Experimental cookery

Extent o£ mixing and its effect on the baked cake. Several illus- trations accompany this part of the discussion of cakes. For the illustrations 150 grams of batter were always used and the cakes were baked in pans of the same size. This small amount of batter was used so that the grain, holes, and imperfections of texture and the volume are shown nearly actual size. As reproduced the illustrations are seven-ninths of the actual size of the cakes. Incidentally, it is difficult to make cake without some irregular holes from enclosed air, and these imperfections show more in the picture than in the cake. The ingredients for the cakes were 23 °C. when mixed. The butter, sugar, and beaten egg were creamed only 75 turns with a rotary egg beater and 100 times with a wooden spoon, thus they were not thoroughly creamed, hence a coarser texture was produced. They were also baked at a lower temperature than now considered optimum. The very plain cake recipe, see Experiment 84, is used in the experimental outline because variations in extent of mixing and the proportion of ingredients show very distinctly. For a plain cake recipe for home use most people will prefer the sugar increased to 1^ cups. Extent of mixing, its effect upon crust and shape of cake. With very little mixing, so that the ingredients are just combmed but not blended until the batter is smooth (cakes number 1, Figs. 68 to 70, with 50 strokes), the top of the cake is nearly level or slightly rounded. It browns well and is rough. The crust has considerable glaze. As the amount of mixing is increased the crust is less rough, has less glaze, does not brown so well, and is more rounded across the top, until with more than an optimum amount of beating, 300 to 400 strokes in this cake, the crust be- comes dull in appearance and quite smooth. There is a tendency for the top to come to a peak instead of being rounded. Small holes may be notice- able. Over these holes there is often a very thin layer of crust that covers the end of a long tunnel that extends up through the cake. With decided excess of mixing, 1000 strokes, the top may be level or only slightly rounded and is very dull and smooth in appearance and nearly white in color. The appearance of the crust of cake made with sulfate-phosphate baking powder. Fig. 70, changes with increased mixing but not so rapidly as in the cakes made with the phosphate or tartrate baking powder. Extent of mixing, its effect upon volume. When the cake is just mixed so that no dry ingredients show, the volume of the cake may be less than when the batter is stirred a little longer, or it may be larger. With more mixing, 100 to 150 strokes, the volume may or may not increase. Con- tinued beating after an amount sufficient to give the maximum volume decreases the volume in proportion to the degree of over-mixing. With more than an optimum amount of mixing the volumes of cakes containing a phosphate or a tartrate baking powder decrease more rapidly than those MIXING AND THE TEXTURE OF CAKE 499 of the cakes made with sulfate-phosphate baking powder. See Figs. 68 to 70.