Chapter 23

Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Candies

 Objectives
• Describe the functions of basic
ingredients used in cakes.
• Identify six types of cookies.
• Explain principles of pastry
preparation.
• Compare characteristics of
crystalline and noncrystalline
candies.
• Prepare cakes, cookies, pies, and
candies.
Cakes, Cookies, Pies, and Candies

• Cakes, cookies, and pies are three of

the most popular desserts. Candies
are really not desserts. Most desserts
are high in calories because they
contain large amounts of sugar and
fat. Desserts should never replace
grain foods, fruits, vegetables, milk
products, or protein foods in the diet.
 Kinds of cakes-
• Cakes are classified into two groups:
shortened and unshortened.
Shortened cakes contain fat. This is
why people call shortened cakes
butter cakes. Most shortened cakes
contain leavening agents, and are
tender, moist, and velvety.
• Unshortened cakes, sometimes called foam
cakes, contain no fat. They are leavened by air
and steam rather than chemical leavening
agents. Angel food and sponge cakes are
unshortened cakes. The main difference between
these two cakes is the egg content. Angel food
cakes contain just egg whites. Sponge cakes
contain whole eggs. Unshortened cakes are light
and fluffy.

• Chiffon cakes are a cross between shortened

and unshortened cakes. They contain fat like
shortened cakes and beaten egg whites like
unshortened cakes. They have large volumes,
but they are not as light as unshortened cakes.
 Cake Ingredients-
• Cakes contain flour, sugar, eggs, liquid,
and salt. All shortened cakes also
contain fat, and most cakes contain a
leavening agent. Unshortened cakes
contain cream of tartar, too.
• Flour gives structure to a cake. You can
make cakes with cake flour or all-
purpose flour. Cakes made with cake
flour are more delicate and tender.
• Sugar gives sweetness to cakes. It also
tenderizes the gluten and improves the
texture of cakes.
• Eggs improve both the flavor and color of
cakes. The coagulated egg proteins also add
structure to cakes. In angel food and sponge
cakes, eggs are important for leavening. Eggs
hold the air that is beaten into them.
• Liquid provides moisture and helps blend
ingredients.
• Salt provides flavoring.
• Fat tenderizes the gluten. Examples
of fat are butter, margarine,
hydrogenated vegetable
shortening, or oil.
• Leavening agents are added to
most shortened cakes to make the
cakes rise and become porous and
light. Examples are baking powder
or baking soda and sour milk.
• Cream of Tartar is an acid that
makes egg whites whiter and makes
the cake grain finer. Angel food and
sponge cake recipes call for this.
• Flavorings are not essential
ingredients in cakes, but they help
make cakes special. You can add
spices, extracts, fruits, nuts, poppy
seeds, and coconut to cake batters
 Food Science Principles
of Preparing Cakes
• Successfully preparing a cake
depends on measuring, mixing,
and baking. You must measure
ingredients accurately and mix them
correctly. You must bake the cake
batter in the correct pan at the
correct temperature. You also need
to watch baking time carefully.
 Measuring Ingredients-
• Flour, fat, sugar, liquid, and eggs affect the
development of gluten. A cake made with too
much flour is compact and dry. A cake made
with too little flour is coarse, and it may fall.
• Optimum amounts of fat and sugar tenderize
gluten. Too much fat or sugar over tenderizes
the gluten and weakens it. A cake made with
too much of either ingredient will be heavy
and coarse, and it may fall. A cake made with
too little of either ingredient will be tough.
• The optimum amount of liquid provides
the moisture needed for gluten to
develop. Too much liquid will make a
cake soggy and heavy. Too little
liquid will make a cake dry and heavy.
• The optimum number of eggs
contributes proteins that strengthen
the gluten framework. Too many eggs
will make a cake rubbery and tough.
 Mixing Cakes-
• The correct proportions of
ingredients must be mixed according
to the method specified in the recipe.
Cake batters should be neither
overmixed nor under- mixed.
Overmixing will cause the gluten to
overdevelop… causing the cake to be
tough.
 Baking Cakes-
• Bake cake batter in pans that are neither too large
nor too small. If the pans are too small, the batter
will overflow. If the pans are too large, the cake will
be too flat and may be dry. The correct pan size will
