LIST OF INGREDIENTS:

WHEAT FLOUR: The vast majority of cakes - with the exception of cheesecakes and sponge cakes, contain wheat flour as very backbone of their composition. It provides both strength and structure to a cake recipe. It contains two very important proteins, glutenin and gliadin, when mixed with moisture and stirred, create gluten strands, which set when baked. The bad part about gluten is that too much creates a tough, dry and flavorless cake. To help prevent this, you'll see cake recipes usually with low-gluten forming wheat flours, such as cake, pastry and Southern bleached all-purpose. Or, you need to keep in mind not to overmix the batter. Again, a timer will help you keep track of the time. It's gluten from the wheat flour that gives dough its strength and elasticity - qualities we want in yeast breads, but not in cakes. Incorporating solid fats into a cake batter interferes with gluten formation and ensures your cake will be tender. (Vegetable oil is not as effective).

FATS: Fats are both a moisturizer and tenderizer. Fats make a cake light and hold tiny air bubbles created through creaming. These bubbles are then expanded by the gases from the leaveners. Fats also coat the flour proteins like a raincoat preventing a lot of moisture from reaching them and creating too much gluten or toughness when mixed. Oil makes the moistest cakes because it does an excellent job at coating the flour proteins, but it does not hold air. Fat is also a good tenderizer because it slows down the coagulation of the egg, flour and milk proteins that set the structure of the cake when baked. As the fat level in a cake goes up, more eggs are required to emulsify the fat. Eggs also add structure and thus increase the volume; therefore less leavening agent, such as baking soda or baking powder, is needed.

A history byte: Many of the changes from old-fashioned cakes to the recipes we see today, started with the development of cake mixes and the addition of emulsifiers to the shortenings such as Crisco. Before then, cakes tended to be heavier, more like the pound cake consistency. Shortening used today gives better aeration when mixed and with the addition of liquids, make a light and fluffier cake. 

SWEETENERS: In a cake recipe, sugar tenderizes, moisturizes and aerates when fat is beaten with it, called "creaming". Different sugars will produce different results. Use superfine sugar for the finest texture and maximum volume. More: Sugar tenderizes by preventing the flour proteins from forming gluten because it attracts the moisture in the recipe, taking it away from the flour proteins. This prevents the formation of gluten that occurs when wheat flour and liquids are mixed. Sugar also tenderizes by slowing down the coagulation of the egg, flour and milk proteins that set the structure of the cake when baked. Sugar can stand in for fat and is often added to commercial low-fat products or recipes. However, try my low-fat recipes here with no increase in sugar. 

Changing the amount of sugar can upset the balance of the cake. Note that when the sugar is reduced, the gluten structure is so strong that the cake develops some long cells or tunnels. Overall volume may even increase, but the cake would be tough. However when sugar is increased, the cake is so tenderized that the gluten is unable to maintain the volume of the balanced cake. The cake with excessive sugar may be so tenderized that it crumbles when cut rather than staying in slices.

EGGS: Whole eggs contains proteins that set or coagulate from the oven's heat and form the structure of the cake. Separated egg whites and/or yolks called for in some recipes perform different roles. However, separated eggs do not have as great an effect on the structure of the cake the way that whole eggs do. Beaten egg whites are used for leavening as are beaten yolks. If your cake is dry, substitute 1 large egg for two large egg yolks because the yolks contain lecithin, an emulsifier. Egg whites are the opposite because they have a drying effect. When I developed recipes for my book, The Healthy Oven Baking Book, the way I lowered fat was to substitute one egg with two egg whites. But, in just about every recipe, I made sure I always kept one whole egg in the recipe before substituting the other ones for tender and flavorful recipes.

LEAVENERS: Chemical leaveners such as baking powder and baking soda are typically used in cake recipes, but beaten egg whites and yolks provide for leavening, as well. Chemical leaveners only expand the air bubbles beaten into the batter; they do not create new ones. The biggest failure of a cake recipe is using expired baking powder or baking soda, so make sure they are fresh. Also, when a batter is placed in an oven that has not been preheated, the leaveners fail to act until the oven reaches over 120 degrees F.

DAIRY: Milk contains proteins (as do eggs and flour) that set or coagulate from the oven's heat and form the structure of the cake. When I developed the healthy White Cake Recipe, a classic butter-cake recipe reduced-in-fat, I added instant nonfat dry milk powder to help strengthen its structure. Other dairy products, such as buttermilk, sour cream or cream cheese add more moisture and flavor to a cake, consequently those made with them keep well. The acid in the buttermilk and sour cream contains acids which tenderize the gluten in the recipe, producing a fine crumb. Sour cream and cream cheese add richness to a recipe, which makes them super moist and almost springy. 

FLAVORINGS: Flavoring for a cake comes in different forms: ground spices, extracts, citrus zest (peel), citrus oil and even liquors. When using liquor, use small amounts as it tends to dry out cakes. It can even cause your cake to fall if there is too much in liquid flavorings in proportion to the other ingredients in the mix. 

PUDDING: Some cake recipes and mixes call for added pudding. Instant, not cooked pudding should be used in the recipe. The use of cooked pudding will result in a drier, coarser, grittier texture. That’s because it has not been activated or pre-gelatinized, as instant puddings have, affecting the cake.