Baking formula innovation to eliminate chlorine treatment of cake flour

Chlorine treatment of soft wheat flour improves cake volume and produces a stiffer, more resilient crumb. Four pairs of chlorine-treated and untreated flours were obtained. A selected portion of the area under the Rapid Visco Analyser hot pasting flour viscosity curve was used to determine how much starch could be used with a nonchlorine-treated flour so that the area is e quivalent to that produced by a chlorine-treated cake flour with no added s tarch. Replacement of nonchlorine-treated flour with up to 43% starch produ ced areas under the pasting curve that were equivalent to those produced by chlorine-treated flours. Increased concentration of dried egg albumen plus added soya lecithin and xanthan gum were included in the formulation conta ining starch and nonchlorine treated flour to produce a new basic ingredien t set. The basic ingredient set was evaluated for its influence on cake geo metry, crumb structure, and crumb texture response to compression (hardness and spring-back rate). High-ratio white layer cakes using the new basic in gredient set produced similar or better cake quality characteristics than t hose produced using control chlorine-treated flours. The same new basic ing redient set was used to produce pound cakes, cupcakes, and sheet cakes usin g nonchlorinated flours. The geometry and objective texture of those cakes also were equivalent to respective cakes produced with chlorine-treated flo ur. The basic ingredient set does not require any special flour treatment.