Victoria Sandwich - All in One Method

[Sai]

Hello,

I used to make this sponge cake by first creaming the butter & sugar etc....
I was told this method helps produce air pockets to make a light and fluffy sponge.

However, recently I tried the all-in-one method. I didn't expect it to work as I
didn't know how the sponge would obtain the necessary air pockets.
However, the results were fantastic !!!

Question: How does the all-in-one method work ?
(i.e. how does the baking 'chemistry' work to create a light and fluffy sponge)

 

[Norcalbaker59]

Perhaps some clarification on cake mixing method will give you a better understanding of how leavening works. Cakes are categorized by mixing method types: creaming, foam, and high ratio are the major categories. A sponge cake is a foam cake, so it is not made by creaming butter and sugar.

Creaming method: The creaming method is a shortened cake. They are frequently referred to as a butter cake, but shortening is often used in place of butter. Shortened cakes are leavened two ways: chemical (baking powder and/baking soda) and mechanical leavening (creaming butter and sugar). The sugar granules enhance aeration by cutting the fat into small bits. After all the mixing is completed, the mechanically aerated batter expands when the chemical leavening activates and generates gas bubbles.


Foam: traditional foam cakes do not contain chemical leavening. Sponge, genoise, biscuit, and angel food are all leavened with beaten egg whites. The hybrid chiffon cake is the exception in that it is leavened with egg whites and chemical leaveners

Foam cakes contain a lot less flour than a butter cake given they are only leavened with egg whites. A traditional sponge and genoise cakes contain little to no fat as fat will deflate egg whites. The genoise recipes in Pierre Herme' iconic cookbook, Pastries, contain no fat. Other pastry chefs include a minimal amount of fat. But it is always kept to a minimum.

Given the lack of fat and the high egg white content, foam cakes are drier than a shortened cake. They are moistened with simple syrup. Simple syrup also enhances flavor. Foam cakes are noted for the light and delicate crumb.

High ratio method: this method is also referred to as the two-step and all in one. This method was created by the commercial baking industry for use with high ratio cake flour, high ratio shortening, and commercial emulsifiers. The use of these commercial grade ingredients shortens production time in a high production setting. Emulsifiers also increase product shelf life. The use of shortening also give the illusion of moistness since the shortening coats the inside of the mouth.

While the high ratio method has been adopted by home bakers, it does not produce the same results without the use of the above mentioned commercial ingredients.

These commercial ingredients are not readily available to the home baker. A few specialty stores will re-package these ingredients in smaller quantities for re-sale to the general public. But since manufactures' trademark their product names, repackaging becomes problematic. Many manufacturers will not allow their products to be re-packaged and labeled with their product names.

The high ratio method uses chemical leavening (baking powder and/or baking soda). Leavening is then enhanced by emulsification. Emulsification is simply the suspension of one ingredient into the other. They are ingredients that do not mix well together (e.g. liquid and fat). If the batter is not properly emulsified, there is a separation of liquid and fat. The separated ingredients will inhibit the batter from rising well once the chemical leavening activate.

When using commercial emulsifiers, the fat is quickly and thoroughly dispersed into the liquid.

There is some aeration happening in the high ratio mixing as well. As in the creaming method, the sugar granules cut through the fat as the dry ingredients and fat are mixed. That's one reason a high ratio cake recipe contains sugar equal to, or slightly more than flour by weight.

Another reason for the high sugar content is to counter the gluten formation while aerating the fat. Since butter contains water, the moment butter and flour are mixed, the water in the butter will trigger gluten formation. Sugar and flour are both hygroscopic, so they compete for the water. The extra sugar leaves less water for the flour to absorb in the initial mixing, so it slows the gluten development.

Although the high ratio method has become quite popular with home bakers, it in fact produces a lower rising cake than a creamed cake. You simply cannot reproduce the same results as the high ratio method is capable of producing without the commercial ingredients.

Emulsification is also an integral part of all method as well. When the instructions include mixing eggs in one at a time and or adding liquid in two or three additions, that process gives the mixer time to emulsify the egg and liquid into the fat.

 

[Sai]

A sponge cake is a foam cake, so it is not made by creaming butter and sugar.

I think I need to clarify... I know that there is an American sponge recipe that does not contain butter
(is this what you are referring to ..... and why you say that it is a foam cake) ?

however, I am referring to the Victoria sandwich which is made in the UK with equal weight of
flour, sugar, butter and egg.

The earlier method is to mix the ingredients in stages starting with creaming the butter and sugar to create air pockets.

However, later there was the all-in-one method were all ingredients were mixed together at the same time.
I am just wondering how the 'chemistry' of this method works as some ingredients may conflict with others
in creating the air pockets to make a light and fluffy sponge.

 

[Norcalbaker59]

I think I need to clarify... I know that there is an American sponge recipe that does not contain butter
(is this what you are referring to ..... and why you say that it is a foam cake) ?

however, I am referring to the Victoria sandwich which is made in the UK with equal weight of
flour, sugar, butter and egg.

The earlier method is to mix the ingredients in stages starting with creaming the butter and sugar to create air pockets.

However, later there was the all-in-one method were all ingredients were mixed together at the same time.
I am just wondering how the 'chemistry' of this method works as some ingredients may conflict with others
in creating the air pockets to make a light and fluffy sponge.

The British Victoria Sandwich cake is not a sponge cake. They call it a sponge cake, but it's not a sponge cake.

The cake Americans call a sponge isn't a sponge either.

Sponge cake most likely originated in Italy, but the French also lay claim to it. The French and the Italian versions are slightly different, but a sponge cake is a foam cake, so it is always leavened with beaten eggs

The British Victoria is actually a pound cake, but with a lot of chemical leavening. A true pound cake has no chemical leavening and no milk. Where a true pound cake is mechanically leavened, the Victoria is chemically leavened.

The Victoria cake contains a heavy dose of chemical leavening that's in the self-rising flour. And many recipes include additional baking powder on top of the self-rising flour. So it has about three times the leavening of a standard cake. That's why it rises.

Baking powder is double acting. It gets primed as soon as it comes in contact with moisture. Then when it reaches 170° in the oven, it fullly activated and releases a ton of carbon dioxide. It's that carbon dioxide what makes the Victoria cake rise. If you left your cake batter in the bowl on the counter, after about ten minutes it will start the bubble. That the chemical leavening at work.

In recipes with chemical leavening and creamed butter and sugar, it's a balance of the two leaveners. Chemical leaveners can impart a really awful taste, so less baking powder/soda is used. To make up for the reduced chemical leaveners, you aerate the butter.

The only way a cake will rise is with mechanical leavening, chemical leavening, or a combination of both. The type of leavening determines the mixing method.

Oh, I forgot answer your question was to why it's called a foam cake...its not the fat the determines a foam cake, it's the leavening with egg meringue. The "foam" is the whipped egg whites. Since fat causes egg whites to deflate, a sponge traditional doesn't have any fat in it. The pan isn't greased either. Most cakes have chemical and mechanical leavening; but a foam cake has no back up leavening like baking powder so they collapse easily. If there's fat in the cake batter and on the pan, the cake is at greater risk of collapsing. Chiffon cake, which is a foam cake, has oil, so it's traditionally baked in a tube pan. The tube heats the center, so the batter sets both from the center and the outer edge. By setting the batter faster it reduces the risk of collapsing. If you bake a chiffon in a regular cake pan, the a flower nail or heating core is inserted to heat the center to mitigate against collapse.
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