produce a cake with a gently rounded top.
• You should grease the pans for most shortened
cakes and flour them lightly. You should not grease
the pans for un-shortened cakes. This is because
angel food and sponge cake batters must cling to the
sides of the pan during baking.
• Place cakes in a preheated oven set at the correct
temperature and bake them just until they test done.
Preparing a Shortened Cake
• You can mix shortened cakes by the conventional
method or the quick mix method.
• Conventional method – Cream the fat and sugar
together until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs into
the creamed fat and sugar. Then add the dry
ingredients alternately with the liquid.
• Quick mix method – Also called the one-bowl
method, takes less time than the conventional
method. Measure the dry ingredients into the
mixing bowl. Beat the fat and part of the liquid
with the dry ingredients. Add the remaining liquid
and unbeaten eggs last.
• Arrange the pans in the oven so the heat
circulates freely around the cake. The pans
should not touch each other or any part of
the oven. If they do, hot spots may form, and
the cake may bake unevenly.
• To test a cake for doneness, lightly touch the
center with your fingertip. If the cake
springs back, it is baked. You can also insert
a toothpick into the center of the cake. If
the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is
baked.
• Most recipes will tell you to let cakes cool in
the pans for about 10 minutes after removing
the pans from the oven. This cooling period
makes it easier to remove the cakes from
the pans. To remove a cake from the pan, run
the tip of a spatula around the sides of the
cake to loosen it. Invert a cooling rack over
the top of the pan and gently flip the cooling
rack and the pan. The cake should slide out
of the pan. Let the cake layers cool
thoroughly before frosting them.
 Characteristics of a
Shortened Cake-
• A high-quality shortened cake is
velvety and light. The interior has
small, fine cells with thin walls. The
crusts are thin and evenly browned.
The top crust is smooth or slightly
pebbly and gently rounded. The
flavor is mild and pleasing.
 Pound Cakes-
• Pound cakes are shortened cakes that
contain no chemical leavening agents.
Pound cakes rely on air and steam for
leavening. You must thoroughly cream
the fat and sugar when making pound
cake. Beat the eggs into the creamed
mixture. Add the dry ingredients and the
liquid to the creamed mixture. Pound
cakes are more compact than other
shortened cakes, and they have a
closer grain.
Preparing an Unshortened Cake
• Angel food cake is the most frequently
prepared unshortened cake. When
preparing an angel food cake, the
ingredients should be at room
temperature. Egg whites that are cold will
not achieve maximum volume when
beaten.
• For an angel food cake, beat the egg
whites with some of the sugar until stiff.
Carefully fold the flour and remaining
sugar into the beaten egg whites.
• Carefully pour the batter for an unshortened cake
into an ungreased tube pan. Run a spatula through
the batter to release large air bubbles and seal the
batter against the sides of the pan. Bake the cake in
a preheated oven for the recommended time. Test
the cake for doneness by gently touching the
cracks. They should feel dry and no imprint should
remain.
• When you remove an unshortened cake from the
oven, immediately suspend the pan upside down
over the neck of a bottle. Hanging the cake upside
down prevents a loss of volume during cooling.
Cool the cake completely before removing it from
the pan.
 Characteristics of an
Unshortened Cake-

• A high-quality angel food cake has a

large volume. The interior is spongy
and porous and has thin cell walls.
The cake is tender and moist, but it is
not gummy.
 Sponge Cakes-
• Sponge cakes contain whole eggs
rather than just egg whites. To make a
sponge cake – beat the egg yolks until
they are thick and lemon colored. Add
the liquid, sugar, and salt to the yolks.
Continue beating until the mixture is
thick. Gently fold the flour into the yolk
mixture. Then fold the stiffly beaten
egg whites into the flour-yolk mixture.
 Preparing a Chiffon Cake
• Mix a chiffon cake by combining the egg yolks,
oil, liquid, and flavoring with the dry ingredients.
Beat the mixture until smooth. Beat the egg
whites with the sugar and cream of tartar. Then
fold the egg white mixture into the other mixture.

