Rheological studies of high ratio cake batters to investigate the mechanism of improvement of flours by chlorination or heat treatment

The rheological changes taking place in cake batters between 70 and 90°C have been studied using chlorinated, heat-treated (120°C for 7 min) and untreated flours. It was shown that, in an aqueous sucrose solution of equivalent concentration to that found in cake batters, the untreated flour forms a weaker gel system than the treated flours. This difference was probably due to the slower and less extensive swelling of the starch granules. Egg proteins were shown to contribute significantly to the overall gel strength of the cake matrix. The effect of the egg proteins was significantly greater with the treated flours than with the untreated flours.