In making cakes, after the proper selection of ingredients, the respective quantity to be used is of great importance; and the binding material, or the ingredient which binds the different materials into the solid mass, when they come into contact with the heat during the process of baking cakes, deserves first attention. Flour, of course, ranks as the principal binding material and practically is the cheapest material, used in bulk, with which the cake-baker has to deal, and is the one that, by its judicious use, will cheapen or otherwise increase the cost of manufacture.

This is due to the fact that a cake mixture, generally speaking, should be held as soft as possible, as a stiffer mixture would require additional ingredients in order to make the product of the same standard quality, and as flour usually is the cheaper ingredient, then it follows that a stiffer mixture would either decrease the quality of the product or increase the cost of manufacture. Thus the various ingredients principally used in the manufacture of cakes are proportioned in the following way as to their binding qualities in a cake mixture:

Taking as a basis a “pound cake mixture” consisting of one pound each of sugar, shortening, eggs and flour, and it would be desirable to cheapen this mixture by adding, say, milk and flour, it would be necessary to add the milk and flour in even proportions, and for each two ounces of milk and flour so added one-sixteenth of an ounce of baking powder would be required additionally, or in its place a proportioned amount of soda bicarbonate and cream of tartar, which, in this case, would be one sixty-fourth of an ounce of the former and one thirty-second of an ounce of the latter.

Should we continue to add flour and milk and repeat the aforesaid amount eight times, we arrive at a cake mixture calling for one pound each of sugar, shortening and eggs, but one pint of milk, two pounds flour and one-half ounce of baking powder, or an equivalent amount of soda bicarbonate with cream of tartar.

Should we further desire to reduce the cost of manufacture, in purpose not only to reduce the selling price, but also to increase the volume of expansion to a given weight of such cake, we reduce one egg and, correspondingly, two ounces of shortening, and this necessitates to again increase the amount of baking powder one-sixteenth of an ounce for each egg and two ounces of shortening so reduced from the original recipe, which in this case again would be the pound cake mixture.

If we follow by reducing this amount four times, we have a recipe calling for one pound sugar, one-half pound shortening, four eggs, one pint milk, two pounds flour and one ounce baking powder, or a recipe which is the general basis for loaf cake mixture.

This intimates that one ounce of flour has the binding quality for one ounce of milk, if added to a mixture. Again, one egg will correspond in binding quality to two ounces of shortening; that is, one egg, (figuring the average weight of eggs as two ounces each) would correspond to two ounces of milk in binding power, and flour would find its own weight in shortening, and as one egg has the binding quality of two ounces of flour, we may add one egg, and reduce the corresponding amount of flour, which, by producing a softer mixture, increases the quality of the product at the minimum cost of manufacture.

Shortening, in general, (by which I refer to butter, lard, oils or vegetable fats) and eggs have the tendency, when properly incorporated in a mixture, to lighten the cakes, that is why they are creamed together with the sugar, but the same as sugar itself, they have a shortening effect to enrich the cake.

In yeast-raised cakes the binding quality of the different ingredients vary, and one egg, for instance, only possesses the binding quality for one and one-half ounces of corresponding material; but, on the other side, the flour will absorb and retain a good deal more moisture for the reason that for yeast-raised cakes stronger flour is used than for cakes made by the use of baking powders, and again during the process of fermentation the gluten is developed, whereas in baking powder goods the gluten in flour is of no value.

It is needless to repeat here that baking powder and allied products are of entirely different nature and quality, and the comparison is not made with intention to substitute one leavening agent for the other.

Baking powders, ammonia carbonate, soda bicarbonate, cream of tartar, etc., do not add to the nutritious quality of a cake, but their use is tolerated by reason of their great convenience, and, furthermore, they are an absolute necessity for a certain class of cakes, but in all cases good judgment should be exercised to use the least possible quantities that will produce the necessary lightness or neutralize the presence of acidity.

The amount of soda bicarbonate to be used, especially for molasses goods, often depends upon the water, and while the latter is little used in the manufacture of cakes, it is well to state that soft water requires less soda than if hard water is to be used. Hard water may be softened by the addition of a solution of soda bicarbonate.

Sodium chloride, generally called common salt, is very rarely used in the manufacture of cakes, unless for molasses goods, etc., where the addition of a minute amount exerts a beneficial influence on the binding material employed; it also acts, in part, to neutralize the acidity of molasses, which usually is contained in the latter in overabundant quantities, and, therefore, does not interfere with the action of the soda bicarbonate. The principal reason for using a small amount of salt is that it will stimulate the capacity of the palate to recognize the flavor of the finished product to better advantage.

Sodium bicarbonate, commonly called baking soda, is used to spread and lighten the cakes, as well as for its neutralizing power, as in contact with acids it develops carbonic acid gas, thus leavening the cakes.

Ammonia carbonate is the strongest of this class of leavenings known in the manufacture of cakes, but leaves a displeasing flavor and coarse grain if used in too large quantities; employed in part with soda bicarbonate it usually gives very satisfactory results.

If by error too much soda bicarbonate is used, the product will have a greenish tint and bitter taste. If such error occurs, it is well to add a proportion of cream of tartar or tartaric acid to neutralize the over-amount of soda and allow the mixture to rest sufficient time so one may neutralize the other.

It is hardly necessary to refer to the flour, as every one connected with the baking business knows that soft flour is used for cakes—one containing the least gluten, and consists usually of the soft white winter wheat class. While winter wheat flour often can be bought at a lower price than spring wheat flour, it is not the reason for its use in cakes, but because it is better adapted.