On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1051

beating.”
Modern American Cakes: Help from
Modified Fats and Flours Beginning around
1910, several innovations in oil and flour
processing led to major changes inAmerican
cakes.Thefirstinnovationmadeitpossibleto
leaven cakes with much less work. The
hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oils to
make solid fats allowed manufacturers to
producespecializedshorteningswiththeideal
properties for incorporating air quickly at
room temperature (p. 557). Modern cake
shortenings also contain tiny bubbles of
nitrogen that provide preformed gas cells for
leavening, and emulsifiers that help stabilize
the gas cells during mixing and baking, and
disperse the fat in droplets that won’t deflate
thegascells.
Thesecondmajorinnovationwasthe
developmentofspecializedcakeflour,asoft,
low-proteinflourthatisveryfinelymilled


andstronglybleachedwithchlorinedioxideor
chlorinegas.Thechlorinetreatmentturnsout
tocausethestarchgranulestoabsorbwater
andswellmorereadilyinhigh-sugarbatters,
andproduceastrongerstarchgel.Italso
causesfatstobindmorereadilytothestarch
granulesurface,whichmayhelpdispersethe
fatphasemoreevenly.Incombinationwith

thenewshorteningandwithdouble-acting
bakingpowders,cakeflourallowedU.S.food
manufacturerstodevelop“high-ratio”
packagedcakemixes,inwhichthesugarcan
outweightheflourbyasmuchas40%.The
textureofthecakestheymakeisdistinctively
lightandmoist,fineandvelvety.
Thankstothesequalitiesandtothe
convenienceofpremeasuredingredients,
packagedcakemixeswereagreatsuccess:
just10yearsaftertheirmajorintroduction
followingWorldWarII,theyaccountedfor
halfofallcakesbakedinU.S.homes.The
verysweet,tender,moist,lightcakebecame