Effect of soapwort extract on physical and sensory properties of sponge cakes and rheological properties of sponge cake batters

Soapwort extract yields relatively stable, soap-like foam in aqueous solution because of its saponin content. The objective of this study was to utilise the advantage of the high foam forming capacity of soapwort extract in the production of sponge cakes. Egg white proteins were partially replaced with soapwort extract in the sponge cake formulation. The effects of soapwort extract addition on the rheological and physical properties of cake batters and on the physical and sensory properties of sponge cakes were determined. Replacing egg white proteins with soapwort extract, up to 75% by weight, did not have any significant influence on the specific gravity of batters (p > 0.05). Addition of soapwort extract into the cake mixture did not influence the flow behaviour indices (n) of cake batters nor the consistency indices (K) of cake batters. In general, replacing egg white proteins with soapwort extracts (up to 75% by weight) did not alter physical properties of sponge cakes. Replacing egg white proteins with soapwort extract had no unfavourable influence on the sensory properties of sponge cakes. Indeed, sponge cakes formulated with soapwort extract (by replacing egg white proteins by 50% and 75% on weight basis) received significantly higher chewiness scores than did control cakes (p < 0.05). This study showed that egg white proteins could be partially replaced with soapwort extract in the formulation of sponge cakes.     

Original article: Influence of flour mill streams on cake quality

Wheat‐milling process generates different flour streams that differ in particle size, composition and functional and cake‐making properties. Particle size, composition and pasting properties of flour fractions (two from break and three from reduction system) obtained during milling of three wheats varying in protein content were determined. Shape, textural, colour and sensory analyses were performed on cakes prepared with the different mill streams. The final break and reduction streams had the highest protein and ash contents, pasting temperatures and the lowest starch percentage. Cakes prepared with the last streams showed higher batter density and lower volume. These results could indicate good air incorporation but deficient air distribution. Last streams cakes showed a darker, more reddish and yellowish crumb that was significantly related to flour colour characteristics. Because of these differences, such cakes obtained the lowest sensory scores. In this study, it has been verified that, to adapt flours to cake preparation, the final streams should be eliminated. The particle size of each stream is the most determinant parameter to obtain cakes with better volume and texture, being the flours with small particle size the most adequate.     

Influence of Flour Particle Size on Quality of Gluten-Free Rice Cakes

There is a growing interest in developing gluten-free bakery products in recent time. In cake making, gluten network formation is not essential, but hardly any information exists about the influence of the gluten-free flour characteristics affecting the final cake product. This study analyses the influence of two different rice cultivars (short and long) with different flour particle size in batter characteristics (specific volume, viscosity and internal structure) and in sponge and layer cake formulas (volume, shape, texture and colour). During starch gelatinization, the finest flours (median particle size finer than 100 μm) increased their viscosity and reached the peak viscosity (RVA) later than the coarsest flours. Moreover, the finest flours gave batters with lower specific volumes but with an air distribution in smaller and uniform bubbles in both formulas. These flours also produced higher volume and lower firmness in sponge cakes and greater symmetry index both in sponge and layer cakes. The rice type also influenced batter and cakes characteristics but in a lesser extent. The different results obtained depending on the rice flour particle size, type flour and cake formulation indicate the need to define them both in industrial specifications and in research studies.     

Navy Bean Flour Particle Size and Protein Content Affect Cake Baking and Batter Quality1

Whole navy bean flour and its fine and coarse particle size fractions were used to completely replace wheat flour in cakes. Replacement of wheat flour with whole bean flour significantly increased the protein content. The protein content was adjusted to 3 levels with navy bean starch. The effect of navy bean flour and its fractions at 3 levels of protein on cake batter rheology and cake quality was studied and compared with wheat flour samples. Batters prepared from navy bean flour and its fractions had higher viscosity than the cake flour. Reducing the protein content by addition of starch significantly lowered the viscosity of cake batters. The whole navy bean flour and coarse bean fraction cakes were softer than cakes made with wheat flour but had reduced springiness. Principal component analysis showed a clear discrimination of cakes according to protein. It also showed that low protein navy bean flour cakes were similar to wheat flour cakes. Navy bean flour with protein content adjusted to the level of cake (wheat) flour has potential as a healthy alternative in gluten‐free cakes.     

