Cakes nearly all the time utilise a type of flour, sweetening agents like sugar or syrup, an ingredient that holds it all together known as a binding agent like egg (but for vegetarians, gluten and starch can be used). Something containing fat, like butter, shortening or margarine can also be used, but fruit purée like applesauce can be a substitute for fat. Some kind of liquid such as milk, water, fruit juices or sure soft drinks such as Dr Pepper are upcoming alternatives.
Flavoring and a leavening agent like yeast or baking powder, but contemporary cakes and skilled cake decorators don't use these ingredients and instead rely on the air inside the cake mix to enlarge and make the cake rise. Most cakes are frosted with buttercream or marzipan, like the frills and borders around birthday cakes and wedding cakes.
Cakes can be finalised with fresh or crystallized fruit, edible glitter and beads, chocolate shapes and sweets.
There are a vast amount of cake types, but the four most base are listed below:
Cakes made from yeast are the oldest kind of cake. They are similar to baked breads that are made from yeast. Yeast based cakes are original and are often decorated so. These cakes can also be in the form of babka and stollen pastries.
Cheesecakes, as the name suggests, involve cheese as an ingredient. Often mascarpone, cream cheese or ricotta and have very slight or no flour in the ingredients. Flour is sometimes used and can be seen as a sweetened crust lining the cake. This kind of cake is very old like yeast based cakes, such cakes that used honey as a sweetener can be traced back to the times of antique Greece.
The third type of cake are sponge cakes. These were the first non-yeast based cake to appear that use air inside the mix to give the leveling while baking, making the need for a leveling ingredient, unnecessary. Beating eggs with a whisk is often sufficient to cause leveling, a smattering of baking powder can be added for guarnatee though. Favorite sponge cakes include Italian and Jewish "pan di Spagna" and " French Génoise".
Cakes that use a lot of butter and eggs are called butter cakes, base examples of these cakes are the pound cake and devil's food cake. Baking powder can be added in to act as a leveling ingredient and provide a great texture.
The latest and most contemporary cake isn't actually a cake at all, but more of an arrangement of small, chocolate cups. The basic chocolate cup is man-made using a mold, where pure Belgian chocolate is poured into and allowed to set. The plain chocolate cup can then be decorated and filled. They can be filled with a range of substances such as chocolate truffle, alcohol (e.g. Baileys) and fruit puree.
The Basics of Cakes, primary & contemporary