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the use of a leavening such as baking powder), the eggs we do use remain very
definitely a key to our cake’s success. It is the beating of them that is so important.

In modified sponge cakes of the yellow type (those in which both yolks and
whites are used), you will observe that sugar is usually beaten into egg yolks or
whole eggs. Actually, the success of most of these cakes is very dependent on the
beating you do right there! The yolks or whole eggs must be beaten just as full
and light as possible, as a starter; then you must beat your sugar in very gradually,
and beat the egg-sugar mixture very, very well. Such recipes are apt to demand
that you beat this egg-sugar mixture anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes—and if the
recipe asks you to do that, my advice is to be sure you obey. During this beating,
a great deal of air is incorporated in the mixture, and the sugar is to a great extent,
dissolved in the process.

Egg whites are beaten separately from the yolks and both are used in many of
the modified yellow sponges. The whites are used, without yolks at all, in the making
of a modified white sponge, or ‘‘mock angel cake,” as such a one is often called—
and a very good mockery it can be!

The beating of the egg whites must also be done just so. It is very rarely indeed
that an egg white should be beaten dry—and certainly never, when it is to go into
a cake batter. You will find that my instructions are to beat the egg white ‘until
just stiff—not dry”... and that is always important. The egg whites*hold their
shape at this point, but the surface is still glossy and gleaming, net dull-looking.

Adding the sugar to egg whites for these modified sponges, should be done just
right, too; we follow the same rules as when we add the sugar to the egg whites in
making a true yellow sponge—we sprinkle the sugar over the egg whites when they
have been beaten ‘‘just stiff—not dry” and after each addition, beat the mixture
until it stands in peaks. This, of course, makes it into a meringue—and this meringue
is usually incorporated with other ingredients by the “‘cutting and folding’’ method
described in Lesson 1. When such incorporation is made, one must work very
lightly, but at the same time make sure that the egg whites disappear as such-~
that no blobs of meringue are left throughout the mixture.

For the cooling of our modified sponge cakes, we again borrow from the ritual
we observe for the cooling of our true sponges, unless the recipe definitely specifies
otherwise. We place 3 small utensils—custard cups,, tea cups, any 3 items of the
same height—on the table and turning the pan upside down, we rest its edge on
the 3 supports and allow the cake to hang in it, suspended at full stretch, so as to
keep all its little air-filled cells as puffed as when they come from the oven; when
the cake is actually cold, the cell walls will be sufficiently ‘‘set” to prevent: the
cake from sinking because of its fragility.

Loosen cold cake from pan, and gently shake out onto a cake rack or flat plate.

Like the true sponges, our modified sponge cakes are more tender on the second
day, if they have been stored over night in a closely-covered container. Under
such protection, the cake will remain fresh another day or so—’though not so long
as a true sponge cake.

Frosting, whilst not at all necessary for a modified sponge cake, is far more of
a possibility than it is for a true sponge. The modified sponges are a bit sturdier
and so a little better qualified to carry the weight of a frosting—but I would advocate
the use of a topping that is light in type.

The modified yellow sponge cake is ultra-good when given a filling—and the
filling may be put between two separately baked layers or between layers you
make by splitting a thick-enough cake.

LESSON 8 58