Characteristics of a Chiffon Cake-

• A high-quality chiffon cake has a large volume,
although not quite as large as that of an angel
food cake. The interior is moist and has cells with
thin walls. The cake is tender and has a pleasing
flavor.
 Filling and Frosting Cakes
• Fluffy whipped cream, creamy puddings,
and sweet fruits are among the popular
fillings for cakes.
• Canned frostings and frosting mixes are
available, but you can easily make
frostings from scratch. Frostings may be
cooked or uncooked. Cooked frostings use
the principles of candy making. They
include ingredients that interfere with the
formation of crystals in a heated sugar
syrup. Then you beat them until fluffy.
• Uncooked frostings are popular for
their creamy texture. They are
easily made by beating the
ingredients together until they reach
a smooth, spreadable consistency.
• Cream cheese frosting and butter
cream are well-liked uncooked
frostings.
 Kinds of Cookies
• All cookies belong to one of six basic groups:
rolled, drop, bar, refrigerator, pressed, or
molded.
• The ingredients used to make different kinds of
cookies are similar. However, the doughs differ
in consistency, and they are shaped
differently.
• A stiff dough is used to
make rolled cookies. Roll
the dough on a pastry
cloth or board to a
thickness of 1/8 to ¼
inch. Cut the cookies
from the dough with a
cookie cutter and transfer
them to a cookie sheet.
• Sugar cookies are
popular rolled cookies.
• A soft dough is used to
make drop cookies. Drop
or push the dough from a
spoon onto cookie sheets.
Leave about 2 inches of
space between cookies.
Drop cookies will spread
more than rolled cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies are
popular drop cookies.
• A soft dough is also used to
make bar cookies. Spread
the dough evenly in a jelly
roll pan or square cake pan
and bake it. Depending on
the thickness of the dough,
bar cookies may be chewy
or cakelike. Bar cookies
can be cut into different
shapes after baking.
Brownies are popular bar
cookies.
• Refrigerator cookies contain a
high proportion of fat. Form the
stiff dough into a long roll,
about two inches in diameter.
Wrap the rollin foil or plastic
wrap and refrigerate it until
firm. When the dough has
hardened, cut it into thin slices.
Place the cookies on lightly
greased cookie sheets and bake
them. Pinwheel cookies are
popular refrigerator cookies.
• A very rich, stiff dough is used to
make pressed cookies. Pack the
dough into a cookie press. This
utensil has perforated disks through
which the dough is pushed onto
cookie sheets. The cookies vary in
shape and size, depending on the
disk used. Swedish spritz cookies
are pressed cookies.
• A stiff dough is also used to make
molded cookies. Small pieces of
dough are broken off and shaped
with the fingers. Crescents and small
balls are popular shapes.
 Cookie Ingredients
• Cookies contain the same basic
ingredients used to make cakes. They
contain flour, sugar, liquid, fat, salt, egg,
and leavening agents. Most cookies
contain more fat and sugar and less
liquid than cakes.
• Rolled cookies often contain no liquid.
• The proportion of ingredients, as well
as the way the cookies are shaped,
determines if cookies are soft or crisp.
 Mixing Methods for Cookies
• Many cookies are made using the
conventional mixing method used for
shortened cakes. Blend the sugar and fat
until smooth. Add the eggs, liquid, flavorings,
followed by the dry ingredients.
• Most cookies are crisp or chewy rather than
light and delicate. Therefore, the fat and sugar
do not need to be creamed as thoroughly as
they are for a cake. Also, in most cases, the
flour can be added all at once rather than in
parts.
• Macaroons, meringues, and kisses contain
beaten egg whites. They are mixed like angel
 Pans for Baking Cookies
• Bake drop, rolled, refrigerator, pressed, and
molded cookies on flat baking pans or cookie
