Sponge cake batter samples individually incorporating xylitol, sucrose or one of four kinds of sugar alcohol, or combinations of these were prepared by whole-egg whipping or by all-in mixing with an emulsifier, and then baked at 170°C for 30 minutes.
The batter specific gravity and the transition peak temperature (Tp) by DSC, and the cake temperature during baking, the shrinkage time and the relative volume were measured.
Some batter samples including those with more than 50% xylitol as the sugar ingredient, showed a lower specific gravity than the others. The batter Tp was correlated with the rate of increase and the maximum cake temperature, and the period for the formation of a sponge structure (difference between the initiation time of cake shrinkage and corresponding time of the batter Tp) versus Tp plots showed a negative linear correlation. These phenomena were similar with both sample groups, each group having had the batter prepared by one of the two different methods, indicating that the different preparation methods had little effect on the baking process.
There was a correlation, which could be approximated by a quadratic equation having a maximum temperature of about 90°C, between batter Tp and there lative volume of the cake. This equation suggested that the addition of some sugars to xylitol that increased the batter Tp value improved the cake volume, the sponge cake sample with only xylitol showing a small relative volume because the batter had a relatively low Tp value.