Cake has come to be classed with confectionery, and to be eaten only occasionally as a luxury. Thus, in its preparation, the choicest materials are demanded - the best flour and butter, fine granulated sugar, fresh eggs, and choice fruits, nuts and flavorings. The miller, by skilful devices, has evolved a flour especially adapted to produce a light, tender, delicate cake; when this is not available, the choicest pastry flour should be selected. Bread flour is sometimes used, but, as it contains a large quantity, comparatively, of gluten, it gives when used with other leavening agents than yeast, a thick, compact cake. The recipes are written for pastry flour, save in yeast mixtures and it may be necessary to increase or diminish, slightly, the quantity, as the thickening property of flour varies; when bread flour is used with baking-powder, the quantity given should be diminished by two level tablespoonfuls for each cup.

Spices should be sifted with the flour.

Fine granulated sugar gives the best results, powdered sugar making a close, dry cake, and coarse granulated sugar a very coarse-grained cake.

If cream-of-tartar and soda can be accurately measured, these will, in general, give more perfect results than baking-powder. The novice, however, will succeed better with the baking-powder. A pound cake is usually improved by the addition of a small quantity of baking-powder. Lemon juice and soda produce a cake of fine, close texture, but these are not adapted to lightening plain cakes.