BREAD, CAKES, AND BISCUITS
such cakes fit to eat till they have been seasoned thus.
Cakes, however, made with baking powder dry too quickly
to make storage in their case advisable.
At the risk of repetition, it cannot be too strongly
impressed on the amateur confectioner that real success
depends in the very greatest degree on the quality and
freshness of the materials used, and, though such excel-
lence may apparently add to the expense in the beginning,
it is really the truest economy in the end. The eggs used
should be of the freshest, and should always be broken
separately before adding them to the mixture to avoid the
least risk of one being unsatisfactory, and so spoiling the
batch. Even preserved eggs are to be avoided in delicate
pastry-baking, as they are apt to acquire a strawy taste,
which is destructive to the flavour of delicate cakes. There
is a knack in egg-beating, which, however, is speedily
acquired. To whip the whites break the eggs carefully
into a bowl, being very particular to remove the “speck,”
and not to allow the smallest drop of yolk to get in; then
whisk steadily with a wire whisk or a Dover egg-beater (the
latter takes the least time) till they are in a dry stiff froth.
As soon as the whites have reached the proper stiffness stop
beating at once (or they will become curdled and broken-
looking, and will make anything to which they are added
close and heavy); you will know when this stage is reached,
as the froth will stand up in points as the whisk is drawn
out, or if, as many cooks do, you use a knife for whisking,
stop beating directly you can cut the mixture cleanly with
the knife. At this stage, if the froth is to be used for
meringue, add in the caster sugar very lightly, rather folding
than beating it in. Always whisk eggs in a cool place, for
the colder and fresher the eggs the quicker will they beat to
a stiff froth. To beat the yolks, put them into a basin and
whip them with a fork or a whisk till the yolks become
quite light, will drop clean down from the whisk without strings,
and are of a lemon colour. This is the time to add in the