Factors affecting the staling of madeira slab cake

Cake staling, which is associated with changes in crumb firmness and moistness, has been shown to be related to two basic processes occurring in the crumb. These are an intrinsic firming process of the cell‐wall material of the crumb and the macroscopic migration of moisture from the central areas of the crumb to the dryer crust regions. The intrinsic firming process of the cell‐wall material of cake crumb is similar in character to that of breadcrumb and starch gels at temperatures up to 21°C. At higher temperatures it shows a significant deviation from the Avrami‐type polymer crystallisation kinetics used to describe the firming of starch gels and breadcrumb. The macroscopic migration of moisture is responsible for a secondary firming process which continues for periods of up to 5 weeks at ambient temperatures. It may also be responsible for the loss of moist‐eating quality in cake crumb.