Abstract
The roles of some cake ingredients oil, a leavening agent, and inulin in the structure and physicochemical properties
of batter and cakes were studied in four different formulations. Oil played an important role in the batter stability,
due to its contribution to increasing batter viscosity and occluding air during mixing. The addition of the leavening
agent was crucial to the final height and sponginess of the cakes. When inulin was used as a fat replacer, the absence of
oil caused a decrease in the stability of the batter, where larger air bubbles were occluded. Inulin dispersed uniformly
in the batter could create a competition for water with the flour components: gluten was not properly hydrated and
some starch granules were not fully incorporated into the matrix. Thus, the development of a continuous network
was disrupted and the cake was shorter and softer; it contained interconnected air cells in the crumb, and was easily
crumbled. The structure studies were decisive to understand the physicochemical properties.
