooth it on the cake and let it dry for an hour before proceeding. The “primer” will seal any crumbs on the cake’s surface and make it easy to apply the thick icing.

Baker’s Profile:
Eileen Gannon

Eileen Gannon’s delectable creations such as Raspberry Almond Cake with Raspberry Buttercream and Ginger Pear Cake wrapped in white chocolate are proof that sumptuous cakes don’t need to come from high-end bakeries. Just ask the judges of the Iowa State Fair baking contest—the nation’s largest, boasting more than 12,000 entries this year. Eileen has won four overall cake championships; last year, she placed second and third in the “Overall Cake Division,” competing against 400 other cakes. All in a day’s work for Eileen, who has won more than 100 blue ribbons!

The youngest of 14 children—six sisters, seven brothers—in a family that loves to cook, Eileen was making homemade ice cream and chocolate éclairs by the time she was in middle school. The family made brownies and cookies for football games, basketball games, band concerts, and other school fundraisers. Eileen remembers her mother buying 50-pound bags of C&H sugar!

Today Eileen works as a wealth-management consultant, but she still loves to bake as a hobby. She never enters the same cake twice in the State Fair contest, although she may use the same basic recipe, which always includes C&H sugar. Then she adds her own flavors and garnishes to create something totally new. Her personal favorite? Her version of an Opera Cake, which won first prize in the “Devil’s Food” category. This rich, dark chocolate cake is brushed with coffee and Kahlua, layered once with coffee butter cream and a second time with chocolate charlotte, and then covered in Grand Marnier and chocolate ganache. Finally the masterpiece is wrapped in a chocolate band and topped with edible gold leaf.

“Baking is such an enjoyable hobby, and cakes are beautiful, flashy, and fun,” says Eileen. “They’re a manifestation of my creativity, and they are immediate gratification that everyone else can enjoy too.”