INTRODUCTION Fat, or shortening as it is also known, is one of the important ingredients in a cake formulation. Fat helps in the entrapment of air during the creaming process, resulting in aeration and hence leavens the product.1 Fat also imparts desirable flavour and softer texture to the cakes. Most types of cakes require fairly high levels of shortening for the development of their characteristic crumb structure. In spite of the number of functions played by fat in improving the overall quality of cake, the current consensus is to reduce the fat content or to replace the fat in bakery products to safeguard consumers from several health hazards such as cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes and obesity. As a consequence, the number of low-calorie foods has increased steadily over the last few decades.2–6 One approach to balancing calorie intake and output is to lower the calorie density of the food eaten. Since fat contributes 9kcalg−1, while carbohydrate and protein contribute 4kcalg−1, it serves as an obvious candidate for removal. Several fat replacers have been in use to replace fat in bakery products.7 One group is the carbohydratebased fat replacer. These replacers, in the presence of water,formasmoothgelresultinginlubricantandflow properties similar to fats.8 They function primarily to increase viscosity and to provide a creamy, slippery mouthfeel similar to that of fat. Maltodextrins (MDs) Fat, or shortening as it is also known, is one of the important ingredients in a cake formulation. Fat helps in the entrapment of air during the creaming process, resulting in aeration and hence leavens the product.1 Fat also imparts desirable flavour and softer texture to the cakes. Most types of cakes require fairly high levels of shortening for the development of their characteristic crumb structure. In spite of the number of functions played by fat in improving the overall quality of cake, the current consensus is to reduce the fat content or to replace the fat in bakery products to safeguard consumers from several health hazards such as cardiovascular disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes and obesity. As a consequence, the number of low-calorie foods has increased steadily over the last few decades.2–6 One approach to balancing calorie intake and output is to lower the calorie density of the food eaten. Since fat contributes 9kcalg−1, while carbohydrate and protein contribute 4kcalg−1, it serves as an obvious candidate for removal. Several fat replacers have been in use to replace fat in bakery products.7 One group is the carbohydratebased fat replacer. These replacers, in the presence of water,formasmoothgelresultinginlubricantandflow properties similar to fats.8 They function primarily to increase viscosity and to provide a creamy, slippery mouthfeel similar to that of fat. Maltodextrins (MDs)
come under the above class of fat replacers. They are partial hydrolysates of starch prepared with either acids or enzymes. The low-DE MDs have binding properties of starch and can function more effectively as a fat replacer than high-DE MD9. Another group of fat replacers are the emulsifiers. Emulsifiers belong to the class of lipid-based fat replacers.10 Emulsifiers are used either alone or in combination with other fat replacers to enhance their functionality.11 In the present investigation fat content in a pound cake formulation was reduced gradually up to 80% and replaced with different levels of MD and the rheology of such batters along with the quality of the resultant cake was studied. Further, the effect of two emulsifiers, namely glycerol monostearate and sodium steroyl lactylate, on the rheology of the above cake batters and the resultant cakes was also studied. The results of the above work are presented in this paper.