Wasted bread flour as a novel ingredient in cake making

Bread is one of the most wasted products in both industry and retail. This study analysed the use of bread flour of various particle sizes (1000 μm, 500 μm and 200 μm) in different percentages for sponge formulations (10% and 20%) and layer cakes (10%, 20% and 30%). Viscosity, microstructure and density of batters, as well as specific volume, texture and colour of cakes were evaluated. The inclusion of bread flour change batter microstructure. Viscosity does not affect the sponge batters but it tends to increase in the layers, mostly in the case of finer flours. The specific volume is reduced in sponge cakes while hardness is generally increased, even with the lowest percentages of bread flour. In layers, this reduction in volume is only visible at the highest doses of flours below 500 microns with no changes in hardness.     

Production of black rice cake using ground black rice and medium-grain brown rice

Puffed rice cakes were produced from a blend of ground black rice (GBR) and medium‐grain brown rice (GMBR) by using a rice cake machine. Effects of moisture content, heating temperature and heating time on quality of the black rice cake were investigated. The specific volume of black rice cakes showed an increasing trend with increasing tempering moisture, heating temperature and heating time. The hardness of puffed black rice cake decreased as tempering moisture and heating time increased, and was influenced more by GMBR content than heating temperature. In general, the black rice cake lightness and yellowness decreased steadily with increasing GBR content, while tempering moisture, heating temperature and heating time did not significantly affect the colours of black rice cake. On the contrary, the redness increased with increasing GBR contents. The weight loss during tumbling was not found at all puffing conditions.     

Quality and antioxidant property of green tea sponge cake

Green tea powder was used to substitute 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% of wheat flour to make sponge cakes, called the control, GT10, GT20, and GT30, respectively. The viscosity and specific gravity in cake batter, and hardness, gumminess, chewiness, crumb a value, protein, total dietary fibre, ash, and various catechin content of baked cakes increased with increasing green tea levels whereas the volume, cohesiveness, adhesiveness, springiness, resilience, crust L, a, b and crumb L, b values of samples showed a reverse trend. No differences were found in all hedonic sensory results for control, GT10, and GT20 whereas GT30 were rated lower in all sensory results. Green tea cake contained a greater variety of catechins, and had good antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging ability on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals and chelating ability on ferrous ions. Overall, green tea cake could be developed as a food with more effective antioxidant properties.     

Improvement of the quality of gluten‐free sponge cake using different levels and particle sizes of carrot pomace powder

In this study, carrot pomace powder (CPP) with particle sizes of 210 μm (CPP210) and 500 μm (CPP500) was added in the gluten‐free sponge cake recipe. Flour (rice and corn flour, 1:1, w/w) was replaced with 0, 10, 20 and 30% CPP. With increasing the level and particle size of CPP, batter density, viscosity, consistency and firmness increased. The control cake had a dense, hard texture, irregular shape and low sensory scores. These properties improved with addition of CPP so that the cake density, hardness and cohesiveness reduced, while symmetry index and sensory scores increased. Varying the particle size of CPP had no considerable effects on most of the batter and cake properties, while increasing the level of CPP had great positive effects on the quality of batter and cake. Overall, addition of 30% CPP with either of the particle sizes resulted in an acceptable gluten‐free cake.     

