Baking & Snack - April 2022 - 44

SHORTENING
Corbion. " Along with other essential wet and dry ingredients
that create batters with proper viscosity, fat and emulsifiers
assist in creating a stabilizing foam, an aerated batter. "
The air incorporated during mixing and carbon dioxide
from leaveners will be trapped within the emulsion.
" Too little aeration can lead to a dense cake, while
too much aeration can make for a crumbly cake, " Ms.
Capers explained. " The ideal shortening will provide
proper aeration and the desired sensory qualities. "
And the ideal shortening will depend on the chemical
makeup of the fat, melt points and the baker's other needs.
" The best shortenings for cake application should be
properly formulated to balance the fat selection as well as
an optimized emulsifier system, " Ms. Capers continued.
" This balance allows for the product to cream properly
and aerate during a production process and produce the
desired texture and sensory experience for consumers. "
Levels of solids
The beauty of shortening is its plasticity, the fact that it
is solid at room temperature but also pliable. This is how
shortenings work their magic in the formulation.
" The shortening is comprised of oil and fat and must
be of such character that the mixture of these two fat systems
- a liquid and a solid fraction of fat - maintains
the body to serve its primary function, which is to enrobe
the gluten/gliadin protein network, thereby shortening
the protein/protein interaction potential, " Mr. Daniels explained.
" This ultimately translates to a foam that yields
the desired end use application potential of a cake with
spring and crumb structure that achieves the desired
qualities that appeal to the senses of bakery customers. "
A stable shortening
allows icing to have
the right flow for
application and
prevents colors
from running.
United Soybean Board
Foods. Toughening ingredients like eggs and flour contain
proteins that will cross-link once denatured and add
structure to cookies, cakes and icing. Tenderizers like
shortening and sugar interrupt the protein-to-protein
interaction potential.
" Without shortening, gluten and starch particles adhere
to each other and make the product hard and tough, "
said Anita Srivastava, PhD, CFS, senior technical service
manager, bakery, Kemin Food Ingredients. " Shortening
helps to break the continuity of the protein and starch
structure. This enables the lubrication of gluten particles
and produces a tender and well-aerated product. "
Shortening also contributes much to the moistness of
a cake's crumb, and emulsifiers can be a key to optimize
blending wet and dry ingredients.
" Emulsified cake shortenings are critical to cake baking
because they are responsible for creating a fat in water
emulsion, " explained Eric Spelger, principal scientist,
44 Baking & Snack April 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
THE BEAUTY OF SHORTENING IS
ITS PLASTICITY, THE FACT THAT IT
IS SOLID AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
BUT ALSO PLIABLE WITHIN
THE MIXING BOWL.
The levels of fat solids to liquids as well as the crystal
structure will have a big say in how the shortening
performs within a cake batter, and this will have a big
impact on the finished product characteristics.
" It's not only the solids but how they interact with each
other and how they crystallize together, " said Frank Flider,
oils consultant, United Soybean Board. " Some tend to be
very gritty. Others tend to be very light and fluffy. ... If
you have too much saturates in the shortening or saturates
in the wrong place with triglycerides, you may have
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