Cereal Chem 43:538 - 545.  |  VIEW ARTICLE

Performance of Fats in White Cake.

R. H. Matthews and E. H. Dawson. Copyright 1966 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

A variety of physical measurements was used to assess performance of fats and eating quality of white cake. Specific gravity and viscosity of batters varied according to the kind of fat. Hydrogenated fats contributed to low specific gravity and high viscosity of batter, whereas the reverse was true with the use of margarines. Butter contributed to intermediate viscosity readings and low specific gravity readings. Shear-force readings of cake made with the three higher levels of fat (50, 75, or 100%, based on weight of flour) did not vary greatly among the fats. Panel evaluations of tenderness, velvetiness, and evenness of grain varied among the fats. Cakes made with butter rated highest for tenderness and velvetiness, and those made with hydrogenated vegetable fat rated highest for evenness of grain. Viscosity of batters and shear-force measurements of cakes were good methods for assessing the performance of fats in cakes, as illustrated by high correlations with panel scores for tenderness, velvetiness, and evenness of grain of cakes. Volume index of cake was also a good measure of the performance of fat and the eating quality of cakes; compressibility was found to be a rather poor measure of performance.