I never sift, and have not encountered any problems. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone sift flour, even on a cooking show.
Anyhow, an SDMB staff report on sifting flour.
I don’t sift either. I do “fluff” the flour a bit before I measure it, in case it’s gotten packed down during storage, but that’s about it.
I have to agree. It’s only chocolate cake if the cake is chocolate–frosting flavor is a separate issue.
That said, my position on cake iin general is that it’s just a frosting transport device. The proper way to eat a slice of layer cake is to eat the cake part first, leaving just enough to support the frosting walls. Then you can eat the frosting, starting with the areas of the lowest concentration, saving layer intersections for last.
So this whole sifting thing is the moral equivilant of flossing daily - you probably should, but you can get away without it? Muy coolness!
Hey ya QuiltGuy, is there any chance I could beg and/or bribe the receipe for “THE BEST DAMN CHOCOLATE CAKE IN THE WORLD” out of you?
Purchased cakes can be very good, but you have to know who to buy from. The average grocery store bakery either buys them premade, or uses a basic cake mis with pre-made frosting.
And as a professional baker it’s the frosting I want to address. Many local stores here in Topeka are now using a fluffy sort of mess that looks like buttercream but isn’t. I’m not above using cake mixes, because with proper handling they can be good, and produce consistent results.
But I insist on making the frosting from scratch. I use butter(unsalted), baker’s shortening(which is harder than Crisco), powdered sugar, almond flavoring(sometimes vanilla), and light cream(half and half). Get a lot of good reviews on it, because, I think, most folks are expecting that floofy stuff.
I weigh ingredients, so here’s how to do decorator frosting.
1 part by weight baker’s shortening
1 part by weight unsalted butter, softened
2 parts by weight powdered sugar
Slowly cream the above ingredients until the sugar is blended in. Then beat at high speed until mix becomes very creamy. Add a little almond flavor, blend slowly, and taste to see if you need more. Icing can be a little firm still for spreading, so you can, at this point, slowy add some light cream until blended, then continue beating at high until desired consistency is reached.
I use almond flavor because it is clear and imparts no color at all to the frosting, which can make a difference when you want it really white. But vanilla is good too.
At last! I have found a kindred spirit! That is exactly how I eat my cake (and most other foods, too). There is a ranking, a hierarchy, in foods, and while I hold nothing against cake (except for my fork), frosting just ranks higher. I’ve been teased about this from my friends and family all my life. I’m happy to know at least one other person eats cake like this.
Thank you for that, Daniel. This thread really needed it. With all this recipe-exchanging, my eyes were beginnig to glaze over.
If you’ll pardon the expression.
Wow. A printed reference. Dated 1994. But is it regional or – what with family mobility these days – just a mutation that gets passed along in certain families?
(I thought someone needed to comment on that, since it lends some legitimacy – why, it might even qualify for an entry in the dictionary now!)
Right now, I have no cake (or ingredients or even mixes) in the house, but I’ll find something, dammit!
A cake, A cake… my kingdom for a cake. 
Coming in late, and this thread has inspired several random thoughts, thusly:
I call it my birthday cake! Then my son gets a marble cake the next day on his birthday, and then the following week my husband gets chocolate cake for his birthday. Y’all want cake? Come by my house around the 3rd week in December. We got cake.
I usually make my chocolate cake from scratch (calls for cocoa powder, which I always have on hand, rather than baking chocolate, which I don’t), but I haven’t been able to find a yellow cake recipe that didn’t come out dry and heavy. And as Alton Brown says, cake is just the delivery mechanism for the frosting anyway.
Ever make a heart cake for Valentine’s day? Divide your cake batter between a 9 inch square pan and a 9 inch round. After they’ve baked and cooled, halve the round and place the flat sides against the edges of the square to make a heart shape. Frost with some kind of rich decadent frosting and finish up with some froo-froo Valentines-y decorations.
You don’t have to buy a sifter. Use a wire mesh sieve instead; it doubles as a drainer for pasta and potatos.
I keep dry milk powder and dry buttermilk powder on hand, so when a recipe calls for milk or buttermilk, I can just mix up what I need. The dry stuff stays good in the cupboard for darn near eternity.
I like cake mixes. Pancake mix, on the other hand, is an abomination unto God. Every pancake I’ve ever had that was made from a mix tasted like frostbitten cardboard, besides which, they always dissolved on contact with the syrup. They’re not supposed to dissolve on contact with syrup. Bleagh. Do yourself a favor and make them from scratch.
