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Cakes normally combine some kind of wheat product, a sweetening agent (commonly sugar), a binding agent (generally egg, though gluten or starch are often used by vegetarians and vegans), fats (usually butter or margarine, although a fruit puree can be substituted to avoid using fat), a liquid (milk, water or fruit juice), flavours and some form of leavening agent (such as yeast or baking powder). Cake is often the dessert of choice for meals at ceremonial occasions, particularly weddings, anniversaries and birthdays. Being a cakeSince cakes are often iced or frosted, the term cake usually refers to the entire finished object: the cake and its frosting (topping). However, cake also refers to the part that is typically made from flour.
Cake baking ingredients and methodsMost cakes are made with wheat flour and therefore gluten, which means special care needs to be taken to ensure cakes don't have a chewy texture. The cake ingredients are mixed as little as possible once the flour has been added. This differs markedly from sturdy food items made with flour such as bread, where the goal is to agitate the gluten as much as possible. Cakes often rely on beating eggs and addition of leavening agents, such as baking powder, to produce the air bubbles in the cake. This is what makes a traditional cake fluffy and spongy. Typical ingredients are wheat flour, eggs, oil, water, baking powder, vanilla extract, and sugar. Soft flour/cake flour is often used, as it has less gluten than either hard flour/bread flour or regular flour. Cocoa powder or chocolate is added to make a chocolate cake. Butter or light-tasting oils such as canola oil are used. Strong-tasting oils such as olive oil are usually not used as they can overwhelm and contradict the taste of other ingredients. There are several methods to combine cake ingredients: Creaming method - butter and sugar are creamed together before the rest of the ingredients are gradually added.; Melt-and-mix - dry ingredients are mixed together and then melted butter and other liquids are added to complete the cake.; 'All-in-together' - the dry ingredients and shortening are placed in the food processor and liquid is gradually added.; Sponge-making - eggs and sugar are whipped to a froth and flour is carefully mixed in. No raising agent or fat is used in this method and it takes great skill to make a light sponge; Whisking - there is no fat needed and the dry ingredients are whisked together with egg and sugar to get the final product; When all the cake ingredients are mixed, the mixture is called cake batter or mix. The cake batter is usually poured into one or two baking pans. Baking pans can be rectangular, circular, square, or some other specialized shape. Sometimes flouring the baking pan is required to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan during baking. To flour a baking pan:
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