According to the different raw materials, mixing methods and batter properties, cakes can generally be divided into three categories.
1. batter. The main raw materials used in batter cake are flour, sugar, eggs, milk and so on. They are the basic organization of cakes. This kind of cake contains high content of oil to lubricate the batter, which makes the cake produce soft tissue and helps the batter to mix a lot of air to expand during mixing. If the amount of grease in the formula reaches more than 60% of the flour, the air mixed with grease during stirring is enough for the cake to expand in the oven, but less than 60% of the flour. General cream cakes, such as yellow cakes, white cakes and pudding cakes, belong to batter cakes.
2. Milk foam cake. The raw materials used in this cake are flour, sugar and a small amount of milk as part of the cake. The main raw material is eggs. It uses the tough denatured protein in eggs to make the cake swell during the process of batter mixing and baking, without relying on yeast powder. The biggest difference between it and batter cake is that it does not contain any solid fat, but in order to reduce the excessive toughness of eggs, liquid fat can be added to sponge cake as appropriate. According to the different ingredients of eggs used, milk foam cakes can be divided into two categories:
A. protein. This kind of cake takes protein as the basic organization and puffing raw material of the cake, and generally angel cakes belong to protein;
B. sponge. This kind of cake uses the whole egg or the mixture of yolk and whole egg as the basic tissue and swelling raw material of the cake. Sponge cake belongs to this kind of cake.
3. Qifeng class. This kind of cake is made by mixing batter and foam and changing the structure and particles of foam cake. Qifeng cake undoubtedly belongs to this category.
Second, the basic knowledge of cake baking: the key points of cake making
Cake is the most popular dessert at West Point Military Academy. It not only has rich fragrance and attractive appearance, but also contains rich nutrients. At the same time, it is often regarded as a representative seasonal food in festivals or celebrations.
Making cakes is much easier than making bread, because cakes do not need accurate and suitable fermentation environment, strict dough mixing, control of fermentation time and so on. , but to make a good cake, you must have the following points, otherwise you may fail:
1. Use good materials. The quality of raw materials directly affects the quality of cakes. Although good raw materials will increase the production cost of cakes, they have the advantage of competing with peers, which can not only improve the quality of products, but also increase the sales volume of products and establish the reputation of shops.
2. Need to know the nature and function of various raw materials in the cake. To make a cake, you should use good raw materials, but before choosing raw materials, you should first understand the role of various raw materials in the cake, what irreplaceable benefits they have, what substances are contained in its ingredients, and what chemical reactions and physical changes can be produced during the mixing and baking of batter. For example, the oils used to make cakes include cream, Madeleine, hydrogenated oil, emulsified oil, salad oil and shortening. And milk includes fresh milk, condensed milk, skim milk, yogurt, milk powder and so on. Eggs are divided into protein eggs, yolk eggs and whole eggs. These similar raw materials with different compositions and properties have different characteristics when used, which are necessary for professional bakers. The main raw materials for making cakes are flour, sugar, oil, eggs, salt, milk and chemical leavening agent, as well as dozens of other seasoning materials such as spices, cocoa powder and chocolate. Among the seven main raw materials, we can divide them into dry, wet, soft and tough, and the nature of the species that produce fragrance. The so-called dry raw materials refer to the characteristics that these raw materials can dry the cake when used in the cake formula. There must be enough liquid raw materials to dissolve. Flour, sugar, milk powder, yeast powder, salt and cocoa powder are all dry raw materials. Wet ingredients include milk, eggs and syrup, which are the main sources of water in the cake formula and provide enough water to dissolve other dry ingredients to keep the cake moist and swollen. Flexible raw materials refer to oil, sugar, chemical leavening agent, egg yolk and so on. Their function is to keep the cake soft. Tough raw materials can also be called structural raw materials, which can produce toughness in cakes or increase the gluten of flour to produce toughness. They are the main raw materials of cake skeleton, mainly including flour, milk powder, salt, cocoa powder and protein. The raw materials that produce aroma are sugar, milk, oil, eggs, cocoa powder, spices, etc., because these raw materials can produce unique aroma after entering the oven, making the cake fragrant and delicious. Pay attention to the unique characteristics of each raw material, and the product quality can be controlled freely after flexible application. When there are improper shortcomings or the raw materials are changed for some reason, appropriate adjustments can be made according to the nature of the raw materials to make the products return to normal.
3. The raw material formula is balanced. After fully understanding the functions of various raw materials in the cake, it is necessary to further understand that the dosage of various raw materials varies with the nature of the cake. When setting the cake recipe, first decide whether the cake is of high cost or low cost, and whether the cake texture is soft or hard. Raw materials can be divided into dry, wet, soft and tough, and the four main raw materials that make the cake have a good flavor are sugar, oil, eggs and milk. If these four raw materials are used more, the cost will be higher, but the quality of the cake will be better. But it should be noted that even good raw materials, the more the better. It is necessary to follow a certain proportion of use, and the balance between raw materials cannot be disturbed by emphasizing one of them.
4. The correct mixing method is needed. The batter mixing has two biggest functions. Firstly, all the ingredients in the formula are mixed evenly, so that each ingredient is evenly distributed in every part of the batter. Secondly, proper amount of air is injected into the batter through different stirring instruments and speeds, so that the baked cake has an expansive and delicate structure. With high-quality raw materials and formula, if it is not stirred properly, it will still be wasted and the ideal product will not be obtained. Therefore, before mixing the batter, be sure to determine what kind of cake you are making, and confirm the required mixer and mixing speed to avoid failure.
5. Correct baking temperature and time. Because of the different properties of each cake, the baking temperature and time are different, especially if the box oven is used, the temperature control of the oven is divided into upper and lower fires, and the thermometer controlling the temperature often appears inaccurate. You should be especially careful when baking cakes. You need to develop baking experience at ordinary times to use them freely, otherwise too much or too little firepower will affect the surface color and internal organization of cakes. In principle, any cake baked in a mold with a weight below 100g needs to be baked at 200℃ for about 12- 18 minutes. If the temperature is between 100-450g, the fire at 180℃ is slightly larger than the fire, and the baking time is between18-40min; If the weight is above 450- 1000g, the fire is bigger than the fire, and it is baked at 170℃ for 40-60 minutes. If the cake is baked directly with a baking tray instead of a mold, it should be baked with excessive internal heat, and the amount of excessive internal heat is extremely small, as long as the bottom of the cake can produce color. Generally speaking, the temperature and time of baking depends on the size and type of cake. For small cakes, high temperature should be used to shorten the baking time, and for large and thick cakes, low temperature should be used to extend the baking time. Generally, high temperature means 190℃-232℃, normal temperature is17190℃, and low temperature is162℃-171 Cream cake and light cream cake should be hot, heavy cream cake and Qifeng cake should be at room temperature, and fruit cake and big cake should be low temperature. If the oven temperature is lower than the appropriate temperature, the baked cake tends to be flat and sticky at the top, and the periphery shrinks toward the center. The baking tray contains sticky batter and the internal structure is very soft. On the contrary, if the oven temperature is higher than it should be, the center of the cake will bulge upward, the top will break, and the outer edge of the cake will shrink inward from the baking tray, but the inner side of the baking tray will be smooth and there will be no batter sticking to it, so the internal structure of this cake is relatively compact. If the cake is not cooked, there will be a thick layer of batter on the upper part under the skin. If there is such batter near the bottom of the cake, it is because there is too much water in the formula, or the base is too light, and the grease in the formula is not evenly mixed when stirring.