sheets.
– Cookie sheets should not have high sides, or
cookies will bake unevenly.
– Bake bar cookies in pans with sides.
• Cookies baked on bright, shiny cookie sheets
will have a light, delicate brown color.
• Cookies baked on dark cookie sheets will have
dark bottoms.
• Cookie sheets should be cool when cookies are
placed on them for baking. Warm sheets will
cause cookies to spread and lose their shape.
 Storing Cookies
• Store crisp cookies in a container with a
loose-fitting cover.
• Store soft cookies in a container with a
tight-fitting cover. (Never store crisp and
soft cookies together. The soft cookies will
soften the crisp cookies.)
• Bar cookies can be stored in their baking
pan if they are covered and they will be
eaten in a short time.
• Many cookies freeze well both in dough
form and after baking.
 Pies
• Apple pie is a favorite dessert in the
U.S.
• Apple pie begins with pastry. Pastry
is the dough used to make piecrusts.
 Uses for Pastry
• Pastry can be used in many ways. It
is mainly used when making dessert
pies. However, pastry can be used
when making main dish pies, such as
meat pies and quiche. Small pastry
shells can be used to make tarts
filled with pudding or ice cream.
Pastry can also be used to make
appetizers such as cheese sticks.
 Kinds of Pies
• The four basic kinds of pies are fruit, cream,
custard, and chiffon.
• Fruit pies usually are two-crust pies. They
may have a solid top crust, or they may
have a lattice or other decorative top. Filling
made from canned, frozen, dried, or fresh
fruit may be used.
• Cream pies usually are one-crust pies. Use
a cornstarch-thickened pudding mixture to
make a cream filling. Cream pies often have
a meringue topping.
• Custard pies are one-crust pies filled
with custard made from milk, eggs, and
sugar. The custard may or may not
contain other ingredients. Pumpkin pie is
a popular custard pie.
• Chiffon pies are light and airy. They are
one-crust pies filled with a mixture
containing gelatin and cooked beaten
egg whites. Some chiffon pie fillings also
contain whipped cream.
 Ingredients for Pastry
• Four basic ingredients are used to make
pastry—flour, fat, water and salt. When
combined correctly, the four ingredients will
produce pastry that is tender and flaky.
• Flour gives structure to pastry.
• Fat makes pastry tender by inhibiting the
development of gluten.
• Water provides the moisture needed for
the development of the gluten and the
production of steam.
• Salt contributes flavor to pastry.
 Food Science Principles of
Preparing Pastry
• To make pastry that is both tender
and flaky, the correct ingredients
must be used. They must be
measured accurately. The dough
must be handled gently and as little
as possible.
 Measuring the Ingredients
• Flour, fat, and liquid all affect the tenderness of
pastry. If these ingredients are not measured
accurately, a poor-quality pastry will result.
• Gluten develops when flour is moistened and stirred.
The gluten creates a frame-work that traps air and
holds steam formed during baking. This trapped air
and steam is what causes pastry to be tender and
flaky. Too much flour will make pastry tough.
• Layers of fat physically separate the layers of gluten
that form. As a result, the pastry is both tender and
flaky. Too little fat will make pastry tough; too much
fat will make pastry crumbly.
• Water hydrates the flour so the gluten will develop.
It also produces the steam needed for flakiness. Too
much liquid will make the pastry tough. Too little
liquid will make it crumbly and difficult.
 Preparing Pastry
• Several methods can be used to mix
pastry, but the biscuit method
(sometimes called the pastry method) is
most popular.
• When making a one-crust pie that will be
filled after baking, flute the edges. Prick
the bottom and sides of the piecrust with
a fork to prevent blistering during baking.
Do not prick the bottom or sides of a
