Effect of MD on cake batter viscosity Results of the studies where fat was replaced with equal quantities of MD showed a reduction in cake batter viscosity (Figs 4 and 5). When 25% of fat was replaced with equal quantities of MD there was a decrease in batter viscosity, which further decreased on continued mixing. In this experiment we observed that when only 25% fat was reduced but replaced with MD, the batter viscosity was lower than when 50% fat was reduced without replacing it with MD. The viscosity of batter decreased still further when 50 and 75% fat was replaced with MD. These results show that cake batter containing less fat and no MD had higher viscosity than when fat was replaced with equal quantities of MD (Fig. 6). Kim et al.4 measuring the cake batter where fat was replaced with MD reported a high viscosity. However, Lee and Hoseney14 stated that compared to the ‘spreading test’ viscosity measurement by the Amylograph was more reproducible. Increased level of MD in the cake batter was making the batter very stickyanditwasdifficulttomeasuretheviscosityusing the Brookfield viscometer. We observed that as the batter was becoming increasingly sticky the Brookfield viscometer spindle was turning just a small portion of the batter that was close to the spindle. These results were not very consistent. Kim and Walker12 also reported similar observations. Further studies on batter viscosity measurements were therefore conducted using only the Brabender Amylograph. In order to study the effect of lower levels of MD on batter viscosity, MD was added at concentrations in the range of 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% on a fat weight basis to replace 60%, 70% and 80% fat, respectively. The results showed that MD even at lower levels reduced the cake batter viscosity