Week 45 -- Cake Methods I

Cake making need not be difficult or intimidating, but it does require an understanding of ingredients and mixing methods. The mixing process is the single most important step in cake making. The five types of cakes are defined by their mixing method.

Ingredients in Cakes

  • Good cakes begin with high quality ingredients
  • Even the finest ingredients must be combined in proper balance/proportion
  • Each ingredient performs a specific function and effect on the final outcome
  • Cake ingredients are classified by functions
    • Tougheners
      • Flour, milk, and eggs contain proteins
      • Protein provides structure and toughens the cake
      • Too little protein and the cake may collapse
      • Too little protein and the cake may collapse
    • Tenderizers
      • Sugar, fats, and egg yolks shorten gluten strands, making the cake soft and tender
      • These ingredients also improve the cake's keeping qualities
    • Moisteners
      • Liquids such as water, milk, juice, and eggs bring moisture to the texture
      • Moisture is necessary for gluten formation and starch gelatinization
      • Also improves a cake's keeping qualities
    • Driers
      • Flour, starches, and milk solids absorb moisture
      • Give body and structure to the cake
    • Leaveners
      • Cakes rise because the gases in the batter expand when heated
      • Cakes are leavened by the air trapped when
        • fat and sugar are creamed together
        • by carbon dioxide released from baking soda and baking powder
        • by air trapped in beaten eggs
      • All cakes rely on natural leaveners -- steam and air -- to create the proper texture and rise
    • Flavorings
      • Flavorings such as extracts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, salt, sugar, and butter provide cakes with the desired flavors
      • Acidic flavoring ingredients such as sour cream, chocolate, and fruit also provide the acid necessary to activate baking soda

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5 Types of Cake (within 2 basic categories, depending on how much fat)

  • High fat cakes
    • Usually made by the creaming method, mixing fat and sugar together, adding eggs slowly for good emulsification, then dry ingredients and liquids, 90% of cakes are made this way
    • 2-stage method, alternating the adding of flour and liquids
  • Low fat cakes, egg-foam cakes
    • Sponge cake method
    • Angel food cake method
    • Chiffon cake method

3 main goals in all cake making

  • Mixing the ingredients
  • Incorporating air
  • Developing structure

Emulsifying Fat and Water

  • Fat and water (from eggs or milk, other liquids) are 2 important ingredients that need to be done properly
  • Fat and water are unmixable items, and must be brought together via emulsification, this is what gives the cake its structure, the goal is water droplets held in suspension with fat surrounding them
  • Over-mixing, too much heat, too much friction (from mixer--too high a speed), will cause curdling as the fat can no longer encapsulate the water (poor emulsification), then you have fat suspended in water, and the fat then rises to the top, floating on the water
  • Good emulsification is vital, and it's done with egg yolks, so add the egg yolks slowly in very small increments, at low mixer speed, to ensure good emulsification (water suspended in fat)

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Common Curdling Causes

  • Wrong type of fat, eg., shortening is a better emulsifier than butter which already contains water
  • Ingredients are too cold, emulsifications happen best at room temperature (70F)
  • Mixing too quickly, high speed adds heat and friction, creates smaller air bubbles, be patient, use low speed mixing, unless whipping air into egg whites
  • Too much liquid, fat can only hold so much liquid

Forming Air Cells is Essential

  • For texture and leavening of the cake
  • Again, room temperature ingredients and low speed mixing produces good air content

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Overmixing Can Be a Problem

  • The product of excessive motion and agitation is excessive gluten
  • Some gluten is necessary for structure, but don't over do it
  • Gluten provides chewiness (like French bread), so prevent excessive gluten development, unless you want your cake to be like French bread

Baking Issues -- Cake Structure is Fragile

  • Preheat oven, let oven be up to temperature when putting cake in
  • Test oven with oven thermometer to get temperature right
  • Cake baking temperatures is a small range, generally 350F-375F
    • High fat cakes 350F
    • Low fat cakes 375F
  • If oven is too hot, cake will set unevenly, hump in middle
  • If oven is too cold, the cake batter will not produce enough steam to get good leavening, left with shallow, dense, heavy cake texture
  • When cake is put in the oven, do not disturb it, lest you knock the air out of it before it sets, leave alone for at least the first 1/2 hour

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When Is the Cake Done?

