The preference for healthier alternatives is reshaping all bakery product segments, including those long thought of as the epitome of indulgence above all other qualities. Cakes are among such delicious sensory experiences that can now boast better-for-you claims added to their names, thanks to ingredient innovations.
Good and better ingredients might mean different things to different consumers. To appeal to most, better-for-you cakes should ideally be low in sugar and fat, to begin with, and have plant-based ingredients to meet this newer but compelling growing trend. Palsgaard divides the healthier cake product category into several targets: sugar reduction, valued by consumers monitoring their carbohydrate consumption; fat reduction, with particular attention to avoiding saturated fats; sodium reduction, and plant-based cake formulations. “All these categories should take into consideration that cakes are still eaten for indulgence so consumers should have their better-for-you cake and eat it, too!”, Haydee Carlos, Global Application Manager, Palsgaard A/S, observes. Working formulations take into account and find a balance between health and indulgence.
The ‘Low Sodium’ SuperFruit Cake is an example, prepared by Palsgaard’s Global Industry Team Bakery: its recipe combines lower saturated fat and sodium contents with an increase in vitamins, antioxidants and amino acids, as well as minerals and fibers coming from the fruits. Salt and sodium bicarbonate were removed from this recipe; the baking powder was replaced with a combination of Potassium Bicarbonate (E501) and Disodium Diphosphate (E450). The cake is based on vegetable oil, meaning it contains less saturated fat and no trans-fatty acids. This recipe combines Palsgaard® SA 6610 – an activated industrial cake emulsifier for crumb structure, Palsgaard® DMG 5611 – a complementary emulsifier helping to enhance and preserve product softness, an anti-staling agent in cakes, and Palsgaard® OilBinder® 01 – to stabilize the remaining oil in cakes, creating an appealing texture.
Whipping active emulsifier
Many industrial cake manufacturers are using cake gel, which is a mixture of at least two types of emulsifiers, i.e., an alpha-stable blend of emulsifiers in paste/gel form. It usually contains Mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids (E471) and Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (E475), two types of humectant, and a stabilizer. To replace this, Palsgaard has developed
a powder type of whipping active emulsifier with only one or two E-numbers to replace cake gels. The main emulsifier used in Palsgaard extruded whipping emulsifier is Polyglycerol esters of fatty acids (E475), which is extruded on rice starch/flour, making it an effective emulsifier. Palsgaard® SA 6610 is a whipping active emulsifier in powder form, which means that it can be added into the mix with other dry ingredients such as flour and sugar during pre-mixing. It can easily be dispersed in the cake batter, so the common problem of having lumps and undissolved cake gel during pre-mixing will not be an issue. Palsgaard stresses the reasons making the pre-mixing step a very important one: “Working in a continuous cake system, if the cake emulsifier is not properly dispersed, there will be instability in the specific gravity of the cake batter. Depositing a heavier product means losing yield and hence, profit. Production personnel will also not experience blow-bys (when air is escaping from the aerated cake batter as it comes out of the pipe),” Carlos elaborates.
The Palsgaard® SA 6610 is developed for use in continuous aerators. It was subjected to repeated aeration to study the stability of the cake batter. This is done by checking the specific gravity of the cake batter during repeated aeration. “An increase in specific gravity means that air is coming out of the cake batter because of the stress from the mixing head of the aerator and the repeated flow in the pipes during re-circulation to the mixing head. Based on our study, the specific gravity of Palsgaard® SA 6610 is very stable even when subjected to stress,” explains the specialist. A very stable specific gravity in production means optimum depositing weight, minimal variation and it translates to cost savings.
Olive benefits
Olive oil is used as a healthier option in another recipe for cake mix developed by the Danish specialist, in which it replaces margarine or butter to lower the cake’s saturated fat contents. “Palsgaard products like Emulpals® 115 help in creating a soft crumb texture, while Palsgaard® OilBinder 01 was added to bind the liquid oil in the recipe and to give the same bite or texture to the cake,” Carlos explains. Margarine or butter is usually recommended for home baking using retail cake mixes because these ingredients are usually available in the kitchen. However, healthier options like Olive Oil can also be used.
