Functionality is as important to your profitability in the cake business as any factor. If the grain of your cakes is too open and is uneven, the specific gravity needs to be adjusted, according to Stratas Foods.
“We need to shorten the mixing time. Or if the grain is too tight and the cake is too dense, we need to mix it longer,” says Mitch Riavez, CMB, National Bakery Accounts Manager for Stratas Foods. “But we need a target to aim at — a control.”
Specific gravity is a way to measure the air added into icing or batter. It is the weight of a cake batter or icing in an empty cup, compared to the weight of water in the same cup. For example, if the cup weighs 16 ounces with water in it and 14 ounces with batter or icing in it, then you divide 14 by 16 to determine a specific gravity of 0.875.
Average Specific Gravity
- Pound Cakes and Cream Cakes - 0.90
- Shortening (and Oil) Cream Layer Cakes - 0.80
- Angel Food Cake - 0.30
- Genoese - 0.50
- Chiffon Cake - 0.50
