urth way the sugar, shortening, milk, and syrup or molasses
are melted together, then cooled slightly and added to the dry
ingredients. This method is used for ginger-breads.

In the fifth way the sugar and eggs are beaten thoroughly over boiling
water, then cooled before the melted shortening and dry ingredients
are added. This method is used for Gennoise cake and some kinds of
layer cakes. Care must be taken to insure the right consistency of
cakes. The mixture should be fairly stiff. If too moist the fruit
will sink to the bottom. For rich cakes the tins should be lined with
paper, the paper coming a short distance above the tins, so that the
cake is protected as it rises. For very rich fruit cakes, experience
has shown that it is best not to grease the paper or tin. The cake is
not so liable to burn, and the paper can be removed easily when the
cake is done without injuring it. On the other hand, if tins are lined
for sponge cakes or jelly-rolls, the paper should be greased.

[Illustration]

When making cakes in which baking powder, carbonate of soda, cream of
tartar or tartaric acid are used, almost everything depends upon the
handling, which should be as light and as little as possible. The more
rapidly such cakes are made the better they will be. Two cooks working
from the same recipe will often produce entirely different results, if
one kneads her mixture as if it were household bread, while the other
handles it with due lightness of touch. As soon as the baking powder
or other rising medium is added to the mixture, the cake should be put
into the oven as quickly as possible. Soda alone is never good in a
cake where there is shortening, unless some substance containing acid
is used along with it. Molasses is one of the substances containing
acid.

The greatest care and cleanliness must be exercised in all cake
making; and accuracy in proportioning the materials to be used is
indispensable. The flour should be thoroughly dried and sifted, and
lightly stirred in. Always sift flour before measuring, then sift it
again with the baking powder to insure a thorough blending.

Good cakes never can be made with indifferent materials. Eggs are used
both as an aerating agent and as one of the "wetting" materials. It
is not economy to buy cheap eggs, for such eggs are small, weak,
colorless, and often very stale. Eggs should be well beaten, yolks and
whites separately, unless other directions are given. The yolks must