Experimental cookery

King, Whiteman, and Rose investigated the effect on the cake-making quality of some egg-production factors. The physical and chemical measure- ments of eggs, cake batter, and sponge cake were the same as those reported for King, Morris, and Whiteman, with the exception that elasticity or recovery of the cake crumb is added in the present study. They found that five different diets of the hens did not affect the properties of the eggs or the quality of the cake made from them. Most of the eggs used were obtained over a period of seven months (December- June), beginning about three months after the hens started laying, and were collected and dipped in mineral oil saturated with carbon dioxide. They found no progressive change in the properties of the eggs or the quality of the cakes over the period in the laying cycle of the hen or the seasons of the year studied. As in the earlier study they found no apparent relationship between the physi- cal and chemical properties of the eggs studied and the quality values of the cakes. 360 EGG COOKERY "There was a relationship between the specific volume, elasticity, and compressibility of the sponge cakes, and between the pH and specific gravity of the batter from which the cakes were baked. "Findings of an earlier study which indicated that there is no relation- ship between pH and COo content of egg white were confirmed." Formulas for angel cake. Because formulas mean more to many cooks than equations, the data in Table 43 have been compiled. TABLE 43 Formulas for Angel Food Cake Egg white Sugar Flour Cream of Amount Formula Meas. Wt. Meas. Wt. Meas. Wt. of salt Cups Gm. Cups Gm. Cups Gm. tartar I .... 244 n4 250 1 100 Xt. II .... 244 W 300 1 100 Xt. Ill .... 1>^ 366 W 300 1 100 l>^t. 'At. IV .... 1^ 366 IX 250 4/5 80 A t. V .... ux 427 W 300 1 100 At. VI .... 244 1 200 1 100 At. VII .... 246 23l6 266 % 90 At. VIII .... 246 1^6 169 K 48 At. IX .... 246 VA 222 % 90 At. Only the first five formulas have been made in class work at 900-feet elevation. Excellent cakes may be made from these five formulas, though II is less likely to be successful. The last three formulas are from Barmore's tables; VII and VIII are for 1000-feet elevation with the largest and smallest amounts of flour advocated, respectively. Further analysis of these formulas is found in Table 44. Since sugar tends to prevent coagulation of the egg white, there is an amount of sugar which, if exceeded, will prevent coagulation to such an extent that the cake is so tender it will fall. It is desirable to use an amount that will just prevent the cake from falling. However, this particular amount of sugar will depend somewhat upon the amount of flour. The flour increases the toughness of the cake. Hence there is a ratio of sugar to flour, so that, within certain limits, as the sugar is decreased the flour must also be decreased. For the formulas given the ratio of sugar to flour is 3 to 1 in four of the recipes and 2.5 to 1 in the standard recipe. The illustrations are all for angel cakes which were baked from the same quantity of material, one-sixth of the recipe. The pans were small ones so that the photographs are nearly actual size. Thus the illustrations BEATING EGG WHITES FOR ANGEL CAKE 361 TABLE 44