1.

1 Ingredients are selected, measured and weighed according to recipe requirements, enterprise
practices and customer practices
1.2 Required oven temperature is selected to bake goods in accordance with desired
characteristics, standard recipe specifications and enterprise practices
1.3 Sponges and cakes are prepared according to recipe specifications, techniques and conditions
and desired product characteristics
1.4 Appropriate equipment are used according to required pastry and bakery products and
standard operating procedures
1.5 Sponges and cakes are cooled according to established standards and procedures

Element 1: Prepare and bake cakes and filings

1.1 Select required commodities according to recipe

and production requirements

1.2 Prepare a variety of cakes to desired product

characteristics

1.3 Produce a variety of cakes according to standard

recipes and enterprise standards

1.4 Use appropriate equipment to prepare and bake

cakes

1.5 Use correct techniques to produce cakes to

enterprise standards
1.6 Bake cakes to enterprise requirements and
standards
1.7 Select correct oven conditions for baking cakes
Element 2: Decorate and present/display cakes
2.1 Prepare a variety of fillings and coating/icing,
glazes and decorations for cakes
.2 Decorate cakes using fillings and coating/icing and decorations according to standard recipes
and/or enterprise standards and/or customer requests
2.3 Present/display cakes to enterprise standards using appropriate service equipment

Element 3: Prepare and produce pastries and

fillings
3.1 Select required commodities according to recipe
and production requirements
3.2 Prepare a variety of pastries
3.3 Produce a variety of pastries according to
standard recipes and enterprise standards
3.4 Use appropriate equipment to prepare and bake
pastries
3.5 Use correct techniques to produce pastries to

2.1 Fillings are prepared and selected in accordance with required consistency and appropriate flavors
2.2 Slice or layer sponges and cakes are filled and assembled according to standard recipe specifications,
enterprise practice and customer preferences

2.3 Coatings and sidings are selected according to the product characteristics and required recipe
specifications

3.1 Sponges and cakes are decorated suited to the product and occasion and in accordance with
standard recipes and enterprise practices 3.2 Suitable icings and decorations are used according to
standard recipes and/or enterprise standards and customer preferences
4.1 Cakes are presented on accordance with customer’s expectations and established standards and
procedures 4.2 Equipment are selected and used in accordance with service requirements 4.3 Product
freshness, appearances and eating qualities are maintained in accordance with the established
standards and procedures 4.4 Cakes are marked or cut portion-controlled to minimize wastage and in
accordance with enterprise specifications and customer preferences

5.1 Cakes are stored in accordance with establishment’s standards and procedures 5.2 Storage methods
are identified in accordance with product specifications and established standards and procedures

Varieties
Main article: List of cakes
Cakes are broadly divided into several categories, based primarily on ingredients
and mixing techniques.
Although clear examples of the difference between cake and bread are easy to
find, the precise classification has always been elusive.[5]
Butter cake
Main article: Butter cake

Gooey butter cake

Butter cakes are made from creamed butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. They rely on
the combination of butter and sugar beaten for an extended time to incorporate
air into the batter.[11] A classic pound cake is made with a pound each of butter,
sugar, eggs, and flour. Another type of butter cake that takes its name from the
proportion of ingredients used is 1-2-3-4 cake: 1 cup butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups
flour, and 4 eggs.[12] According to Beth Tartan, this cake was one of the most
common among the American pioneers who settled North Carolina.[13]
Baking powder is in many butter cakes, such as Victoria sponge.[14] The
ingredients are sometimes mixed without creaming the butter, using recipes for
simple and quick cakes.[citation needed]
Sponge cake
Main article: Sponge cake

Steamed sponge cake called ma lai gao

Sponge cakes (or foam cakes) are made from whipped eggs, sugar, and flour.
Traditional sponge cakes are leavened only with eggs. They rely primarily on
trapped air in a protein matrix (generally beaten eggs) to provide leavening,
sometimes with a bit of baking powder or other chemical leaven added. Egg-
leavened sponge cakes are thought to be the oldest cakes made without yeast.
Angel food cake is a white cake that uses only the whites of the eggs and is
traditionally baked in a tube pan. The French Génoise is a sponge cake that
includes clarified butter. Highly decorated sponge cakes with lavish toppings are
sometimes called gateau, the French word for cake. Chiffon cakes are sponge
cakes with vegetable oil, which adds moistness.[15]
Chocolate cake
Main article: Chocolate cake

German chocolate cake

Chocolate cakes are butter cakes, sponge cakes, or other cakes flavored with
melted chocolate or cocoa powder.[16] German chocolate cake is a variety of
chocolate cake. Fudge cakes are chocolate cakes that contain fudge.
Coffee cake
Main article: Coffee cake
Coffee cake is generally thought of as a cake to serve with coffee or tea at
breakfast or a coffee break. Some types use yeast as a leavening agent, while
others use baking soda or baking powder. These cakes often have a crumb
topping called streusel or a light glaze drizzle.
Flourless cake
Baked flourless cakes include baked cheesecakes and flourless chocolate cakes.
Layer cakes
Main article: Layer cake
Layer cakes are cakes made with layers of sponge or butter cake filled with
cream, jam, or other filling to hold the layers together.
One-egg cake
One-egg cakes are made with one egg. They can be made with butter[17] or
vegetable shortening.[18] One egg cake was an economical recipe when using two
eggs for each cake was too costly.[19]

