Classification of foam cakes

Foam cakes can be easily found in various bakery shops in Malaysia. This type of cake is aptly named due to the large quantity of foam produced when making it which results in a light, airy batter. When talking about foam cakes, it can be divided into three categories, namely the angel cake, sponge cake and chiffon cake. Some people may be wondering, what is the difference between these three cakes? Let’s find out.

Angel cake

An angel cake basically contains egg white foam, sugar and cake flour. These basic ingredients are enough to make a cake with tender texture but very delicate in its structure. The color of this cake is white due to the absence of egg yolks. It is leavened only by air and steam, which makes the process of optimally foaming the egg whites very important to determine the volume of the cake. Some people may substitute the cake flour with all-purpose flour which results in a denser texture. However, adding more sugar may resolve this problem.

The proportion of flour to egg whites may greatly affect its texture. With a larger amount of flour compared to egg whites, the cake will become much drier and less tender. In addition, the amount of sugar also can alter the overall texture. More sugar will result in a crisp and shiny crust. The freshness and temperature of the egg whites used in foaming affects the volume of the cake. Fresher and warmer eggs tend to result in cake with greater volume. However, the most important factor in determining the cake volume is optimally beating the egg whites to form the perfect peaks which bend over.

Sponge cake

The sponge cake is different from the angel cake in that it has the extra ingredient of the egg yolk foam. With the addition of the egg yolk foam, it gives the cake a slight yellowish color. The texture of the sponge cake is a little bit tougher than the angel cake because the yolk toughens it slightly.

The foaming stage is especially important for foam cakes because it determines the volume of the cake.  To make the best egg foam, the eggs used should preferably be at room temperature or more. The egg yolk requires more beating than the whites.

Chiffon cake

Chiffon cakes have the additional ingredients of oil and baking powder when compared to the ingredients for a sponge cake. These ingredients will result in a more tender and volumuous cake compared to the other foam cakes.

The main difference between the chiffon cakes and the other foam cakes is that the egg whites should be beaten longer to form a straight peak because the cake mixture has more liquid. Thus, for chiffon cakes, it is extremely important to beat both the egg whites and yolks optimally to prevent bad texture quality.