4种功能性低聚糖对海绵蛋糕的面糊性能和烘焙品质的影响

针对海绵蛋糕的高糖问题,选用4种功能性低聚糖完全替代海绵蛋糕中的蔗糖,分别比较了它们对海绵蛋糕的面糊性能和烘焙品质的影响。结果表明:低聚异麦芽糖、低聚果糖、低聚半乳糖的面糊性能与蔗糖组较为接近,显示出良好的替代性,使用这3种糖制作的海绵蛋糕贮藏3d后依然是可接受的。而菊粉因为吸湿性极强,其海绵蛋糕成品比容小,硬度大,咀嚼时粉质感强烈,可接受度最低。     

Addition of pin-milled pea flour and air-classified fractions in layer and sponge cakes

Legumes have interesting nutritional properties and many organizations, such as the World Health Organization, encourage their inclusion in the diet; their incorporation into bakery products could be a good method for increasing consumption. The aim of this study was to examine the addition of different percentages of pin-milled pea flour or its air-classified protein and starch fractions to sponge and layer cakes. Specific volume, pH and viscosity were measured in batters and specific volume, shape and texture in cakes. Evaluation through sensory analysis in a consumer test was performed after exclusion of the poorest cakes. Pin-milled pea-flour and starch-fraction cakes had similar specific volumes and firmness to wheat-flour cakes with substitution of up to 50% of the wheat flour in sponge cakes and up to 25% in layer cakes. In contrast, protein produced a lower cake specific volume and increased firmness at lower substitution percentages. Sensory acceptability decreased with increasing substitution percentages, and this was more pronounced in layer cakes. In sponge cakes, evaluations were similar to controls after substitution of 25% of the wheat flour by starch concentrate.     

不同改良剂对青稞全粉发糕品质的影响

传统青稞全粉发糕具有质地粗糙、硬度大等缺点,严重影响了其感官特性,因此,该研究结合已建立的青稞全粉发糕感官评价体系和现代分析技术初步探讨了黄原胶(xanthan gum,Xan)、瓜尔胶(guar gum,Guar)和改性木薯淀粉(modified cassava starch,Cas)对青稞全粉发糕品质的改良效果。结果显示:Xan、Guar和Cas的最佳添加量分别为0.2%、0.4%和4%,且添加0.4%Guar的感官评分最高(94.00);在最佳添加量下,三种改良剂均能提高青稞全粉浆的起糊温度并降低其热糊稳定性和冷糊稳定性(p0.05);三种改良剂均能提升粉浆的持水性,其中,0.2%Xan使强结合水增加16.68%,而0.4%Guar使弱结合水增加2.47%;0.2%Xan能将发糕切面的气孔表面分率和气孔稠密度分别减小至1.38%和0.07 mm-2,而0.4%Guar能使其分别增加至24.26%和0.50 mm-2;三种改良剂均能改善青稞全粉发糕的质构特性,其中,0.4%Guar使发糕的硬度显著降低至695.78g;三种改良剂均可通过降低青稞全粉发糕的硬度、黏附力、弹性、咀嚼性以及提升回复力的方式来改善其感官品质。研究结果可以为青稞全粉发糕的品质改良提供理论参考。     

Measurement and Modelling of Thermal Conductivity of Sponge and Yellow Cakes as a Function of Porosity

A review of the literature identified that there is significant scatter in the data for the thermal conductivity of cakes (including muffins). Most data have been obtained using the line source or thermal conductivity probe method. In this work the thermal conductivity of two types of cakes (sponge cake and yellow cake) were measured over a range of porosities, using a transient comparative method. The thermal conductivity data measured in this work were generally lower than the data measured by the probe or line source method; however, they appeared to lie on a similar curve to the data collated by previous workers who measured thermal conductivity at porosities outside the range considered in this work. The thermal conductivity of the cakes was modelled assuming the cakes were binary materials made up of a condensed phase and air, using equations that did not contain any empirical parameters. Of the eight thermal conductivity models considered, the effective medium theory model provided the most accurate predictions for thermal conductivity as a function of porosity.     

