When making a sponge cake how does the method of combining ingredients effect the final product? [closed]

I recently completed a project where I would bake several sponge cakes using various recipes so I could test how the different ingredients such as milk, self-rising flour, plain flour and baking powder would affect the final product.

I was surprised to find that the method and order of mixing the ingredients vary such as “creaming the butter and sugar first” compared to “whisk eggs and sugar together first” and also “whipping the egg whites separately then folding into batter”. I had assumed that the methods would be the same. Although in making the cake I found that the batter was very different for each, some would be grainier then others and some would be more viscous.

I apologise for asking such a broad question, but what different orders and methods are there for mixing the batter of a sponge cake and how will they affect the final cake?

Also, as an extra, how does adding milk affect the batter?

Best Answer

Generally speaking, a sponge cake recipe needs to create and trap a bubble structure in a mixture of protein, sugar, and starch. Since there are a number of ways to do this, there are a number of common techniques used for accomplishing that goal. The techniques are different and interactions between ingredients can be more complicated than they seem, so the effect of each ingredient might be different with each technique. Describing the ways that each ingredient interacts with each other ingredient in a cake is far beyond the scope of an answer on this site.

Almost every cake recipe that you commonly see on the internet is based on an older, tried-and-true technique from the canon of an older culinary tradition. On a blog or in a cook book, you might see a recipe for Aunt Edna's Famous Chocolate-Fanatic Fudge Filled Cake, but in the more technical terms that a pastry chef would use, it could be a layered chocolate genoise with a Godiva liqueur soaking liquid and ganache filling. Rather than checking out individual recipes, I'd recommend researching the broader techniques they're based on to get a better understanding of the mechanics.

In my French/American oriented in culinary school, I remember learning about Genoise, Separated Sponge, Chiffon, and Angel Food techniques, which are all common in the modern western canon. There may have been more— it's been a decade since I graduated and I was never a pastry chef— but if you study those, you should get a pretty good idea of how cakes work in general.

As an aside, when you're testing/workshopping a recipe, like with any other kind of experiment, you should reduce the number of confounding variables. Use one recipe (or ideally, basic unadorned technique) and change the ratio of ingredients by increasing/reducing the amount of one ingredient at a time. This will give you MUCH better data.

A general question gets a general answer, but I think it will give you a good start. ;-)

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How does the order of mixing ingredients affect the resulting cake?

Mixing ingredients in a different order can cause the cake to be dense, light, or standard depending on what you add first. If eggs are added first it will be light, if flour is added first it will be dense, and if butter is added first it will be a standard cake.

How does mixing affect cake?

They react with liquids and form gluten strands-- which provides structure in cakes. But, overmixing gives rise to a toughened gluten strand that is responsible for a flat, chewy texture--this is not desirable in cakes. As cakes should be soft and tender. Longer-mixing time also affects the appearance of the cake.

How does over mixing affect sponge cake?

However, over-mixing will tend to knock out the air that has been beaten into the butter, sugar and eggs so over-mixing is more likely to lead to a cake which doesn't rise properly.

What are the four methods of mixing cake batters How do they differ from one another?

4 Ways to Mix Cake Batter for Superior Results

The Creaming Method. The creaming method is the most common for mixing cake batter. ...

Reverse Creaming. The reverse creaming method, also called the \u201cpaste\u201d mixing method, is another common way to mix cake batter. ...

The Blended Way. ...

Creating Light, Airy Foam.

Creaming method vs All in one- types of cake mixing methods explained! | Cake Chemistry

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