TeaElle, I’m going to try your poundcake today. I’ve been looking for a trustworthy recipe for a while (I prefer to bake cakes someone’s vouched for - and I was trying to make my co-worker get his wife’s best friend’s recipe that he raved about - I even promised to share with him once I’d baked, but no go.) We have lots of good looking fresh fruit on hand, so this promises to be quite a treat.
I prefer my completed cakes to be storable at room temperature, with a few exceptions[carrot cake being one] Since you use light cream as the liquid in your frosting, do you store the cake in the fridge, or take your chances at room temp.?
I never bake.
I’m usually not that fond of cake.
But this thread made me want so badly what I would call yellow cake with chocolate frosting (like a poster in the thread the OP refers to, I said “that’s not chocolate cake!” when watching Spiderman 2), that I baked myself one up today.
Behold the power of the SDMB.
The funny part was when my brother came into the kitchen during baking and said “Oh, cool, I’ve been wanting some cake ever since I went to see Spiderman!”
So maybe it’s really Spiderman 2 that has the power to produce cake-eating-urges.
I’m baking yellow cake, and I blame this thread. And perhaps Spiderman 2.
I haven’t seen Spiderman 2. It’s definitely this thread.
But it was good cake.
AbbySthrnAccent, StarvingButStrong, OxyMoron, thanks for your posts. pulykamell, I promise I’ll try to make a sponge cake when I remember to pick up some baking power.
Oh my goodness, add me too. Forget cake. Batter and frosting, that’s the ticket.
I know that it takes patience and practice to learn how to cook. And yes, it does help if you grew up cooking. My mom only cooked enough to feed the family, so I grew up on boiled potatos, meatloaf, Wonder Bread, Velveeta and Miracle Whip. I grew up on a farm in Kansas, and I never tasted garlic and never ate anything more ethnic than spaghetti until I was in my 30s. Isn’t that pathetic?
I don’t eat that way anymore. It helps living in a heavily ethnic neighborhood. Within a few block area we have so many restaurants to choose from it’d make your head spin: several different Middle Eastern (Lebanese, Syrian, Persian, and others I’m not sure what they are), several Asian (Chinese, 2 Thai, multiple Korean), Hispanic (several Mexican, Guatemalan), Eastern Europe (there’s a Bosnian restaurant that we haven’t been to yet), and good old American (Kentucky Fried, McDs, Boston Market, Subway). The only thing we really really really need is an Indian restaurant. There are several India Indians who work around here so I don’t know why there isn’t one. We have to hop on the L and go to Belmont. Needless to say, we eat out a lot. When we eat in it’s usually something simple, like spaghetti, steak, chicken or burgers. The easier the better.
Anyway, I would have to learn stuff like what “lightly beaten” eggs are supposed to be like. Cooks take things like that for granted, but I’m clueless.
I tell ya though, real cooks would love my neighborhood. In the 2 blocks around my home are several ethnic markets, large and small. No corporate supermarkets around here. The one right behind our house carries food from all over the world (half the products aren’t in English…chocolate hazlenut spread from Hungary, yummy!) and lots of fresh vegetables. There are several Middle Eastern markets. Up the street is a large Asian market. Practically every other door is either a market or a restaurant. If only I knew how to cook or had the desire to learn I could take advantage of the markets. But, nice thing is, I don’t have to!
Changing subjects now; speaking of frosting, could someone help me identify a frosting that my grandmother made? I loved it as a kid but I never got the recipe before she died. The only ingredient I can remember is Cream of Tartar, and I only remember that because for a long time I thought it and tartar sauce were the same things (we didn’t eat a lot of fish when I was growing up, unless it was fish sticks). I haven’t had it in decades but I remember the “top” of the frosting being softly hard. I don’t know what the technical name would be, but it was set somehow. You could lightly scratch your fingernail across it, but give the slightest pressure and your finger would break through to the light fluffy frosting underneath. It was always white, and I don’t remember any specific flavoring other than “very sweet.” I loved playing with it as much as I loved eating it.
I’ll bet it’s really simple and well-known. Pretty please?
I know, I’ll make a sponge cake with that frosting, if it’s identified for me. I prefer chocolate cake and frosting, but I’m way easy. And hungry!
Sounds like you’re looking for 7-Minute Frosting.
Lightly beaten = just until the yolks and whites are fully incorporated with one another. It’s simply to be sure that the eggs emulsify well into the wet ingredients. Unbeaten egg yolks tend to create clumping issues in a batter.
Idlewild, let me know how the pound cake turned out! 
Absolutely delicious. Pretty easy to put together too (though I do have lots of baking experience.) My husband declared it among the best pound cakes he’s had, and he’s got a grandmother who can out-cook everyone I know. Thank you for sharing the recipe.