Pastry & Cake Lab

Kelly Scully
Thursday 8-11

Purpose

The purpose of this lab is to gain practice in pastry preparation, demonstrate the
effect of plasticity and amount of fat on pastry tenderness and flakiness, effect of type of
flour on pastry tenderness, and manipulation on pastry tenderness and flakiness. Also,
to demonstrate the effect of sugar and other sweeteners and various types of fat on the
volume and tenderness of shortened cakes, preparation of angel food cake and
compare to a common mix, preparation of sponge cake and chiffon cake, and to
emphasize the functions of the ingredients of sponge, angel and chiffon cakes.

Methodology (Laboratory Manuel pp. 71-72, 79-81)

For the effect of type of fat, the flour and salt are sifted together in a small mixing
bowl. The fat is then cut into the flour with a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like
cornmeal. The water is sprinkled over the mixture, half a teaspoon at a time. The
moistened mixture is lightly tossed on top of the side of the bowl with a fork before
adding more water. The mixture is pressed into a ball once all the water is added. The
dough is then placed on a piece of wax paper and flattened out with fingers. The pastry
guides are placed on both sides of the dough and another piece of wax paper is placed
on the top of the dough. The dough is then rolled until it is the same thickness as the
guides. The dough is cut into 1 x 5 rectangles and placed on wax paper. The
rectangles are placed on an ungreased baking sheet and baked at 425 degrees
Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes. The breaking strength of the pastry rectangles are
measured by using the texture analyzer. Only half the total number of rectangles are
used. The remaining rectangles are used to evaluate the flavor, tenderness and
flakiness.

For the amount of fat, the same steps listed above are used except the amount
of shortening varies.
For the type of flour, the same steps listed in the first paragraph are used except
the type of flour varies.
For the effect of extent of manipulation, the flour and salt are sifted together in a
small mixing bowl. The fat is then cut into the flour with a pastry cutter until the mixture
looks like cornmeal. The water is sprinkled over the mixture, half a teaspoon at a time.
The moistened mixture is lightly tossed on top of the side of the bowl with a fork before
adding more water. The mixture is pressed into a ball once all the water is added. The
dough is split into 3 different parts. One part is kneaded for two minutes, another part if
kneaded for four minutes, and the last part is not kneaded. The dough is then placed on
a piece of wax paper and flattened out with fingers. The pastry guides are placed on
both sides of the dough and another piece of wax paper is placed on the top of the
dough. The dough is then rolled until it is the same thickness as the guides. The dough
is cut into 1 x 5 rectangles and placed on wax paper. The rectangles are placed on an
ungreased baking sheet and baked at 425 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes. The
breaking strength of the pastry rectangles are measured by using the texture analyzer.
Only half the total number of rectangles are used. The remaining rectangles are used to
evaluate the flavor, tenderness and flakiness.
For the effect of sweetener, the shortening and sugar are placed in a bowl and
cream by hand until light and fluffy. The egg is added to the creamed mixture and beat
for one minute with an electric mixer at medium speed. In a separate bowl, the dry
ingredients are sifted together. 1/3 of the flour mixture is added to the creamed mixture

and beat for 30 seconds. Repeat alternating dry and wet ingredients until all the
ingredients are incorporated in the creamed mixture. The 8 inch square cake pan is
greased and floured. The mixture is baked for 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit
or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The cake is cooled on a
rack for 10 to 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. This will be the control
cake. The different variations consist of omitting sugar, doubling the amount of
granulated sugar, and omitting the granulated sugar and adding 3/8 cup corn syrup.
For the effect of fat, the steps listed above are repeated except the different
variations consist of omitting the shortening, doubling the amount of shortening, using
1/4 butter in place of shortening, using 1/4 cup of oil in place of shortening, 1/4 cup of
lard in place of shortening, 1/4 cup margarine in place of shortening, and 1/4 cup solid
vegetable fat in place of shortening. The appearance, volume, tenderness, and flavor of
the cakes will be evaluated.
For unshortened cakes: angel food cake, 1/2 of the sugar and the flour are sifted
together twice and set aside. The egg whites are beat until foamy using a rotary beater.
The cream of tartar and the salt are added and beat to the soft peak stage. The rest of
the sugar is added, one tablespoon at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition.
The mixture is beat until stiff peak stage, The flour mixture is sifted 1/4 at a time over
the egg whites, then are folded into the mixture using a rubber spatula after each
addition using an over-under motion. It is important that over-folding the mixture is
avoided but be sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated. The batter is poured
into an ungreased tube pan. The mixture is baked at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to

