Lesson Eleven CAKE BAKING II Correspondence Course APPLIED BAKING TECHNOLOGY TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 3 Automated/Non-Automated Bakeries .........:.cccssssssssssesseseeeeceesennnnnnnseeseee 3 Batter-Type Cakes 5 Mixing Methods ... 6 a il Areas of Concern .. 7 Programmed Exercises Angel Food Cake .. Sponge Cak€ eoenenenenenennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnne 12 Chiffon Cakes 3 Cheesecakes 4 High Altitude Baking .. 17 Programmed Exercises Is wry of Terms Self-Check Quiz (© Copyright, American Insitute of Baking, 1997 All ighs reservedLesson Eleven Cake Baking Il Introduction 11.01 Cake varieties are numerous and encompass a range from basic layer cake formulas used for special ‘occasions to sponge cakes used in the finest restaurants for torts and fancy pastries. In between there are cakes associated with specific holidays, such as fruit cake, and snack cakes that are produced by large wholesale bakeries for between-meal snacks and lunch-box dessert items. Many cake varieties are simply variations of either basic, batter-type cakes, foam-types or Chiffon cakes (a combination of both previous types). An understanding of these basic cake formulas and how they are processed will help in ingredient adjustment and troubleshooting in the production of more uniform, higher quality products. Automated/ Non-Automated Bakeries 11.02 In non-automated bakeries the ingredients are scaled by hand into a mixing bowl. The mixing bow! is then placed on the vertical mixer and its contents mixed, using time and temperature controls to attain a predeter- mined specific gravity. One of the basic goals of mixing is to achieve a homogeneous batter with a desired specific gravity. ‘The next step in the operation is the transfer of the batter to the depositor. A depositor is a volumetric measuring device and not a weighing device. It delivers a predeter- mined volume of batter rather than a predetermined weight of batter. Uniformity of product size and prod- ‘uct quality is initially controlled at the depositor. The next step is oven baking. The most common type of oven used in the non-automated plant is the reel type. Pans are placed manually on racks at the depositor and taken off the rack for oven-loading by one or more persons. They are again manually replaced on racks after baking for the purpose of cooling. After cooling, the product is depanned, iced, placed on trays and racked. ‘The cake is then removed from the rack for packaging. ‘The non-automated type of plant requires many jobs or operations that are necessary but not very produc- tive. In many of these plants, the pace of operations is set by the employee rather than the equipment. Automated cake lines have been developed for plants that have long runs and only a few varieties. This automation has taken on two forms, one in which a man is replaced by a machine, and the other in which the productivity of the employees has been doubled or tripled while their actual work load has been reduced. ‘The scaling is normally handled as in a non-automated shop. A slurry mixer is mounted on a floor scale, the ingredients are entered and scaled into the mixer. The mixing process requires about 90 seconds to attain a homogeneous mix that is completely free of lumps. This slurry is then transferred to a holding tank. ‘The slurry is then pumped into a continuous mixer which delivers the homogenized batter to a depositor at the same rate at which it is processed. The continuous mixer is the heart of the quality program. If itis operated correctly and the level of the batter in the depositor hopper is held constant, the resultant prod uct will be uniform in scaling and quality Lesson Eleven —