Cake, even during a heat wave

[acelightning]

It's summer in the Northern Hemisphere, and ridiculously hot in an awful lot of places. You don't want to heat up the kitchen by using the oven, but you've got a craving for cake. Plain spongecake is easy to make; you can bake it in the oven, or you can steam it in a Chinese steamer... and, it turns out, you can even microwave it.


MICROWAVE SPONGECAKE
(serves 2 - 4)

You will need a round microwave-safe dish, about 7 to 8 inches (18 to 20 cm) in diameter and at least 3 inches (8 cm) deep - the cake will rise up higher than an oven-baked cake. Butter it lightly, or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

3 "large" eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (*)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour

(*) You may substitute 1/2 teaspoon lemon or almond extract, or 1 tablespoon liqueur, or 1/2 teaspoon finely grated citrus peel.

Place the eggs, still in their shells, in a large bowl, and fill the bowl with the hottest possible tap water. Let stand until the eggs are warm to the touch. (This makes them fluffier when you beat them.)

Pour off the water and crack the eggs into the bowl. Add the sugar, salt, and flavoring, then use an electric mixer to beat the mixture until it is pale and very fluffy. Gently fold in the flour, then scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
Microwave on full power for 4 minutes. It won't look done, but it will be; don't overcook this cake, or the texture will resemble balsa wood! Leave the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Slice the cake in half horizontally if you want a layer cake. Frost (and fill) as desired. Make sure the frosting covers the whole surface of the cake, right down to the plate, and once you've served some, cover the cut surfaces tightly with plastic wrap, because spongecake dries out very quickly.


STUPIDLY SIMPLE CHOCOLATE FROSTING/GLAZE

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon soft butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Very hot tap water

Stir together the cocoa and confectioner's sugar. Add the butter and vanilla, then very gradually stir in hot water until the mixture is the thickness you want. Spread, spoon, or pour over cooled cake.

Also posted to acelightning

Comments

[alias_sqbr]

These recipes look great, especially the cake. But isn't hot tap water unhealthy to use in cooking?

[acelightning]

That depends on the source of your domestic water supply, what kind of minerals it contains, what kinds of pipes your house has and how old they are, what kind of water heater you have and how old it is, how far the kitchen tap is from the water heater, and how long it's been since you last ran the hot water. Some research has shown that there may be, in some cases, slightly more lead in hot tap water than in cold - still well below harmful levels. A couple of teaspoonfuls (that's all it takes for the frosting) of hot tap water once in a while isn't going to give you lead poisoning. (The larger amount in the cake recipe isn't ingested; it's just to make the eggs warm.)

You could put some pure spring water in a cup and microwave it till it steams, and then use that for the frosting. You could also get a lead-testing kit and test both the cold and the hot water in your house, and see whether or not there's anything to worry about. I did this, and found no detectable lead in hot or cold... which is a great relief, because my husband tends to put a spoonful of instant coffee powder in a mug and add hot tap water, when he's in a hurry, which he usually is.

[sqbr]

Fair enough, I didn't realise it was so variable.

[acelightning]

The issue of lead in the water is far more dependent on the pipes in the house or apartment building where you live. Lead and anything remotely containing lead has been banned from use in municipal water supplies for a very long time. But there are still some old buildings that once had lead pipes in them, and even though the pipes were replaced by copper or plastic, there's a tiny chance there may be some lead-containing residue deposited in the pipes ages ago. And hot water will dissolve a little more of the residue than cold. And the people who come up with health advisories always err on the side of extreme caution ;-)

[lian]

It probably really depends on region/country, too -- say, German tap water is usually of excellent quality, and my region's also tastes really good (I drink it instead of bottled water. Urgh, bottled.)

[acelightning]

The main concern seems to be that some older buildings (in the US, at least) may have some residue in the pipes from the Dark Ages when lead was still used in plumbing. Since things dissolve more readily in hot water than in cold, there will be slightly more dissolved lead residue in hot water. It's still a minute quantity, but the official health advice is to avoid drinking or cooking with water from the hot tap. As I suggested to alias_sqbr, if you're still concerned, a simple test for lead in your household water will tell you whether there's any cause for worry.

