There are a number of factors that seem to be at play into this structure reduction process.ġ. The least mixed cake was the strongest structurally and the 15 minute mixed cake was so fragile and tender that I could barely get it out of the pan without breakage. What surprised me in my experiement was the fact that mixing actually destabilized or weakened the protein network of the cake. If you mix a batter that contains flour and water for a long time with little fat or sugar you will end up with long strands of gluten and a tough, chewy baked good.įat and sugar in the cake batter counteract the formation of the gluten strands and in theory should minimize the gluten-forming effects of a long mix time. The proteins that form gluten, for example, are activated my mixing in the presence of water. Some of the structural elements in a cake batter are affected by how well and how long you mix. Bakers are constantly tweaking recipes to find the perfect balance of ingredients that will result in the best texture and taste great at the same time. Conversely, an unbalanced recipe that is heavy on weakeners may taste great but can be short in height and fall apart easily when stacked or cut.
If your recipe is out of balance and you have too many structural components and not enough weakeners, you make have a beautiful looking cake that is tall and fluffy, but it will likely be tough, chewy and unpalatable. Weakening molecules include: fats, sugars, liquids, acids and fiber. Structure molecules primarily include: egg proteins, dairy proteins, gluten, and starches. All cakes exist with a balance of structure makers and structure weakeners. Let’s start with a brief overview of how toughening of cakes works. When the cakes emerged from the oven, I was very surprised by the results and I think you will be too!
To test my assumptions I mixed up a standard cake batter, either mixing just until blended (finishing by hand), for 5 minutes, or for a full 15 minutes before baking. For this reason, I assumed that mixing time would have little effect on the cake structure. In my experience, in the scientific lab within my kitchen, American-style butter cakes just don’t tend to toughen up, regardless of mixing time. Our contributor, Summer Stone of Cake Paper Party, is back today with a new baking science experiment….Ī countless number of times I have read baking instructions to only mix a batter briefly to avoid toughening your baked good, but I have often wondered if this quip was fact or fiction when it came to whipping up a butter cake.
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