One tip well worth remembering is the larger the food, the lower the temperature it needs for cooking. Take the Christmas bird, for example, "The bigger the bird, the slower the oven." A chicken weighing 4 to 5 pounds roasts best in an oven registering 350 degrees Fahrenheit. But a turkey weighing 6 to 9 pounds needs an oven 25 degrees cooler because the turkey is larger than the chicken. And a big turkey weighing anywhere from 18 to 25 pounds needs a much slower oven—an oven registering only 250 degrees. You see, there is a hundred degrees difference in temperature in the oven for the 5-pound chicken and the oven for the 25-pound turkey.
The same rule holds true with Christmas cake. The larger the cake, the slower the oven it needs for baking. Little cupcakes bake in a moderately hot oven of 375 degrees. Layer cakes which are larger but no thicker than cupcakes need just a little less heat. Have your oven a"bout 10 degrees cooler for layer cakes than for cupcakes. Cakes baked in loaf pans are larger than either layer cakes or cupcakes. So these need an even slower oven. Sake loaf cakes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Dark fruit cake is the largest and most compact cake of all. This is one reason, it takes the slowest oven. Bake dark fruit cake at 250 to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.
The same rule works out with bread.
The reason for this rule about lower temperatures for larger foods is just common sense. If you have too hot an oven, the outside of your turkey or cake or loaf of bread may bake too much before the center is done.
The right temperature for baking bread and cakes depends not only on the size but also on the leavening in the mixture. Yeast bread and baking powder bread take about the same temperatures for baking. But mixtures raised by steam like popovers must go into a very hot oven, and those raised by air in beaten egg whites need a slow oven. So popovers bake at 450 degrees, but sponge cake at only 300 degrees.
Other ingredients count, too, in this matter of proper temperature. Honey, molasses, and chocolate all have a tendency to scorch easily. So mixtures containing a good deal of fat also bake better if the temperature is not too high.
You probably will be doing some whipping during the holidays—whipping cream or egg whites for desserts. Here's a temperature -point to remember about whipping. Cream whips best if it is very cold, but egg whites whip best if they bare room temperature—that is, around 70 degrees. So get the eggs out of the refrigerator and let them wait a half an hour or so on the kitchen table to take the chill off before you begin whipping. But keep your cream in the refrigerator until just before you whip it.
Not only the eggs but all the other foods that go into a cake should be at room temperature before you mix the cake. Studies at the Bureau of Home Economics have shown that cake mixtures are more stable—less likely to separate—if the eggs, fat, flour, sugar and all the rest have the chill taken off before you mix them together. You'll find that the fat creams more readily, too, at room temperature.
One last tip about temperature. Did you know that almost any flavor—sweet, sour, spice, etc.—tastss strongest in hot food and mildest in cold or frozen food? A custard mixture may taste quite sweet if you eat it hot, but made into frozen custard it may hardly taste sweet at all. So remember to flavor the foods you serve cold more than those you serve hot.