In the US, bottled water usually tastes better than tap water, largely because public water has to be treated with chlorine to kill bacteria. (Is Germany one of the countries that uses something other than chlorine?) Some bottled water, alas, is just ultra-purified tap water, but some does come from natural springs (monitored carefully for bacterial contamination), and has the pleasantly "mineral" taste of good spring water.

[lian]

I hadn't realized that lead in the pipes was still such a wide-spread concern. Tap water doesn't taste of chlorine in Germany, no -- afaik, other desinfectant/filtering methods are generally used.

[acelightning]

Lead in the pipes really isn't a significant concern. But health regulations are always far more cautious than they need to be. They extrapolated from barely detectable lead residue in pre-WW-II water pipes to the minuscule theoretical risk of lead poisoning if someone drank and cooked with that water all the time.

I think many places use either ozone gas (which becomes plain oxygen very quickly) or exposure to UV light to purify drinking water. Chlorine is still used in the US because it doesn't vanish immediately; some residual chlorine stays in the water to help prevent it from becoming contaminated again. But it also leaves an unpleasant taste and aroma in the water... which is driven off when the water is boiled or heated.

[sqbr]

Yes, afaict it's to do with the quality of the pipes, in countries with high standards you're probably pretty safe.

[acelightning]

As I said, it's almost entirely related to the pipes within a given dwelling, not the national or local water system. Things like water hardness (mineral content) and chlorine or other off-odors do depend on the water system. In most "developed" countries, the tap water may taste or smell bad, and maybe even be a bit cloudy or rusty-looking, but at least it won't give you any diseases.

[sqbr]

I was thinking that some countries would have higher standards for pipes, but on further investigation Australia seems to be about the same as Britain and the US, at least, though we do have a lower proportion of old lead pipes.

[acelightning]

Well, it's been illegal to use lead pipes in any kind of construction for at least fifty years, probably a lot longer. And I'm pretty sure that people had to strip out the old lead pipes in their buildings and replace them with copper. But if only some of the lead was replaced, a residue of lead compounds might have gotten deposited in the nice new copper pipes.

At least Australia doesn't have very many houses or buildings that are over 100 years old ;-)

[sqbr]

At least Australia doesn't have very many houses or buildings that are over 100 years old

Heh, that didn't occur to me but yes, I imagine that does make a difference :)

[feuervogel]

I've honestly never heard that before. I've heard it's senseless to run your tap until it's hot to put water in the kettle/cookpot to boil (because you waste so much water and don't save any energy anyway), but never that it's unsafe. It could be a regional thing.

[acelightning]

It depends on the building you live in, rather than the region. As I explained above, the concern is that there may be lead residue in the pipes in your home, and hot water will pick up more of the lead than cold water. There shouldn't be any lead residue in most houses, but, as I said, you can get your water tested if you want to be sure.

People don't cook with hot tap water to save energy, they do it to save time - obviously, if the water's already hot, it will boil sooner.

[feuervogel]

How on earth does it save time to cook with hot water when it takes five minutes for hot water to reach your tap?

I have PVC pipes in my house.

[acelightning]

Well, if you live on the eighth floor and the water heater is in the cellar, it's not going to save you any time. But in an average single-family house, it doesn't usually take that long for hot water to reach the tap, and it will boil sooner than if you'd started with cold (or even tepid) tap water.

PVC pipe is supposed to leach dangerous chemicals into your drinking water also - many places only allow it for drains, or to supply washing machines and dishwashers. Copper pipe is standard for domestic water, both hot and cold, in most of the US.

[jesse_the_k]

The issue with hot water in the midwestern US is the municipal water is very hard (lots of minerals): the hard water prevents soap and detergent from foaming. Many folks people have "water softeners" which extract the minerals by binding it to salt. The slightly-salty water doesn't taste right, so usually the soft water goes right to the water heater (and thence out the hot tap). If you're on a salt-free diet, it wouldn't be a good idea to drink hot softened water all the time.

The cakes sound lovely.