  • Look for slight shrinkage from side of pan
  • Stick a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean
  • When removed from oven, allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes, warm fragile structure can break apart
  • When turned out of the pan, cool on a rack

Creamed Fat Cakes

  • Creamed fat cakes include the most popular American style cakes: pound cakes, layer cakes, coffee cakes, and even brownies
  • All are based on high-fat formulas containing chemical leaveners
  • Procedure
    • Cream fat and sugar to incorporate air
    • Add eggs to create good emulsion
    • Add liquid ingredients (if any)
    • Add dry ingredients

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German Chocolate Butter Cake (makes 2 layers)

  • Ingredients (scaled by weight)
    • 8 oz butter
    • 14 oz sugar
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 4 oz melted baking chocolate
    • 6 oz whole eggs
    • 12 oz cake flour
    • 1/2 oz baking powder
    • 6 oz milk
    • 1/4 oz vanilla extract
  • Procedure (creaming mixing method)
    • Prep cake pans, spray pans with baking fat, line bottom of sprayed pan with parchment paper circle cut to fit, also spray the parchment paper top and sides of pan
    • Put 8 oz butter (cut into small cubes) at room temperature into mixer bowl
    • Add 14 oz sugar to mixing bowl
    • Use paddle attachment, low speed, cream the sugar and butter together until very smooth, and lots of air has been incorporated (high speed mixing makes too much friction, heat for good emulsification), low and slow but thorough, about 10 minutes of mixing, scraping the bowl sides down several times to ensure consistent mix
    • Add 4 oz melted, unsweetened, bakers chocolate, mix well on slow speed
    • Add 6 oz eggs in several increments, at slowest speed, to ensure good emulsification, this step creates the structure of the cake, do with patience, allowing each increment to be fully absorbed before adding the next
    • Sift together the dry ingredients, flour, salt, baking powder, sifting adds more air and provides consistent mixing
    • Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl, stir everything together (low speed), then add the 6 oz milk
    • Add the rest of the dry ingredients, and the vanilla, and mix together on low speed, just until it all comes together, don't overmix and create gluten, finish stirring with a spatula
    • Portion the batter equally, by weight, into each of the two cake pans
    • Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes
    • Allow to cool for 15 minutes, then cover with another sheet pan, invert, pull off cake pan, and allow to cool the rest of the way
  • German Chocolate Cake Frosting
    • Ingredients
      • 1 cup evaporated milk
      • 1 cup brown sugar
      • 3 egg yolks
      • 1/2 cup butter
      • 1 tsp vanilla extract
      • 1 cup chopped pecans
      • 1 cup flaked coconut
    • Procedure: large saucepan, combine evap milk, br sugar, yolks, butter, vanilla, cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thick, remove from heat, stir in pecans and coconut, cool to room temperature, spread between layers and over cake

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Brown Sugar Caramel Pound Cake

  • Ingredients
    • 1.5 cups butter, softened
    • 2 cups light brown sugar, packed
    • 1 cup sugar
    • 5 large eggs
    • 3 cups AP flour
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp baking powder
    • 8 oz milk
    • 8 oz toffee bits
    • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • Procedure (creaming mixing method)
    • Prep 12-cup bundt cake pan, spray with baking fat, dust with flour, spray parchment paper to line the bottom of a sheet pan, set aside
    • Put 8 oz butter (cut into small cubes) at room temperature into mixer bowl, beat until creamy
    • Add sugars to mixing bowl, beat until fluffy, use low speed for good emulsification
    • Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, at slowest speed, to ensure good emulsification, this step creates the structure of the cake, do with patience, allowing each increment to be fully absorbed before adding the next
    • Sift together the dry ingredients in another bowl, flour, salt, baking powder, sifting adds more air and provides consistent mixing
    • Gradually add the dry ingredients to the mixer bowl (3 increments), stir everything together (low speed), alternating with the milk in increments, beat until just combined
    • Stir in toffee bits and pecans, and mix together on low speed, just until it all comes together, don't overmix and create gluten, finish stirring with a spatula
    • Spoon the batter into the prepared pan
    • Bake at 325F for about 75 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean--Note: you may want to cover with foil for last 15 minutes or so to prevent excess browning
    • Allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack
    • Spoon caramel drizzle over cooled cake
  • Caramel Drizzle
    • Ingredients
      • 14 oz condensed milk, sweetened
      • 1 cup dark brown sugar
      • 2 tbs butter
      • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    • Procedure: medium saucepan, combine condensed milk and brown sugar, simmer for several minutes, whisking frequently, remove from heat, whisk in butter and vanilla, spoon over cake while still warm and spreadable, for it will harden somewhat at room temperature

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