The dark fruit cakes should be avoided by both sick and well, on account of the indigestible nature of the dried fruits used in them, and also because they are often compact and close-grained, not light. There is a custom prevalent in many kitchens of using what is called "cooking" butter--that is, butter which is off taste or rancid--for cake. It is but poor economy, even if it can merit that name at all. If you have no other butter for cake, don't make any. Sweet butter and fresh--not "store"--eggs are _absolutely necessary_. Also, a dainty worker to mix the ingredients with accuracy and care, and to oil the pan in which the cake is to be baked, so that the outside shall not taste of fat. Many an otherwise nice cake has been spoiled by oiling the pan in which it was baked with dirty or rancid grease. Use a very little sweet butter or olive-oil. THE PROCESS OF CAKE MAKING All ordinary cakes are made in much the same way as to the order in which their ingredients are mixed. First the butter and sugar are creamed together, then the yolks of the eggs are beaten and added, with the milk, to the butter and sugar; then the flour, into which the cream of tartar and soda have been well mixed by sifting them together several times, is put in; and last, the beaten whites of the eggs. =Care in Baking.= For sponge cake made with baking-powder, or soda and cream of tartar, an oven moderately heated will be required--that is, one of 300° Fahr., or one which will _slightly_ brown a loaf in twenty minutes. For sponge cake made without raising material, such as the old-fashioned kind, in which only eggs, sugar, and flour are used, a slow oven is necessary. For butter cakes a temperature somewhere between 350° and 380° will not fail. The baking of cake is the most difficult part of the process, on account of the constantly variable condition of ovens in common iron stoves, and because it is more easily spoiled than bread and other foods usually cooked in an oven. One is obliged to exercise a new judgment every time cake is made. Even thermometers are only a partial help, for if an oven has a temperature of 300° Fahr. at a certain time, there is no means of being sure what the temperature will be half an hour from then. However, by giving attention and some practice to it, one may gain considerable skill in managing fires. Should the cake be cooking too fast, and arranging the stove dampers does not lessen the heat, a piece of buttered paper laid over the top will protect it, and will not stick. Layer, or thin cakes, require a hotter oven than loaves. Pans for baking cake should be lined with buttered paper (the buttered side up), letting it overlap the sides for about an inch to assist in lifting out the cake. An earthenware bowl and a wooden spoon should be used for mixing.