Cake

Evolution of Cake Oatcakes are recorded to be the first cakes and were made from unleavened breads and crackers. Panettone, stollen, and fruitcake were evolved from yeast-breads 1700’s – sweet cakes, such as plum cake, pound cake and sponge cake were raised by aerating the batter through prolonged beating of butter and sugar or egg whites. Mid 1800’s – baking soda and chemical leaveners are introduced speeding up the mixing process

What It Does In addition to eggs, flour, sugar and fat, a cake can be defined by its leavening Leaveners Fat and Sugar Eggs Yeast Chemical Leaveners Ingredients + proportions + aeration method = styles of cakes (Foam cakes & Shortened Cakes)

Foam Cakes Light and simple Made by beating whole eggs or egg whites and sugar at length to incorporate air bubbles in the batter, knows as foam. Steps: Aerate egg whites – use a grease free, stainless steel bowl to ensure maximum aeration Fold in flour to avoid deflating the foam and prevent the formation of gluten Add flavors like butter, milk, cocoa powder, etc…

Types of Foam Cakes Meringue – made by only aerating the egg whites. Angel Food – made by only aerating the egg whites. Sponge – leavened with beaten eggs; whites are beaten with sugar; yolks are beaten with flavor and sugar and then added to whites and folded with flour French Biscuit Cake – sponge cakes with additional egg yolks Genoise – made by beating warm whole eggs and sugar until it takes on too much air and resembles whipped cream Chiffon – combination of lightness and richness from a high proportion of whipped egg whites and a fair amount of vegetable oil (makes cake moist and tender)

Shortened Cakes Made by beating sugar and fat to incorporate air bubbles, this method is called creaming Creaming – sugars sharp crystalline structure slashes deep pockets in the fat, and the pockets take on air Next, eggs are beaten in one-by-one, to help hold air Finally, flour is folded in and a chemical leavener

Shortened Cakes Cont… Dry ingredients are added with alternate additions of liquids so the flour gets coated with the beaten fat Fat protects the proteins in the flour from being turned into gluten when you stir in a liquid = lower gluten, more tender cake

Shortened Cakes – Two Stage Method Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl Combine all wet ingredients in another bowl Beat butter and ½ wet ingredients into dry ingredients to aerate batter Beat in remaining wet ingredients Pro – a tender cake Con – more likely to toughen from overmixing

Types of Shortened Cakes Pound Cake – orignially calls for 1 pound of each eggs, sugar, butter and flour Butter Cakes – Rich and moist like pound cakes but also light and tender because of the lower proportion of eggs and fat and higher proportion of sugar and liquid Use of Cake flour is important because it contains less gluten producing proteins Bleached with chlorine allowing eggs to coagulate at a low temperature and flour to absorb more moisture producing a delicate, fine-textured crumb

Types of Shortened Cakes Cont… Butter Cakes Cont… Fat – both butter and shortening aerate and tenderize a cake but which is best? Shortening has small fat crystals, entrapping a lot of air, making the cake light and fine-textured Butter or lard , although having fewer large air bubbles, tastes better Sugar helps sweeten cake batter and help it to retain moisture Superfine sugar dissolves more quickly and does a btter job of creaming with the fat

How It Works Heat triggers chemical processes within the cake due to the ingredients which define a cakes characteristic flavor and texture Yeast, baking powder, or other chemical leaveners that produce carbon dioxide which migrate to the air bubbles resulting in a leavened product Heat makes the gas bubbles expand and mature Temp too LOW – gas bubbles expand and before the cake sets, creating a large-holed, coarse grained texture

How It Works Altitude and Atmospheric Pressure Altitude increases = less atmospheric pressure Leavening gases expand rapidly, stretching and weakening the structure of the cake = coarse texture or a fallen cake Use a lower oven temperature and less leavening agent

How It Works Setting a cake Eggs and flour contain protein that coagulates when heated Liquid (milk, eggs) hydrates the starch in the flour when heated Starch absorb moisture and swell and form a paste which stiffens, known as gelatinization The fat tenderizes the cake When heated the fat melts, releasing the air it holds, and combines with the coagulated cake

How It Works Setting a cake cont… Heat Sugar both flavors and tenderizes a cake Malliard Reaction – sugars and proteins combine giving cake its characteristic brown color Heat Baked at a moderate 350 F. Temp too low – fat melts too quickly, releasing the leavening gases before the other elements set, preventing the cake from rising Temp too high – crust forms before the center sets, causing a soggy center with gases that continue to expand late in baking process, which can crack the crust

How It Works Cooling and Storage Why? To allow the flours gelatinized starch to gel and firm up the cake Removed too soon = cake will stick to the pan Removed too late = the cake will steam so much that it will become soggy Shortened Cakes Should be cooled in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes to all cool air to circulate beneath the pan bottom and speed cooling Foam Cakes Completely cool upside down to avoid crushing their delicate texture

How It Works Cooling and Storage The Fridge – dries out cakes The Freezer – a good storage place especially if the cake is high in fat Wrap completely cooled cakes tightly in plastic to prevent air from reaching the cake and speed spoilage