Experimental cookery

63 shows the cake made from the partially creamed mixture. Muffin method. By this method the beaten egg, the melted fat, and liquid are combined. All the dry ingredients are combined and added to the liquid ones. The advantage of this method is that the batter can be mixed in a short time. If the milk, eggs, and flour are not cool enough to partially solidify the fat, an oil-in-water emulsion is formed of part or all of the fat, and the texture of the cake is not as velvety, nor is it as tender, as by some other methods of mixing. When an oil-in-water emulsion forms in a batter, the batter remains smooth and does not contain flecks or small curds. Cake-mixer method. This method has several different names, and as in 486 BATTERS AND DOUGHS Fig. 59. — Photomicrograph of partially creamed butter, sugar and egg. Magnifi- cation approximately x 100. Fig. 60. — Same as Fig. 59 after the addition of the flour and milk. The irregular grouping of the sugar crystals and gas bubbles is characteristic of the coarser texture obtained in the cake shown in Fig. 63. Magnification x 100. the conventional method, the manner of adding the milk and flour may vary. As used in the experimental outline the fat has a temperature of 22° to 28°C. It is combined with the sugar and beaten egg. Then they METHODS OF MIXING CAKES 487 en Fig. 61. — The butter, sugar, and beaten eggs are put in the mixing bo^yl ; then thoroughly creamed. The air bubbles are scarcely perceptible as tiny white dots. Temperature of ingredients 22°C. Magnification approximately x 100. Fig. 62. — Photomicrograph of cake batter. Same as Fig. 61, after adding the flour and milk. Note the very regular grouping of the sugar crystals. All batters, observed microscopically, that have had regular distribution of the sugar crystals have produced excellent textured cakes. See Fig. 64. Magnification approximately X 100. Fiffs. 55 to 64 by courtesy of Lor a Ruth James. 488 BATTERS AND DOUGHS are stirred until thoroughly creamed, spongy, and fluffy. When the beaten egg is added to the fat and sugar at tjie beginning of the creaming process a rotary egg beater may be used until the mass becomes too stiff to turn the beater easily, when a spoon can be substituted. After the fat, sugar, and egg have been stirred they sometimes separate into fine flecks or curds. The flour and milk are added to the above mixture. Sometimes, after the flour and milk are added to the other ingredients, the flecks or curds may continue or may develop later in the batter. They also usually develop with the conventional method of mixing, and at least in some recipes there is nothing detrimental in their formation. In fact, the presence of very fine flecks seems to give assurance of a good texture in some recipes. If the flecks or curds are very large the texture of the cake is not as good as when they are smaller. James, using Formula I, found that cakes scored higher when the fat, sugar, and eggs were thoroughly creamed than when only partially creamed.