crust that will be filled before baking.
 Characteristics of Pastry
• High-quality pastry is both tender and
flaky. The amount and distribution of
gluten determines tenderness. Flakiness is
due to layers of gluten separated by layers
of fat and expanded by steam.
• If pastry is tender, it will cut easily with a
fork and “melt in the mouth; when eaten.
• Aside from having pastry that is tender,
flaky, and crisp, a pie should be lightly and
evenly browned. The filling should have a
pleasing flavor and be neither too runny nor
too firm.
 Candy
• Homemade fudge, divinity, peanut
brittle, toffee, and caramels are fun
to make and give as gifts.
• To make good candy, directions
must be followed exactly. Candies
must be mixed correctly and cooked
to the exact temperature specified
in the recipe. Otherwise, they are
likely to fall.
 Kinds of Candy
• A few kinds of candies do not need to be
cooked, but these require special recipes.
• Most candies are cooked. Cooked candies
are either crystalline or noncrystalline
candies.
• Crystalline candies contain fine sugar
crystals. They are smooth and creamy.
Fudge, fondant, and divinity are crystalline
candies.
• Noncrystalline candies do not contain
sugar crystals. They can be chewy or brittle.
Caramels, peanut brittle, and toffee are
 Food Science Principles of
Candy Making
• All cooked candies begin with sugar
syrup. This is a mixture of sugar and
liquid that is cooked to a thick consistency.
Successful candy making depends on how
this sugar syrup is treated.
• When making crystalline candies, the
sugar syrup should form crystals. These
crystals need to be very small and fine.
– To produce small sugar crystals, the sugar
syrup must be heated to a specific
temperature. It must then be cooled to a
specific temperature and beaten vigorously.
• Fudge is one of the most popular
crystalline candies. High-quality
fudge tastes smooth and creamy
because it contains small sugar
crystals. It has a deep brown color
and a satiny sheen.
• Poor-quality fudge tastes grainy
because it contains large sugar
crystals.
• When making noncrystalline candies,
the sugar syrup should not form
crystals.
• Crystal formation can be prevented by
heating the syrup to a very high
temperature.
– Substances like corn syrup, milk, cream,
or butter can be added, which interfere
with crystallization.
– A combination of high temperatures and
interfering substances can also be used to
prevent crystals from forming.
• Peanut brittle is a popular
noncrystalline candy. High-quality
peanut brittle has a golden color and
looks foamy. Cooking the candy to a
very high temperature and using
interfering substances prevent
crystal formation.
• Whether making crystalline or noncrystalline
candies, temperature is very important.
– A candy thermometer is the most accurate
method of testing the temperature of sugar
syrups.
– Each type of candy requires a specific
temperature.
– The candy thermometer will accurately indicate
when sugar syrup reaches the correct
temperature.
• A heavy saucepan or an iron skillet should
be used to cook candy.
– Mixtures that contain large amounts of sugar
burn easily.
– A heavy saucepan will help prevent scorching.
 Chocolate
• Even novices can melt chocolate to
make simple candies. Melted
chocolate can be poured into molds.
It can be used to make clusters of
raisins, nuts, or coconut. Fondant or
caramels can also be dipped in a
coating of melted
chocolate.
• To melt chocolate, chop bars into small
pieces or use chocolate chips.
– Place chocolate in the top of a double boiler
over hot water and stir constantly.
– Remove chocolate from heat as soon as it is
melted to prevent scorching.
• Chocolate can also be melted in a
microwave oven.
– Place the chocolate in a glass bowl.
– Microwave on high power for 30 seconds at a
time until chocolate is melted.
– Be sure to stir the chocolate after each
microwaving period.