Special-purpose cakes
Cakes may be classified according to the occasion for which they are intended.
For example, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, cakes for first communion,
Christmas cakes, Halloween cakes, and Passover plava (a type of sponge cake
sometimes made with matzo meal) are all identified primarily according to the
celebration they are intended to accompany. The cutting of a wedding cake
constitutes a social ceremony in some cultures. The Ancient Roman marriage
ritual of confarreatio originated in the sharing of a cake.
Particular types of cake may be associated with particular festivals, such
as stollen or chocolate log (at Christmas), babka and simnel cake (at Easter),
or mooncake. There has been a long tradition of decorating an iced cake at
Christmas time; other cakes associated with Christmas include chocolate log
and mince pies.
A Lancashire Courting Cake is a fruit-filled cake baked by a fiancée for her
betrothed. The cake has been described as "somewhere between a firm sponge
– with a greater proportion of flour to fat and eggs than a Victoria sponge cake –
and a shortbread base and was proof of the bride-to-be's baking skills".
Traditionally it is a two-layer cake filled and topped with strawberries or
raspberries and whipped cream.[20]
Shapes

A chocolate sour cream bundt cake

Cakes are frequently described according to their physical form. Cakes may be
small and intended for individual consumption. Larger cakes may be made to be
sliced and served as part of a meal or social function. Common shapes include:

 Bundt cakes
 Cake dress
 Cake balls
 Cake pops
 Conical, such as the Kransekake
 Cupcakes and madeleines, which are both sized for a single person
 Layer cakes, frequently baked in a springform pan and decorated
 Sheet cakes, simple, flat, rectangular cakes baked in sheet pans

Cake flour
Main article: Flour
Special cake flour with a high starch-to-gluten ratio is made from fine-textured,
soft, low-protein wheat. It is strongly bleached and compared to all-purpose flour,
cake flour tends to result in cakes with a lighter, less dense texture.[21] Therefore,
it is frequently specified or preferred in cakes meant to be soft, light or bright
white, such as angel food cake. However, if cake flour is called for, a substitute
can be made by replacing a small percentage of all-purpose flour with cornstarch
or removing two tablespoons from each cup of all-purpose flour.[22][23][24] Some
recipes explicitly specify or permit all-purpose flour, notably where a firmer or
denser cake texture is desired.

Cooking
Baking a basic yellow cake
A cake can fail to bake properly, which is called "falling". In a cake that "falls",
parts may sink or flatten, because it was baked at a temperature that is too low or
too hot,[25][26] when it has been underbaked[26] and when placed in an oven that is
too hot at the beginning of the baking process.[27] The use of excessive amounts
of sugar, flour, fat or leavening can also cause a cake to fall.[27][28] A cake can also
fall when subjected to cool air that enters an oven when the oven door is opened
during the cooking process.[29]

Cake decorating
Main article: Cake decorating

Cake decoration – buttercream swirls being piped onto the

sides of this cake with a pastry bag
A finished cake is often enhanced by covering it with icing, or frosting, and
toppings such as sprinkles, which are also known as "jimmies" in certain parts of
the United States and "hundreds and thousands" in the United Kingdom. The
frosting is usually made from powdered (icing) sugar, sometimes a fat of some
sort, milk or cream, and often flavorings such as a vanilla extract or cocoa
powder. Some decorators use a rolled fondant icing. Commercial bakeries tend
to use lard for the fat, and often whip the lard to introduce air bubbles. This
makes the icing light and spreadable. Home bakers either use lard,
butter, margarine, or some combination thereof. Sprinkles are small firm pieces
of sugar and oils that are colored with food coloring. In the late 20th century, new
cake decorating products became available to the public. These include several
specialized sprinkles and even methods to print pictures and transfer the image
onto a cake.
Special tools are needed for more complex cake decorating, such as piping
bags and various piping tips, syringes and embossing mats. To use a piping bag
or syringe, a piping tip is attached to the bag or syringe using a coupler. The bag
or syringe is partially filled with icing which is sometimes colored. Using different
piping tips and various techniques, a cake decorator can make many different
designs. Basic decorating tips include open star, closed star, basketweave,
round, drop flower, leaf, multi, petal, and specialty tips. An embossing mat is
used to create embossed effects. A cake turntable that cakes are spun upon may
be used in cake decoration.
Royal icing, marzipan (or a less sweet version, known as almond paste), fondant
icing (also known as sugar paste), and buttercream are used as covering icings
and to create decorations. Floral sugarcraft or wired sugar flowers are an
important part of cake decoration. Cakes for special occasions, such as wedding
cakes, are traditionally rich fruit cakes or occasionally Madeira cakes, that are
covered with marzipan and iced using royal icing or sugar-paste. They are
finished with piped borders (made with royal icing) and adorned with a piped
message, wired sugar flowers, hand-formed fondant flowers, marzipan fruit,
piped flowers, or crystallized fruits or flowers such as grapes or violets.