Effect of batter freezing conditions and resting time on cake quality

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of batter freezing and conditions and resting time before baking on quality of two kinds of cakes (layer and sponge cakes), including freezing temperature (−18 °C, −26 °C), storage time at sub-zero temperatures (30 and 100 days), and resting time (60 and 120 min). Characteristics of the batter (pH, density, viscosity, and microstructure) and cakes (density, texture, and colour) were analysed. Freezing process increases batter density and viscosity, and consequently decreases cake volume and height, but increases hardness. Cakes from frozen batters have a darker and more yellow crumb and lighter-coloured crust than cakes from non-frozen batters. Freezing process has a greater effect on batter and cake quality characteristics than storage/freezing conditions or resting time. In layer cakes, freezing mainly affected volume and colour, whilst in sponge cakes, there was a more marked effect on texture. Differences between the two kinds of cake could be related to a distinct internal structure. Resting time mainly affected batter characteristics, although there were no apparent differences in the quality of the cakes obtained.     

Studies of the quality of cakes made with wheat-lentil composite flours

Legume flours, due to their amino acid balance and their demonstrated nutritional benefits, are ideal ingredients to improve the nutritional characteristics of bakery products. We have studied the inclusion of lentil flour on layer and sponge cakes, and its effect on the characteristics of the batter and of the final product. The addition of lentil flours reduced the density of layer-cake batter but increased the density of sponge-cake batter. This effect was greater with the smaller flour-particle size. Adding lentil flour to the formula reduced layer-cake volume, symmetry index, cohesiveness and springiness and increased hardness. In sponge cakes, no clear tendencies were observed in volume or symmetry index, but the total substitution of wheat flour by lentil flour gave rise to harder and less cohesive cakes. The use of lentil flour with a fine particle size increased cake volume but reduced hardness, particularly in sponge cakes.     

Rice Cake Production using Long-grain and Medium-grain Brown Rice

Puffing of rice cakes using both long-grain and medium-grain brown rice was studied. The effects of tempering moisture, heating temperature, and heating time on various rice cake quality attributes were investigated. A greater specific cake volume was obtained at a lower tempering moisture, higher heating temperature, and longer heating time for long-grain brown rice. For medium-grain rice, a higher tempering moisture yielded a larger specific cake volume. The lightness of rice cakes correlated well with their expansion; the less expanded cake always had a lighter color. Medium-grain brown rice also produced cakes that were much more fragile than those produced from long-grain brown rice.     

Effect of wheat flour characteristics on sponge cake quality

BACKGROUND: To select the flour parameters that relate strongly to cake‐making performance, in this study the relationship between sponge cake quality, solvent retention capacity (SRC) profile and flour physicochemical characteristics was investigated using 38 soft wheat samples of different origins. Particle size average, protein, damaged starch, water‐soluble pentosans, total pentosans, SRC and pasting properties were analysed. Sponge cake volume and crumb texture were measured to evaluate cake quality. Cluster analysis was applied to assess differences in flour quality parameters among wheat lines based on the SRC profile. RESULTS: Cluster 1 showed significantly higher sponge cake volume and crumb softness, finer particle size and lower SRC sucrose, SRC carbonate, SRC water, damaged starch and protein content. Particle size, damaged starch, protein, thickening capacity and SRC parameters correlated negatively with sponge cake volume, while total pentosans and pasting temperature showed the opposite effect. CONCLUSION: The negative correlations between cake volume and SRC parameters along with the cluster analysis results indicated that flours with smaller particle size, lower absorption capacity and higher pasting temperature had better cake‐making performance. Some simple analyses, such as SRC, particle size distribution and pasting properties, may help to choose flours suitable for cake making. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Structural development of sucrose‐sweetened and sucrose‐free sponge cakes during baking

