Shortened vs Unshortened Cakes
Everybody who possesses a sweet tooth would agree with the fact that there are various different yummy sweets which help us overcome our cravings and among which, cakes stand out to be all time favorites. The best thing is cakes come in countless flavors, forms, tastes, and types. Among all the various kinds, one all-time favorite of most of the food connoisseurs remain to be shortened cakes. These cakes might be fattening but extremely delicious in the true sense of the word. The other type is unshortened cakes which are as popular as the one mentioned before but both are slightly different in terms of recipes. The cake bakers and those who are in to this business make sure both shortened and unshortned cakes are offered to the customers so that everyone can have the cake of their choice and the fact remains undeniable that both type of cakes have immense clientele to follow.
Shortened Cakes
Shortened cakes basically fall under the umbrella of fat-containing cakes. The ingredients used in the making of shortened cakes include all purpose flour, eggs, sugar, fats, milk, baking powder and salt etc. all these ingredients are mixed up together to form the batter of the cake. Usually what happens in a shortened cake is that the shortening recipe works to produce the fats as well as the foamy texture. There are several methods how one could make the batter of a shortening cake. The conventional one involves the mixing up of cream with sugar, eggs to give it a creamy and foamy texture, while there is another method called as the ‘single-bowl’ method where there is no step by step process, instead all the ingredients are put together in the same bowl; all the dry ingredients are added later though and then mixed together properly to give it a rather coarse texture.
Unshortened Cakes
Unshortened cakes are usually of two basic types which are yellow sponge cakes and white angel cakes. The white angel is made from the egg whites whereas the yellow sponge usually has whole eggs in the recipe. Both types of cakes are delicious in their own way but are slightly different from the other such as the angel cakes would usually feel springy and moist to the touch. These cakes are very soft and tender when ready and they are normally porous too. Yellow cakes also feel spongy and springy to the touch but they are made up with whole eggs instead of egg whites or yolks only.
The basic difference shortened and unshortened cakes, is that in the former, there is a use of fat, whereas in the latter there is no use of fat. It’s just the eggs that are used as the main ingredient. The cakes made with eggs only are far more soft and moist than the ones made with fat. There is a difference in the taste as well and that is the reason why a lot of people are very conscious about what sort of cake they are eating.