Food safety
The shelf life of cakes packages for commercial sale depends on several factors.
Cakes are intermediate moisture products prone to mold growth. Commercial
cakes are frequently and commonly exposed to different mold varieties before
they are packaged for sale, including Aspergillus flavus and various Penicillins,
and Aspergillus niger. Preservatives and oxygen absorbents are currently used
to control and inhibit mold growth.
The CDC has recommended not to eat raw cake batter because it can contain
pathogens like Salmonella and E. coli. Cake batter uses raw flour which can
contain live bacteria and present a hazard if consumed.[30]

Cake, in general, any of a variety of breads, shortened or unshortened, usually shaped

by the tin in which it is baked, or, more specifically, a sweetened bread, often rich or
delicate.

In the codified cuisine of France, all cakes, or gâteaux, derive from one of eight basic
doughs: short pastry, flake pastry, sweet pastry, savarin, brioche, baba, chou pastry, and
genoise. To these are added an infinite variety of flavouring and decorative ingredients,
such as marzipan, sugar icing, spices, fruits, and cremes.

The torte is a very rich cake found throughout Europe, often of numerous thin layers
and containing nuts, fruit, creme, and chocolate in combination. The claim to invention
of the world-famous chocolate Sachertorte is disputed between two Vienna hotels.

In the United States, cakes usually are made by one of three methods. In the
conventional method the sugar and fat are creamed together, the egg added, and a
mixture of flour, salt, and baking powder mixed in alternately with the liquid, beginning
and ending with dry ingredients. In the quick-dump, or one-bowl, method, all the
ingredients except the leavening agent are put into a bowl and mixed vigorously
(preferably with a power mixer), the leavening agent added, and mixing completed. As a
modification of the method, the eggs and part of the milk may be added as a separate
stage. The muffin method involves adding the combined liquid ingredients to the
combined dry ingredients; but, although rapid and easy, this method unmodified
produces a cake that tends to be coarse-textured and to have poor keeping quality.
Chiffon cake is made by a modification of the muffin method in which the egg white is
beaten separately and blended with the other mixed ingredients. Shortened cakes made
by these methods can be baked in flat layer pans, in loaf pans, or in individual cups and
can be baked at oven temperatures of 350–400 °F (177–204 °C).

sticky toffee pudding

English cake recipes using fat are of two main types. The rubbing-in method can be used
for most mixtures in which the amount of fat is not more than half the amount of flour
by weight. The fat is rubbed into the sifted flour, salt, and leavening agent until the
mixture is like fine bread crumbs; sugar and other dry ingredients such as dried fruit are
added next, followed by beaten eggs together with any other liquid in the recipe. For
satisfactory results, the ingredients must be mixed thoroughly but without beating or
overmixing. The creaming method is used when the proportion of fat to flour is half or
more by weight, thus producing rich cakes. The fat and sugar are creamed well together,
the egg beaten into this mixture, and sifted flour and salt, together with raising agent if
necessary, folded carefully in, followed by dried fruit and any liquid in the recipe. Baking
temperatures vary from 290 °F (143 °C) for very rich fruit cakes to 425 °F (218 °C) for
small buns.

Spongecake and angel food cake are examples of unshortened mixtures. These cakes
depend largely upon incorporated air for leavening, and, unless modified recipes are
used, chemical raising agents are unnecessary, sufficient air to produce a light product
being incorporated by whisking the eggs. In angel food cake, only the white of egg is
used, beaten with cream of tartar, which is acidic and tends to stabilize the egg-white
foam; the blended flour, sugar, and salt then are gently folded in and the desired
flavouring added. A portion of the sugar may be beaten with the egg whites. When
making sponge cake, two methods are possible: in the first, the unseparated eggs are
whisked with the sugar and any flavouring, and the sifted flour is then cut and folded
into this thick, light mixture; in the second, the egg yolks are beaten with lemon juice
and all or part of the sugar, and the egg whites are beaten separately, with or without
part of the sugar, the flour and salt being added to the yolk mixture and the whole
combined with the beaten whites. Baking temperatures for unshortened cakes range
from 300 to 450 °F (149 to 232 °C), the higher temperatures being used for thin
products such as Swiss rolls. Cake flour or pastry flour gives lighter, finer-grained, and
more tender cakes than do stronger flours, which are used for breadmaking.

Throughout Europe and the United States, particular cakes

are associated with particular celebrations—e.g., the French
Twelfth Night cake, the German Easter torte, and
the Christmas fruitcake of the United States. The nature of the
wedding cake, traditional throughout the West, varies from
country to country.