William Penn Life, 2008 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

2008-12-01 / 12. szám

-fhe Kítcheo.

with Főszakács Béla

Cakes, Tortes & T reats

FÁRADJON BE A MAGYAR KONYHÁBA.

Holiday wishes to you all! Chef Vilmos and 1 want to say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you faithful readers of The Hungarian Kitchen.

This year was quite the learning experience for all of us. We have a new president and we hope we are heading to better times. I know The HK will always be improving with new ideas and recipes for all to enjoy.

As a matter of correction, in October the Apple Nut Cake recipe needs another ingredient to make it work. Use 2/3 cup of canola or vegetable oil. Six ounces of clarified butter will work as well.

Starting in January The HK will not only offer recipes but also background on or the history of some foods and how they became

CHEFS TIP #73

Chiffon cakes will turn out better if you use oil instead of butter because it produces a tender crumb. Any fats used for a cake should be at room temperature to blend better with the other ingredients. If you are using butter in a cake recipe, it should be soft and not melted. As butter melts, it will break down and give the desired results in your recipe, which is a tastier, softer cake.

Magyar traditions. It's nice to know how our foods came about and why we still have them today.

The William Penn Life will also have some new features next year, and they are going through the final stages of preparation for your reading enjoyment. In fact, all of the WPA is going to the next level with more to offer the members. Remember to stay in touch with your branches and read the William Penn Life to keep informed. AND don't forget to check out the WPA website www.williampennassociation.org, urww.thegulyaspot.com another great Magyar site and my own www.hungariankitchen.com to stay in touch the Hungarian way.

I received a letter from Helen Grover who lives in Ohio asking if I would have more recipes for Hungarian desserts, especially tortes. So the next three issues of The HK will have cakes, tortes and sweet treat recipes. I will save kalacs recipes for a separate column. While all of the recipes are not Hungarian, remember that variety is the spice of life, and we Magyars like to be spicy!

Here is your trivia question: Which company offered the first cake mix you could buy in the market? Here's a hint, it's not the big three.

Now into the warm kitchen we go. Hats on, aprons on let's cook....

CAKE is a sweet, baked confection usually containing flour, sugar, flavoring, eggs or other leavening

agent. There are two basic types of cakes we make, either they contain fats or they do not have any fat at all. Butter Cakes contain either butter, margarine, shortening or oil which creates a fine smooth texture which is very moist. Foam Cakes have no fat, and while they are not too moist, they have a lighter texture which is usually complimented by an icing or filling.

Before we continue, let me give you some background information. The cakes we enjoy today are not like the recipes of olden times. It took decades to get the right ingredients so you can enjoy what we call cake today. The earliest cakes were produced by the Greeks and the Romans using simple ingredients like flour, milk, water, honey and

Any sweeteners will make for a tender cake, but, remember, you can’t substitute powdered sugar for granulated. The general rule of thumb is granulated sugar for the cake recipe and then powdered sugar for the frosting or filling.

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William Penn Life, December 2008