Baking Quality AACC International Method 10-15.

01
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Baking Quality of Angel-Cake Flour

Final approval October 27, 1982; Reapproval November 3, 1999

Objective
To evaluate soft wheat cake flour as used in foam-type cakes. Cake flours,
appropriate for producing high-ratio layer cakes often receive postmilling treat-
ment to reduce flour particle size and are pretreated with chlorine gas to about
4.8 pH. Steps 2–5 of the method may be used to determine whipping quality
(foam specific gravity) of dried egg albumen.

Apparatus
1. Electric mixer, with timer control. Use wire whip furnished with mixer.
Minimum bowl-whip clearance should be no more than 2.0 mm.
2. Handle, spring-loaded, to convert whip into tool for folding in flour. Fabri-
cate. See Fig. 1.
3. Tube-pans, 10-in. aluminum.
4. Turntable.
5. Spatulas, 4-in. stainless steel.
6. Measure, ¼-cup stainless.
7. Cake supports, 10-in. squares of rigid material.
8. Metric scale, 15- and 30-cm.
9. Knife, electric or thin-serrated blade.
10. Baking oven. Reel or rotary with level baking surfaces and temperature
controlled to ±2.0° (± 5.0°F) or less.

Procedure
Important: Bowl, whip, spatulas, etc., must be free of fats, oils, or surfactants.

Formula and ingredient specifications

Amounts
Ingredient (g) % (flour basis)
Flour 110.0 100
Sugar 314.0 285
Dried egg albumen 40.0 36.4
Monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate 1.5 1.4
NaCl 3.0 2.7
Water (add 14% moisture basis
corrected) 295.0 268.0

1. Sugar. Baker’s Special or equivalent in fine-granulated sucrose.

2. Egg albumen. Spray-dried egg-white solids, with about 0.1% sodium lauryl
sulfate added as whipping aid.
3. Monocalcium phosphate, monohydrate; Ca(H2PO4)2·H2O (MCP), fine
powder, food grade.

doi: 10.1094/AACCIntMethod-10-15.01
Baking Quality AACC International Method 10-15.01
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Baking Quality of Angel-Cake Flour (continued)

4. NaCl. Fine-granulated table salt or “flour” grade.

5. Water. Use distilled or deionized water only. Liquid level is not a major
variable in this test but should not be ruled out in cases of extreme difference in
flour hydration.

Method
1. Bring oven to baking temperature (190°C/375°F) and condition with pan of
water. Remove conditioner before baking first test piece.
2. Reconstitution of dry egg albumen. About 18 hr before bake, add requisite
quantity of egg albumen to water in 10-qt bowl. See Table I. Mix with whip at
low for 5 min, scraping at intervals. Transfer solution to beaker(s), cover with
plastic wrap, and store overnight at about 2°. Stock egg solution should be
refrigerated during bake to minimize variation in whipping performance.
3. Prior to use, tare mixing bowl and add 335 g cold, stirred egg solution. Add
sifted mixture of monocalcium phosphate, NaCl, and one-half of sugar (157 g).
Mix for 1.0 min at low to dissolve solids. Scrape.
4. Set mixer at high speed and whip to endpoint specific gravity of 0.14–0.13.
Optimum whipping time may vary; foam specific gravity must be monitored at
intervals until individual conditions are standardized.
5. Specific gravity determination (see Method 55-50.01). Calibrate ¼-cup
measure by taring on sensitive balance, fill carefully with water, and weigh.
Nominal weight should be 59 g = 59 ml capacity. Tare dry cup and fill carefully
with foam while holding cup at 45° slant. Gradually overfill cup using steel
spatula to eliminate air voids. Scrape off level and remove traces of foam from
exterior of cup. Weigh contents to 0.01 g and calculate specific gravity.
weight foam 8.05 g
Specific gravity = ; e.g., = 0.137
volume cup 59 ml
6. When 0.14–0.13 specific gravity range or, in some cases, limiting value
higher than 0.14 is reached, place sifted mixture of flour and remaining sugar
(157 g) in weighing scoop. At low speed, raise bowl and add mixture over 20-
sec period. Remove bowl and whip from mixer and place on low bench. Attach

TABLE I
Reconstitution of Dry Egg Albumen
Batch Size Egg (g) Water (ml) Batch Size Egg (g) Water (ml)
1 42 310 6 252 1860
2 84 620 7 294 2170
3 126 930 8 336 2480
4 169 1240 9 378 2790
5 210 1550 10 420 3100
Tabular values contain 5% excess for loss.
Baking Quality AACC International Method 10-15.01
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Baking Quality of Angel-Cake Flour (continued)

spring-loaded handle (Fig. 1) to whip. Fold in residual dry flour-sugar mixture

by dipping whip into batter while rotating both bowl and whip ¼ turn. Shake off
whip and repeat for 10 folds. Shake off whip again and remove handle. Determine
batter specific gravity and pH, if desired, but do not prolong bench time.
7. Tare tube-pan on large-capacity balance and place on turntable for filling.
Transfer batter with rubber spatula. Rotate pan as needed to achieve uniformity.
Eliminate air voids and level top surface by rotating pan with spatula held sta-
tionary. Adjust batter weight to 650 g. Large bubbles may be surfaced by drop-
ping the pan five times from height of 5 cm to padded surface.
8. Bake for 35 min at 190°. Remove from oven and invert on center tube for
cooling; after 40 min, ring with steel spatula and tap out cake over 10-in. rigid
square for support and measuring.
9. Measure and record cake height after depanning (hd) and again after 3–4 hr
of cooling (hc) as index of shrinkage. Measure height at center of hole, using 30-
cm scale as straight-edge and 15-cm scale as depth gauge. Hold crossed scales

Fig. 1

Fig. 2
Baking Quality AACC International Method 10-15.01
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Baking Quality of Angel-Cake Flour (continued)

Fig. 3

together firmly and remove for reading. Repeat measurement four times,
rotating straight edge 45° for each reading. See Fig. 2.
10. Cut cake on diameter to cause minimum deformation. Score internal char-
acteristics as required.
11. (Optional) After scoring, measure maximum and minimum outside (D)
and inside (d) diameters, as shown in Fig. 3.
Consider cake as geometric volume, ignoring local shrinkage and imper-
fections. From mean diameters, D and d , and cold-cake height (hc) compute ring
volume:
⎛D2 − d 2 ⎞
Volume (V ) = π hc ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ 4 ⎠
Sample Calculation
hc DB DT D db dt d
8.60 22.2 24.2 23.2 10.0 9.4 9.7 cm

⎡ ( 23.2) 2 − ( 9.7) 2 ⎤
V = 31416
. (8.6) ⎢ ⎥ = 3000 cm3
⎢⎣ 4 ⎥⎦
References
1. Kissell, L. T., and Bean, M. M. 1978. AACC Technical Committee report: Development of a
method for angel food cake. Cereal Foods World 23:136.
2. Gaines, C. S., and Donelson, J. R. 1985. Influence of certain flour quality parameters and post-
milling treatments on size of angel food and high-ratio white layer cakes. Cereal Chem. 62:60.
3. Gaines, C. S., and Donelson, J. R. 1985. Effect of varying flour protein content on angel food and
high-ratio white layer cake size and tenderness. Cereal Chem. 62:63.