Olive benefits
Olive oil is used as a healthier option in another recipe for cake mix developed by the Danish specialist, in which it replaces margarine or butter to lower the cake’s saturated fat contents. “Palsgaard products like Emulpals® 115 help in creating a soft crumb texture, while Palsgaard® OilBinder 01 was added to bind the liquid oil in the recipe and to give the same bite or texture to the cake,” Carlos explains. Margarine or butter is usually recommended for home baking using retail cake mixes because these ingredients are usually available in the kitchen. However, healthier options like Olive Oil can also be used.
Better industrial cakes
Developing healthier cakes for industrial manufacturing is not without challenges. Any changes brought to recipes will affect the sensory attributes of the cake; for example, lowering the amount of fat used will make cakes less soft, while replacing sugar with sweeteners and fillers can have an impact on the overall structure of the cake, the crust color and the baking profile in general.
For products built around plant-based ingredients, Palsgaard® SE 8102 was developed for cake mixes, for manufacturing at an industrial scale, or for use in retail. For example, in a sponge cake recipe recommendation provided by the specialist, the functionality of milk protein and egg whites is replaced with Palsgaard® SE 8102. The dry and the liquid ingredients are whipped at slow speed for one minute, then at high speed for up to 10 minutes. The density of the batter should be measured. Depending on the size and the weight of the sponge cake, it should be baked for approximately 30-40 minutes, at 175-200°C (347-392°F).
Palsgaard® SE 8102 is a mixture of soy protein, wheat protein, vegetable fiber, xanthan gum (E415), and guar gum (E412). It is developed to replace eggs for vegan sponge cakes mixes, vegan stirred cake mixes, egg-less sponge cakes mixes, and egg-less stirred cake mixes. Its dosage is typically between 1-3%, based on the total cake recipe.
For egg-less cake mixes that are not plant-based, WPC-80 is used. Whey protein concentrate (WPC) is obtained by removing sufficient non-protein constituents from pasteurized whey so that the finished dry product contains more than 80% protein. This makes it unsuitable for cakes aiming to have a plant-based ingredient claim. This is where Palsgaard® SE 8102 comes in. “It is developed to replace the eggs in the recipe so the product development of plant-based cake is considerably shorter. The plant-based cake premix that is produced with Palsgaard® SE 8102 will only need water and oil as additional ingredients in order to bake a good plant-based cake,” Carlos adds. In this way, plant-based cakes can be formulated faster with good volume, structure, and have a moist texture and mouthfeel.
Such compositions can be a start to developing new, innovative cakes that are suitable for production in industrial volumes. Manufacturers can create products with trendy flavors and add a healthy option, depending on which better-for-you concept is more relevant to their market. Changes in formulations will influence the process parameters, e.g., modifications in the batter viscosity will affect its aeration. “This can be solved by increasing the amount of cake emulsifier used and/or decreasing the gums in the recipe. The baking profile of the product can be affected as well, so adjustments in baking time and/or temperature should be tested, Carlos recommends.
Palsgaard’s central application facilities in Denmark include a fully-equipped industrial bakery where realistic industrial pilot tests are carried out on a regular basis. Industrial-sized mixers and aerators feed a dual-zone continuous band oven to accurately reflect industrial conditions. This unique setup facilitates proper upscaling and increases the likelihood of success in the market.
Give and take: reformulation guidelines
Margarine or shortenings have traditionally been used in cake production because they give volume and soft crumb structure to the cake. Removing them will improve the production process as there will be no need for several process steps for the creaming of the margarine or shortening with sugar to entrap air and to dissolve the sugar in the fat. By replacing them with oil, all the ingredients except oil can be added in one step. “If we want to go one step further, unsaturated oil can be used as well,” she proposes. Changing to oil can mean that the cake may lose some of the ‘bite’ or elasticity, however. This is where the emulsifiers’ role begins, by stabilizing the foam during aeration. “Cake batter is a foam and an oil-in-water emulsion, with oil as the dispersed phase and water as the continuous phase. This makes the cake softer, with a fine crumb structure and an even cake crumb. Emulsifiers also help reduce the amount of egg in the recipe.
Plant proteins behave differently, in comparison with egg proteins. They produce cake batter with high viscosity, making air incorporation a challenge. Plant proteins are also very efficient at binding water in the recipe, which impacts the baking profile of the cake. As the demand for plant-based products increases, Palsgaard anticipates that more innovation in plant protein will be developed to adapt to processing requirements, with roles in obtaining less viscosity upon hydration, a cleaner taste profile, and improved bake stability. Opportunities for development are on the rise.