50 minutes. The baking pan is inverted and the cake is cooled before removing it from
the pan. The appearance, volume, texture and flavor is evaluated.
For the unshortened cake: sponge cake, the flour and 1/3 of sugar are combined
and sifted then set aside. The egg yolks are beat with water and flavoring until the
mixture is very thick and light yellow. 1/3 of the remaining sugar is added to the yolk
mixture and beat. The egg whites are beat until foamy. The salt and cream of tartar is
added and beat to the soft peak stage. The remaining sugar is sprinkled over the whites
and beat until the meringue reaches the stuff peak stage. 1/4 of the flour-sugar mixture
is sifted over the egg-yolk mixture and gently folded in with a rubber spatular, using an
under and over motion. Repeat until all the flour-sugar mixture has been incorporated.
The egg white mixture is combined with the egg yolk mixture. The mixture is folded
gently until blended. The mixture is baked in an ungreased tube pan at 350 degrees
Fahrenheit for 40 to 50 minutes. The baking pan is inverted and the cake is cooled
before removing it from the pan. The appearance, volume, texture and flavor is
evaluated.
For unshortened cake: chiffon cake, the flour, one cup of sugar, baking powder,
and salt are combined, sifted, and set aside. The oil and egg yolks are beat together.
The water and flavoring are stirred in. The liquid and dry ingredients are combined and
mixed until smooth. The egg whites are beat to the foamy stage. The cream of tartar are
added and the beating is continued to the soft peak stage. The batter mixture is folded
into the egg white foam with a rubber spatula, using an over and under motion. The
batter is poured into an ungreased tube pan and baked for 350 degrees Fahrenheit for
50 to 60 minutes or until the cake springs back when touched with the fingertips. The

baking pan is inverted and the cake is cooled before removed from the pan. The
appearance, volume, texture and flavor is evaluated.

Results
For Part A: effect of fat, the shortening was bland, not very tender, and very flaky.
The oil was salty, sort of tender, and not really flaky. The butter was salty, not very
tender or flaky. The lard was dry and bland, sort of tender, and flaky.
For Part B: effect of amount of fat, 1 tbsp of shortening was bland with little
tenderness and very flaky. 2 tbsp of shortening tasted gross and salty with a non-tender
and very flaky feel. 4 tbsp of shortening was bland, not very tender with a lot of
flakiness. 6 tbsp of shortening tasted gross, had medium tenderness and the most
flakiness of all.
For Part C: effect of type of flour, the bread flour tasted bland with a non-tender
or flakey texture. The cake flour was salty, not tender or flaky. The all purpose flour was
bland, tender, flaky. The whole wheat flour was bland, not tender or flaky.
For Part D: effect of extent of manipulation, the oil variations consisted of 2
minutes kneading with a dry salty, not tender and flaky texture. The 4 minutes of
kneading tasted salty, not tender but flaky. The oil variation with no kneading was salty,
not tender and flaky. For the butter variations, 2 minutes of kneading was salty, not
tender but flaky. 4 minutes of kneading was bland, not tender, but flaky. The non
kneading variation tasted bland and was not tender but flaky. For the shortening
variations, the 2 minutes of kneading tasted salty but was flaky and not tender. 4
minutes of kneading was bland, not tender, and flaky. The non kneading shortening was

bland, not tender, and flaky. For the lard variations, the 2 minutes of kneading was
bland, not tender and flaky. The 4 minutes of kneading and the non kneading variations
were bland, not tender, and flaky.
Figure One: Hardness for Effect of Types of Fat

Hardness/Force (g) (Texture Analyzer)

1750
1400
1050
700
350
0
Shortening
Oil
Figure Two: Hardness of Amount of Fat

Butter

Lard

The results for 6 tablespoons of shortening was unreadable.

