All about Cakes

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