Food porn (or foodporn) is a glamourized visual presentation of cooking or eating in advertisements, infomercials, blogs, cooking shows, and other visual media. Its origins come from a restaurant review e-commerce platform called Foodporn. Food porn often takes the form of food photography with styling that presents food provocatively, in a similar way to glamour photography or pornographic photography.
I suppose this comes under the guise of "food styling" as well. None the less we aren't really discussing glamorous cakes, rather the opposite. Like many aspects of the food business, we have become increasing lazy in terms of creativity and truth. When I began my journey into food service some 40 years ago...WOW, it was a very different world. We actually cooked with quality ingredients, and there was integrity in the process. 2022, not so much. So, on with the story.
What Is a Naked Cake?
A naked cake is easily recognized by its absent or minimal outer layer of frosting, which shows off the cake’s natural texture and filling. Some naked cakes have zero frosting on their outer edge, while others have just a wisp of buttercream. The cake for naked cake is most often white or yellow, although you can find naked cakes in every flavor from chocolate to carrot.
I PREFER TO CALL THESE "LAZY CAKES"
So What is a Real Cake?
Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.
The emphasis here should be SCRATCH. The term scratch doesn't really mean anything anymore. Our industry is hooked on "Just add water", very few restaurants actually prepare your meal from SCRATCH. If you really think about it, restaurants are becoming homogenous. It's all burgers, pizza and pseudo ethnic food. Mom and pops are disappearing at an alarming rate, destroyed by huge multi national corporations. Anyway, back to cakes...
Cake is often served as a celebratory dish on ceremonial occasions, such as weddings, anniversaries, and birthdays. There are countless cake recipes; some are bread-like, some are rich and elaborate, and many are centuries old. Cake making is no longer a complicated procedure; while at one time considerable labor went into cake making (particularly the whisking of egg foams), baking equipment and directions have been simplified so that even the most amateur of cooks may bake a cake.
So, to wrap thing up I thought I would share a few basic techniques for the bakers out there. Enjoy!
How to cover a cake in sugarpaste.
Sugarpaste - An icing sugar and gum based paste. Easy to mould, shape, color and roll out and you don't have to wait for the sugarpaste to dry before finishing the final decoration on the cake. Also you can add gum to it so that it will dry harder for modelling flowers or sculptures.
Make sure the cake to be covered is of a good shape. Sponge cake neatly trimmed or a fruit cake covered in marzipan. Use a cake board 2" - 3" larger than your cake.
Knead the required amount of sugarpaste into a smooth shape on a work surface, dusted with icing sugar. Do not use cornflour as under certain conditions it can cause fermentation if left in contact with marzipan.
Roll out the sugarpaste large enough to cover the top and sides of the cake. e.g. 8" round cake 3" deep needs sugarpaste rolled out 14" diameter.
Cover your cake! - Step 2
Smooth the icing to get rid of any rolling pin marks. Brush a marzipan cake with a little sherry, or cold boiled water. If covering a sponge cake spread it with a thin layer of apricot jam or butter cream.
Slide both hands, palms up, under the rolled out sugarpaste, so you can lift it in one piece without it stretching. Lay loosely over the cake, do not press against the sides.
Smooth the top using your hands or a special "smoother" tool. Work from the middle outwards to expel any bubbles trapped under the surface.
Smoothening the Cake! - Step 3
Carefully smooth the sugarpaste to the sides of the cake, easing it gently so as not to get any folds or creases.
Use a smoother to press the icing close to the cake.
Trim any excess sugarpaste at the bottom edge level with the cake board, using a sharp knife.
Smooth round the sides of the cake with your hands or a "smoother" . Any "crimping" or "embossing" must be done now while the icing is still soft.
Leave overnight if possible to "firm-up" before decorating. If the cake has to be decorated immediately, handle with care to avoid marking the still soft surface. Any trimmings left over can be used in the decoration of the cake, wrap closely in cling film and a thick plastic bag to prevent it drying out until required. Leave cake to dry in a warm dry place. The kitchen is not suitable due to moisture from cooking etc... if the only room available is the dining room it may be advisable to buy a cardboard cake box to help keep the dust off (or the family), but still let the moisture out.
This is a cake prepared recently by a former student of mine, whom also shares my opinions about our industry at large. This is a real cake, real butter, real flowers...made with love. As it should be.
What's left? The decor of course, this can be simple or very technical. The cake to the right is made with Swiss buttercream, and decorated with fresh flowers. Simple, but beautiful. And by the way, the Chefs name is Denise, and she operates out of the Cornwall area. She even maintains a small farm, where much of her ingredients are actually grown and used in the making of said CAKE. Need a cake? Give me a shout, and I will put you in touch with her!
Cheers, and have a wonderful hump day!
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