34.3 How the ingredients change a cake

A cake formula is a balance. How much of one ingredient is right depends on how much of the others there is, and on how much the batter is worked. A set of general rules explains why muffins, conventional cakes and quick-mix cakes have such different formulas.

Six rules of balance

• Structure against tenderness. Flour and eggs build the structure. Fat and sugar make the cake tender. The ratio of flour to liquid, and the mixing, also affect structure.
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• Wet against dry. Milk, egg and water are the liquids; flour and sugar are the dry side. Keeping them balanced controls how much gluten can form, keeps the batter flowing well, and leaves enough water to make steam.
• Sugar against liquid. More sugar for the same liquid raises the temperature at which the proteins set, so the cake can rise further before its structure fixes. At the right ratio you get the best volume and tenderness. Past it, the batter may spill over the pan, burn or fall. More sugar calls for more liquid and more structure, and egg adds both.
• Leaveners against each other. If you raise one leavener you may lower another. Cakes can rise on baking powder, on baking soda with an acid, on steam, on air held in a foam of egg or of creamed fat and sugar, and on yeast.
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• Flour near twice the liquid. As the flour-to-liquid ratio gets close to 2 to 1, mixing develops more gluten, and how long you mix matters more.
• More tenderizers, more beating. As fat and sugar go up, the batter needs more beating, and the grain turns out finer.

How heat sets egg and flour proteins, and what eggs do in a recipe, are covered earlier. see chapter 7: Proteins set: coagulation see chapter 15: What eggs do in a recipe

Quick-mix yellow cake

A quick-mix cake goes together in two mixer steps, with no creaming.

• Put the shortening, half the milk and all the dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt) in the mixer bowl and beat on medium speed for 2½ minutes.
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• Add the rest of the milk with the egg and vanilla, and beat 3 minutes more.
• Bake at 375°F for about 25 to 30 minutes, until it springs back from a light touch.
• Cool it 10 minutes on a rack, take it out, and wait until it reaches room temperature before cutting.
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Pound cake

This pound cake has no milk at all. Its only liquid is two eggs, and it takes half a cup of butter to one cup of flour.

• Sift the flour with the salt.
• Cream the soft butter with vanilla until light. Add the sugar a tablespoon at a time and keep beating until it has mostly dissolved.
• Beat the eggs until foamy, add them in thirds, and beat about a minute after each.
• Add the flour slowly while beating, then beat 2 minutes more on medium.
• Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes, then turn the oven down to 325°F for about 25 minutes more, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 to 15 minutes before taking it from the pan, and cut only when it is at room temperature.

Comparing the cakes

Set five products side by side.

• muffins
• the conventional yellow cake
• the pound cake
• the quick-mix yellow cake
• the chiffon cake

For each, record three things.

• the baking powder, fat, sugar, egg and liquid per cup of flour
• the flour-to-liquid ratio
• the mixing time after flour and liquid are both in

Then judge each baked cake for appearance, texture and flavor.

You should be able to explain the job of each ingredient in a cake batter, such as the shortening, the egg, the cake flour and the baking powder, and how each depends on the others.