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All about Cakes

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Cheese cake, angel food cake, Devil’s food cake, chiffon cake … …

There are so MANY variety of cakes out there in the market that sometimes we get lost just by looking at it. Different cakes have different taste and textures and this is due to the difference in composition of flour and eggs. But one thing is for sure is that all cakes, or most cakes, taste good 🙂

There are only TWO basic cake types. They are:

Butter cake
Melt in your mouth cake made up of some form of fat (butter, oil, shortening). Start off by creaming together butter and sugar to incorporate air into the batter. This makes the cake lighter. Next, add in eggs to add moisture to the cake. To complete the batter, add the liquid (if any) and dry ingredients.
Sometimes, all the ingredients are added together in a bowl, skipping the creaming method. This would result in a denser cake but otherwise still delicious 🙂

Foam cakes
Foam cakes are like sponge cakes which contain no or very little fats. This makes foam cakes lighter and airier compared to butter cakes. Foam cakes also have no or little leaveners(baking powder, baking soda) added. Instead, the cake rises due to the presence of egg whites that are beaten till stiff peaks form.
Some foam cakes (example Genoise and biscuit sponge cake) require soaking syrup to be added to add moisture to the cake.

Below is a list of some of the different kind of cakes available 😉

Angel food cake
Texture: Airy, light and melts in your mouth
Descriptions:

  • Made with no or little fats( therefore low in cholesterol)
  • The sides of the pan are not greased and the cake is turned upside down to cool

 

Biscuit sponge cake
Texture: Dry at first but is moist and tender once soaking syrup is added
Description:

  • Contains no or  little fat
  • Mostly made up of eggs therefore it has a lighter texture compared to a biscuit

 

Charlotte
Texture: light
Description:

  • Made by filling the baking tin with layers of sponge cake and whipped cream/ mousse/ fruit mixture
  • Served chilled so it needs to be refrigerated at least four hours in advance

 

Cheesecake
Texture: Rich, smooth and creamy
Description:

  • Baked in a water bath to keep the cake creamy.
  • Usually have a biscuit/ cookie/ pastry crust

 

Chiffon cake
Texture: Tender, moist and rich
Description:

  • Made with eggs, fats, flour, leaveners and sugar

 

Cupcakes
Texture: Can be airy and light or slightly denser depending on the type of recipe used.
Description:

  • Cupcakes are also known as fairy cakes as they are small and is usually enough only for one person.

 

Dacquoise
Texture: Light and crispy
Description:

  • Consist if a light and crispy a meringue made of no flour and is baked slowly till crisp and dry.
  • Unlike a meringue, a dacquoise is made of ground almonds or hazelnuts thus it has a delicious nutty flavour.

 

Devil’s Food Cake
Texture: moist and airy
Description:

  • Moister and airier compared to regular chocolate cakes
  • Use cocoa instead of chocolate for the chocolaty taste
  • Made up of butter, flour, egg whites and less whole eggs compared to cholate cakes. It makes up for its moisture by the addition of liquid (hit water or milk)
    Cake is made up of layers of chocolate cake and rich chocolate frosting in between.

 

Flourless cake
Texture: Dense and rich
Description:

  • Made with no or little flour. Instead, nuts or cookie crumbs and butter are used to make the cake.
  • Served in small pieces as the cake is dense.

 

Fruitcake
Texture: Dense and rich
Description:

  • Usually laden with lots of brandy, rum, fruits and nuts.
  • Served in small portions
  • Fruitcake taste better when try are preserved longer in dry, cool places as the brandy has more time to soak into the cake.

 

Gateaux cake
Texture: light and airy
Description:

  • Is a sponge cake usually made if ground almonds.
  • Normally it is made in layers and is sometimes soaked in syrup to provide added moisture before filling the layers with buttercream and frosting.

 

Genoise Cake
Texture: Richer and less sweet compared to other sponge cakes
Description:

  • May contain butter and has a more flavourful taste.
  • Genoise is a dry sponge cake that is soaked in syrup to provide more moisture.

 

Kuchen (German word for cake)
Texture: Like a tart or pie
Description:

  • A typical Kuchen is made of sweet dough crust with a tipping of custard or fruits.
    Other types of Kuchen are like upside-down cakes but the fruit and sugar mixture is on the top of the cake batter instead of at the bottom.

 

Madeleine
Texture: Buttery and moist. Or can be tough and dry like a cookie
Description:

  • Madeleines are small French cakes that are flavored with lemon, orange or almonds.
  • The pan needs to be greased to prevent the Madeleine from sticking to the pan

 

Panforte 
Texture: Dense and rich
Description:

  • Made of nuts and fruits(resemble a fruitcake)
  • Contains honey, sugar, chocolates, nuts and fruits.
  • Served in small slices as it is very sweet

 

Pound cake
Texture: Dense, rich and buttery
Description:

  • Recipes usually call for equal amount of sugar, flour, butter and eggs to be used.
  • Served plain or with whipped cream and fresh fruits.

 

Sponge cake
Texture: Moist and light
Description:

  • Made of minimal ingredients usually just eggs, flour and sugar.
  • Egg yolks and egg whites are added separately. Yolks and sugar are beaten till thick and light while whites are beaten till stiff peaks form.
  • Dry ingredients are then folded into the egg whites.

 

Trifle 
Texture: Rich
Description:

  • Served in a deep glass bowl with straight sides.
  • Made of lady fingers or sponge cake soaked in syrup or liqueur before layering it with custard, whipped cream and fresh fruits. ( A little like tiramisu)

 

Yeast cake
Texture: bread-like
Description:

  • Use yeast as a leavener
  • Made of fruits and nuts in a bread form

 

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