Effects of sucrose replacement by poly dextrose on the mechanism of structure formation in high ratio cakes

What is it about?

When a cake is baked two phenomena coincide - that is the denaturation of the egg proteins and the gelatinization of the starch. However, the presence of sugar influences the critical temperatures, and if sugar is replaced with a bulking agent then the structure forming steps are out of synch with each other resulting in a less well formed and friable cake.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

This paper highlights the dependency of starch gelatinizaton temperature and protein denaturation temperture to the types of solute in their immediate environment. Understanding these differences and recognizing the biochemical changes in eggs during storage allowed prediction of future work e.g. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2740680120 which allows increased replacement of sugar - perhaps creating a "healthier" cake