Week 8 -- Cakes (Lecture)

This week in class we talked about cakes. I love baking and decorating cakes, so I was very excited for us to talk about cakes.

It was interesting to learn how each ingredient affects the final product. The ingredients are classified in different categories:

• Tougheners (flour, milk, eggs)
• Tenderizers (sugar, fats, egg yolks)
• Moisteners (liquids, i.e. water, milk, juice, eggs)
• Driers (flour, starches, milk solids)
• Leaveners (baking powder, baking soda, eggs)
• Flavorings (extracts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, salt, sugar, butter)

Knowing how each ingredient affects the outcome of the cake is very important. Now, I'll be better at figuring out what to change if a cake doesn't turn out.

We also talked about cake mixing methods and the types of cakes that use these methods. The first method is the Creamed Fat method. Creamed fat cakes use a high fat formula and contain chemical leavening. Butter cakes and high ratio cakes are made using this method. The second mixing method is the Whipped Egg method. In general, whipped egg cakes do not require chemical leavening agents because of the air whipped ito the eggs. These types of cakes also contain little or no fat. Genoise, sponge cake, angel food cake, and chiffon cake are made using the whipped egg method.

We also talked about some cake baking tips that I thought were helpful. One of them that I had not heard before was that it is better to coat a pan with shortening than butter because shortening does not contain water. Good to know!