Cake Ingredients and their Functions
- Created by: Roisin
- Created on: 24-06-14 19:46
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- Cake Ingredients and Functions
- Flour
- Weak or strong flour is most suitable for cakes.
- Contains small amount of gluten-forming proteins.
- When cakes are baked the gluten coagulates
- Helps form structure of cake.
- SR flour is used for cakes where fat to flour proportion is no more than half.
- For rich cakes, baking powder content of SR flour is too high so plain flour is used.
- You can get 80% extraction flour.
- Can get SR flour of this extraction.
- Cakes made with SR flour of this extraction tend to have less volume because of extra NSP.
- Provides NSP, nutrients colour and flavour.
- Can get SR flour of this extraction.
- The starch in flour gets trapped in framework produced by expansion of gas bubbles of gluten during baking.
- Adds to lightness of the cake.
- Weak or strong flour is most suitable for cakes.
- Sugar
- Sugar Can:
- Add flavour
- Help to trap air with fat in creaming so cake rises.
- Contribute to texture by:
- Dissolving into a syrup and softening the gluten in the flour. However if too much sugar is added the gluten will be too soft and the cake collapses.
- Add colour by caramelizing the crust of the cake on exposure to dry heat.
- Types of Sugar
- Caster Sugar is most suitable as it has small crystals which dissolve easily and they give a smooth texture to the cake.
- Granulated sugar has coarser crystals so it has to be creamed more thoroughly to break these down
- Soft Brown Sugar is used for dark coloured and fruit cakes. It also contributes to the flavour of the cake
- Syrup or treacle can be used with sugar to contribute towards texture and moistness of cake
- Sugar Can:
- Fat
- Fats are added to:
- Trap air during creaming so cake will rise
- To provide 'shortness' to the cake mixture
- Fat is insoluble in water and it stops gluten strands adhering to each other. This stops cake from being solid and tough.
- To add colour and texture to the mixture
- Types of fat
- Margarine is economical. 'Soft' margarine is produced for creaming but it is too oily for rubbing in.
- Butter provides good flavour and colour. It can be mixed with margarine to make it more economical
- White cooking fats (vegetable) don't contribute to colour or flavour. It can be used in creaming and it can be used in strongly flavoured mixtures.
- Lard is mostly unsuitable as it has a strong flavour and doesn't cream well.
- Oil can be used in some mixtures where there is an extra raising agent but you can't trap air during creaming if only oil is used.
- Fats are added to:
- Eggs
- Eggs are added to:
- To trap air during whisking with sugar in sponges or beating into creamed mixtures. They hold large amounts of air.
- To help set the cake after the gluten has coagulated after baking
- To add colour and nutritional value
- To emulsify the fat in creamed mixtures the lethicin in the yolk is responsible for this
- In creamed mixtures if the egg is too cold it may curdle.
- Eggs should be fresh and opened into a separate bowl first to avoid adding a bad egg.
- Eggs are added to:
- Dry ingredients
- Apart from flour, dry ingredients should be sieved to ensure even distribution
- Liquids
- Apart from egg, liquids help to raise cake mixture by producing steam during baking but they may toughen the gluten and produce a toughter texture
- Flavourings
- Some such as citrus rind and dried fruit help with the keeping of the cake as there is moisture in the latter and oil in the former.
- Dried fruit should be well washed and dried and should be chopped to uniform size. They can be coated in flour to prevent sinking in the mixture and sticking.
- Flavourings such as coffee should be dissolved first to prevent a speckled appearance
- Flour
- Provides NSP, nutrients colour and flavour.
- Fat is insoluble in water and it stops gluten strands adhering to each other. This stops cake from being solid and tough.
- In creamed mixtures if the egg is too cold it may curdle.
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