The influence of sucrose, wheat starch and sorbitol upon the heat‐ and mass‐exchanging processes forming the structure of sponge cake was studied. Under the influence of wheat starch and sorbitol the structure of the sucrose‐free sponge cake was formed at more uniform total moisture release. This process was done at lower temperatures and smoother change of the sponge cake height with respect to the sucrose‐sweetened sponge cake. The porous and steady structure of both cakes was finally formed at identical time – between 18^th and 19^th minute, at the applied conditions for baking of each batter (metal pan with diameter 15.4 cm and depth 6.2 cm containing 300 g of batter and placed in an electric oven “Rahovetz – 02”, Bulgaria for 30 min at 180°C). The water‐losses at the end of baking (10.30% and 10.40% for the sucrose‐sweetened cake and sucrose‐free cake, respectively) and the final temperatures reached in the crumb central layers (96.6°C and 96.3°C for the sucrose‐sweetened cake and sucrose‐free cake, respectively) during baking of both samples were not statistically different. The addition of wheat starch and sorbitol in sucrose‐free sponge cake lead to the statistically different values for the porosity (76.15% and 72.98%) and the volume (1014.17 cm³ and 984.25 cm³) of the sucrose‐sweetened and sucrose‐free sponge cakes, respectively. As a result, the sucrose‐free sponge cake formed during baking had a more homogeneous and finer microstructure with respect to that of the sucrose‐sweetened one.     

Comparative study of texture of normal and energy reduced sponge cakes

The complete sucrose elimination and its replacement by microencapsulated aspartame (Nutra Sweet) and bulking agents (sorbitol, wheat starch and wheat germ) on the physical and textural sensory characteristics of two diabetic sponge cakes against a control sponge cake was studied. Mathematical and statistical methods were used and regression models worked out, describing the physical and textural characteristics of the three sponge cakes and their values were optimized. The effect on the porosity, springiness, volume and shrinkage of sponge takes was substantial and depended on the amount of the added ingredients. The diabetic sponge cake containing wheat germ showed the least physical and sensory deviations against the control sponge cake. The energy value of the diabetic sponge cakes against the control one was reduced with 25% for the ordinary sponge cake without sucrose and with 29% for sponge cake without sucrose containing wheat germ.     

Effects of polyols and nondigestible oligosaccharides on the quality of sugar-free sponge cakes

Interest in nutrition is driving consumer demands for less fat, sugar, and calories. In most foods, however, the removal or reduction of ingredients causes readily detectable losses in appearance, texture and mouthfeel. In this work seven bulking agents (maltitol, mannitol, xylitol, sorbitol, isomaltose, oligofructose and polydextrose) were used to totally replace sucrose in sponge cakes. The effect of this substitution on cake quality was determined by measuring texture, colour and volume after baking under controlled conditions. These parameters were established instrumentally and by sensory evaluation. Best results were obtained with xylitol and maltitol, leading to sponge cakes more similar to the control one – manufactured with sucrose – and with the highest acceptance level in sensory evaluations. Lower quality sponge cakes were those elaborated with mannitol.     

Effect of drumstick leaves powder on the rheological,micro-structural and physico-functional properties of sponge cake and batter

Drumstick leaves powder (DLP) sponge cakes were prepared by replacing 0, 2, 5 and 10% of wheat flour with DLP to evaluate its effect on rheological, micro-structural and physico-functional properties of sponge cake. Batter viscosity and specific gravity increased with increase in DLP. Depending upon the replacement level, water absorption, dough development time and mixing tolerance index increased whereas, dough stability decreased. No significant difference was observed in moisture, fat and carbohydrate content, sponge weight and water activity of the sponge cake, but, significant decrease was observed in volume with increasing DLP. Also, there was significant increase in protein, crude fiber, ash, calcium, iron and β-carotene content with increase in replacement level. The hardness of sponge cake increased with increasing the replacement level. DLP incorporation significantly affected color of crust and crumb. SEM image analysis revealed that uniformity in structure was disrupted with increase in replacement level. DLP sponge cake with 2% replacement level had highest overall acceptability.