types of cake

FOAM CAKES: Strictly speaking, a foam cake contains no leavening or fat other than provided by the eggs; baking powder and baking soda are not necessary in these recipes. As a result, it is important to preheat the oven and have the baking pans ready in advance. These cakes need to be baked as soon as they are ready or the egg whites will deflate; they will do so after about 5 minutes of sitting on the countertop ! Because Foam Cakes are so light and airy, they should be cut with a serrated knife in a sawing motion to cut. An electric knife is helpful, too.
There are some similarities and differences within Foam Cakes:

Sponge cakes are a light cake whose leavening comes only from beaten egg whites (no baking powder or soda), and has little or no butter and thus have very little fat content. As a result, a Sponge cake takes well to being imbibed with flavored syrups and such.

Charlottes: These molded desserts are a variation of the cake in which fillings - hot or cold - are poured into a bowl lined with bread, ladyfingers or pieces of cake, then decorated. A French pastry chef invented the charlotte in the 1800s. The classic version is the Charlotte Russe. Also try such flavors as chocolate, eggnog, strawberry, Bavarian cream.

Meringue cakes: Made from beaten egg whites and sugar, meringue is used as a leavening agent in some cake batters or to lighten a souffle or mousse. Baked by themselves into rings or other shapes, meringues make for light and pretty cakes filled with fruit or ice cream. They can be family size or baked as individual servings.

Rolls: These are a form of sponge-cake, baked in a shallow pan and used for jellyrolls or such holiday cakes as the Christmas "yule log," an especially nice variation. Rolls are immediately removed from the pan and rolled up in a sugared tea towel after baking. When cool, they are unrolled gently, filled with jelly, custard or icings and rerolled. For the yule log (Buche de Noel), fill and ice with chocolate buttercream, then decorate with leaves, "branches," meringue mushrooms and woodland animals - a crowd-pleaser!



FOAM CAKES:
Review mixing techniques: different methods produce different types of cakes
One of the most important steps is to properly cream the fat with the sugar. This is when air bubbles are formed, which will later expand from the leaveners, and make the cake rise.
There are two primary types of foam cakes - whole egg yellow sponge and angel food cake. An angel food cake is a meringue with added flour for stability and texture. Egg white proteins and the starch and protein of flour are incorporated into the watery film around air cells to contribute to stability. Sugar is added not only for its flavoring action and stabilizing effect on egg white proteins, but it also acts as a tenderizer, counterbalancing the effects of egg protein and flour. Cream of tartar is usually added to lower the pH and thus stabilize and whiten the foam and produce a finer grained cake. Leavening is performed by the air in the meringue and steam. Ingredients are folded together gingerly. Old genoise recipes call for melting butter and folding into the batter. Angel Food recipes have you fold the sifted flour into the beaten egg whites

croquembouche or croquenbouche is a French dessert, a kind of pièce montée often served at weddings. It is a high cone of profiteroles (choux filled with pastry cream) bound with caramel, and usually decorated with threads of caramel, sugared almonds, chocolate, flowers, or ribbons.
The name comes from the French words 'Croque en bouche' meaning 'crunch in the mouth'.
The choux buns can also be made with savoury fillings.
Alternative spellings include croquenbouche and croquebouche