Page:Seventy-Five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats.djvu/56

46 Before you cut an ice cake, cut the icing by itself with a small sharp penknife. The large knife with which you divide the cake, will crack and break the icing.

Large Gingerbread, as it burns very easily, may be baked in an earthen pan. So also may Black Cake or Pound Cake. Earthen pans or moulds, with a hollow tube in the middle, are best for cakes.

If large cakes are baked in tin pans, the bottom and sides should be covered with sheets of paper, before the mixture is put in. The paper must be well buttered. Sponge cakes, and Almond cakes should be baked in pans that are as thin as possible.

If the cakes should get burnt, scrape them with a knife or grater, as soon as they are cool.

Always be careful to butter your pans well. Should the cakes stick, they cannot be got out without breaking. For queen-cakes, &c. the small tins of a round or oval shape are most convenient. Fill them but little more than half. After the mixture is completed, set it in a cool place till all the cakes are baked.

In rolling oat cakes made of dough, use as little flour as possible. When you lay them in the pans, do not place them too close together, lest they run into each other.

When you are cutting them out, dip the cutter frequently in flour, to prevent its sticking.