The science of cake

As Britain tightens its belt for a new era of austerity, Andy Connelly takes solace in the science and magic of cake

The Guardian, 9 June 2010

There's nothing quite like sharing generous slices of mouthwatering homemade cake with family or friends. In making a cake you are taking advantage of some magical scientific transformations to create something sugary, delicate and delicious that everyone will love – and love you for.

Like many people, I was inducted into cake making at the apron of my mother. Some of my most treasured memories are of scooping fairy cake mixture into little paper cases, dipping my fingers into the melted chocolate icing, and the satisfaction of eating the misshapen creations for tea.

Making cakes like these might seem like an ageless tradition, but actually this type of light, airy cake is a relatively new invention.

The first skilled bakers were probably the ancient Egyptians. At this time cakes were basically breads, with egg, fat and honey added to create the recognisable essence of cake: richness and sweetness. The earliest English cakes were still essentially bread, their main distinguishing characteristics being their shape – round and flat – and that they were hard on both sides as a result of being turned during baking.

Cakes as we know them today only came on the scene during the 18th and 19th centuries when the lightness created by the leavening power of yeast was replaced, first by eggs, and then by chemical raising agents such as bicarbonate of soda. Raising agents provided a greater leavening power than yeast with much less time and effort.

A classic of risen cakes is the English pound cake, on which the Victoria sponge is based. These cakes generally contain equal weights of the four major ingredients: structure-building flour and eggs; and structure-weakening fat and sugar. This recipe provides the perfect balance of these ingredients. With any more fat or sugar the delicate scaffold of egg and flour collapses, making a dense, heavy cake (like a fruit cake).

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