Hardness/Force (g) (Texture Analyzer)

1600

1200

800

400

0
1 tbsp

2 tbsp

4 tbsp

6 tbsp

Figure Three: Hardness of Effect of Type of Flour

Hardness/Force (g) (Texture Analyzer)

1100
825
550
275
0
Bread
Cake
All Purpose
Figure Four: Hardness of Effect of Extent of Manipulation

Whole Wheat

For Part A: the effect of sweetener, the control cake was dark yellow, tender, and

2 mins

4 mins

0 mins

1750
1400
1050
700
350

0
Oil
Butter
Shortening
Lard
salty while the no sugar was yellow, tender, and salty. The double sugar was yellow,
tender, and sweet.
For Part B: the effect of fat, the control was light tan, tender, lightly sweet while
the no shortening was dark, not tender, and sweet. The 2x shortening was very light

tan, not tender, and salty while the butter variation was light tan, sort of tender, and
tasted bland.
For the Part C: unshortened cakes, the angel food cake was white, very tender
and very sweet. The sponge cake was tan, not tender, bland but slight sweet while
chiffon cake was yellow, tender, and sweet.
Figure Five: Volume of Effect of Sweetener
Figure Six: Volume of Effect of Fat

Volume (cm)
Volume (cm)
3.25
3.25
2.6

2.6
1.95
1.95
1.3
1.3

0.65
0.65
0
Control
0
Control

No Shortening Double Shortening

Butter
No Sugar
Double Sugar

Figure Seven: Volume of Unshortening Cakes

Volume (cm)
14
10.5
7
3.5
0
Angel Food

Angel Food (mix)

Sponge

Chiffon

Discussion
For the effect of types of fat, the butter and oil have a high hardness number
while the lard and oil was relatively low. This means the oil and butter were less tender.
But when tasting, none of the products were found tender. What makes a product
tender is when the fat did not coat the flour in such a way that hydration of the flour
particles is minimized. Oil and butter were salty because there was too much salt
added. The different kinds of fat affect the texture too, like how oil creates a mealy
texture.
For the effect of amount of fat, as the number of shortening went up, the
hardness decreased. All tasted bland because they were made of the same kind of fat.
The tenderness varied but was never very tender while the flakiness increased as the
amount of fat increased.
For the effect of type of flour, the bread and all purpose flour was very high in
hardness. Whole wheat was in the middle while cake was very low in comparison. All
variations were not very tender and not hydrated enough causing the pastries to be too
flaky. Different flours effect the texture because of the gluten in it. The more gluten in it,
the harder the product will be.
For effect of extend of manipulation, 2 minutes of kneading was the least tender
with 0 minutes as the most, according to the texture analyzer. The more kneading that
takes place, the thicker the dough gets making it tougher so it did not taste tender. The
4 minutes of kneading made the doughs flakey. The 0 minutes of kneading did not have
the starch granules embedded with the proteins, making the texture very dry.

For the effect of sweeteners, all cakes were yellow with a salty flavor and tender.
The volume only decreased by 50% when doubling the sugar. This is because sugar
contributes to volume of shortening cakes.
For the effect of fat, without the shortening, the cake coloring was much darker
than the rest. The control was the only tender one, containing the correct amount of
sugar and fat to complete a balanced, delicious taste. Shortening creates a fine texture
because of emulsifying action. The double shortening came off as salty while the no
shortening was sweet because it was the main flavor provider. The volume decreased a
quarter when varying or omitting the fat.
For the unshortened cakes, the angel food cake had the most leavening while
chiffon caked being close behind. Egg foam is the main leavening agents in
unshortened cakes, this made all the cakes rather tall compared to the others. Yolks
also contribute to a light coloring. All were sweet because there is no fat so sugar is the
main flavoring in the cakes.
Angel food cake is much taller in volume because of the egg whites. It depends
on the quality and temperature, fresher the egg, more volume. The temperature of the
oven is essential as well for volume, the ideal oven temperature is 425 degrees Celsius.
The extent of beating the egg until the peaks stand up straight creates more volume as
well. If all purpose flour is used in angel cake, the volume will come up short compared
to cake.
Sponge cake had low volume because the egg foam may have not been beaten
until a light foam which is essential for sponge cake volume. When beaten thoroughly,
this allows the yolk to be suspended in the white foam when folded together.

Chiffon cakes have baking powder which increase volume and tenderness. Most
of the quality of tenderness in chiffon cakes is based on the egg white foam preparation.
The extent of beating of egg whites is different in chiffon cakes because they are beaten
until they stand straight up but are not dry or brittle.

Summary
The results of this experiment are successful because it shows how the types of
flour and fat, manipulation of the dough, and the amount of fat affects the pastry. This
experiment also shows how sweeteners and fats affect cakes and it shows how the
different kinds of cakes differ. Pastry and cakes are important because many people
consume them daily and they are a staple in the food industrys income.

References
Brannan, RG 2012. Laboratory Manuel for NUTR 222 pp 69-84
McWilliam, M. 2012 Food Experimental Perspectives 6th Edition pp 391-445