The Struggle
Cake is the ceremonial food that we eat at almost every single life event. I like to think if it’s an event where you would get a card, you will most likely be eating cake within 24 hours. Birthdays, Holidays, Labor Day, The Lunar Equinox, the list goes on and on. I’m sure on Doomsday, someone’s getting raptured with cake in hand. What is there not to love about a dessert that can be shaped like your favorite cartoon character? Well I’ll start with a few things. Picture popping open that box of cake a few days after your birthday and sneaking a bite. Now picture that stale gritty texture that ruins your snack. It’s a sad moment that makes you long for the days when that cake was still fresh! But how can we fix this issue, people ask:
“How do I prevent my cake from staling?”
Piece of Cake.
Cake is made up of a few simple ingredients – flour, water, fat, sugar, salt, eggs and leavening agents. The reason a cake goes stale is over time the water in the cake evaporates and turns the cake dry. This is like if you forgot to put the water in a cake at all it would be dry and inedible. The answer to keeping a cake moist is an emulsifier. Some of you might say, well eggs have lecithin and lecithin is an emulsifier. While this is true eggs do not contain lecithin in the correct ratio to keep the cake nice and tender, there just isn’t enough in an egg to hold together the large amount of water and fat. The cake needs a helping hand in the emulsifier department. This is where Glycerol Monostearate, or GMS for short, comes in to help. glycerol monostearate should be used in a ratio of 2% to the weight of the flour in the recipe. The GMS should be mixed with the dry ingredients in the recipe. GMS is an emulsifier that is the water soluble version of mono & diglycerides. This is a great ingredient for cakes because it loves water and is a sibling of fats. GMS will mix with the water and help emulsify it into the fats in the recipe. If the water and fats are emulsified properly the water will take longer to evaporate. Adding GMS to any cake recipe or any baked good that has both water and oil will extend the shelf life by a few days. So when you are going to sneak that late night piece of cake you will rest assured that it won’t be stale.
Ready to get Cooking?
Give our carrot “Crave It Carrot Cake” recipe a try! We add a touch of glycerol monostearate to fortify this just sweet enough carrot cake with freshness for days!
Have a Question? Ask a Chef!
Modernist Pantry is here to help professional and home chefs transform food. We’re honored so many of you reach out to our test kitchen for problem solving and inspiration. Have a question? Click to Ask a Chef!
2 Comments.
What kind ingredients I use in mousses and icing to became aired and stabilized?
Hi Sandra, For mousse the addition of gelatin to the egg whites will stabilize it. For Icing Mono and Diglyceride Flakes could aid in trapping the air but we have not tested this.