Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Basic ingredient is starch based batter – dough product – etc.
Reexamination Certificate
2001-02-09
2002-06-25
Tran, Lien (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Basic ingredient is starch based batter, dough product, etc.
C426S094000, C426S237000, C426S243000, C426S496000, C426S552000, C426S553000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06410074
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to sponge cakes which can be cooked in a microwave oven in a satisfactory manner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mesophase-containing sponge cake which rises and forms a palatable, light sponge cake when prepared in a microwave oven. The present invention provides snack food-type products which can easily be prepared by the consumer.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sponge cakes are a desirable dessert products. Generally, oven-rising sponge cakes are limited to those for use in a conventional oven and are not as convenient as desired. Microwaved cereal products such as breads and cakes are generally not pleasing to the palate. Microwave heating is generally uneven and, therefore, promotes the rapid onset of staleness and toughness in such cereal products.
Microwaved sponge cakes and products are especially desirable as snack foods (e.g., after school snacks). Such sponge cake batters could be sold directly in, for example, cupcake cups and stored in the freezer until until prepared in a microwave oven. Such products would be attractive to the consumer and convenient to use. Indeed, such sponge cake products could be easily prepared by children.
In order to rise properly, sponge cake must generally contain a substantial amount of trapped air or gas. Such trapped air or gas is introduced in conventional breads and cakes through the use of yeast or chemical leavening agents. The amount of aeration of such bread-like products such as sponge cake is normally described by the term “overrun.” Overrun is the relationship of the volume of the aerated food product to that of the unaerated food product and can be calculated with the following formula:
Thus, an overrun of 100 indicates that the volume of the aerated food product is twice as much as the volume of the unaerated food product (i.e., an increase in volume of 100 percent).
The present invention is directed to providing a sponge cake comprising a mesophase-gel and conventional sponge cake components which, when cooked or baked in a microwave oven, rises in a manner similar to conventional oven-baked sponge cake. The present invention does not rely on conventional leavening agents, such as yeast or chemical leavening agents. Rather, a mesophase gel incorporated into the sponge cake batter allows the cake to rise and provides a palatable and light cake when baked in a microwave oven. Moreover, the sponge cake remains palatable for a significant period of time (i.e., about 1 to about 2 hours or longer) after baking.
The present invention provides a sponge cake composition which can be used to provide palatable sponge cake when prepared or heated in a microwave oven. This invention further provides a method for preparation of a microwaveable sponge cake which results in a cake that, upon heating in a microwave oven, (1) rises, (2) is light and palatable, and (3) remains light and palatable for at least 1 hour after heating. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent upon a consideration of the present specification.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to microwaveable sponge cakes, especially microwaveable sponge cakes, which, when heated in a microwave oven, rise in a manner similar to conventionally-baked sponge cakes or other baked goods. The sponge cakes of the present invention contain mesophase gels. Moreover, such mesophase-gel containing sponge cakes, when microwaved, rise in a manner similar to that observed with conventional sponge cakes, and also form highly palatable and firm sponge cakes, similar to conventionally sponge cakes. Such mesophase-gel containing compositions for use in sponge cake include mesophase-containing dispersions for use in fat-free, low-fat, and full-fat sponge cakes.
The mesophase gels formed herein for use in sponge cake are highly viscous, even in the absence of polymeric protein or polysaccharide thickening or bulking agents. The mesophase compositions described herein may be used to prepare desirable sponge cakes which have characteristics such as lightness and airiness when baked in a microwave oven. The mesophase gels have the ability to act as leavening agents in the cakes so that the cake batter rises within about 45 to about 60 seconds for cupcakes, and about 3 to about 10 minutes for regular sponge cake during heating the cake in the microwave oven. The basic mesophase-containing compositions are more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,876 (May 30, 2000) entitled “Mesophase-stabilized Emulsions And Dispersions For Use in Low-fat And Fat-free Food Products”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,006 (Feb. 15, 2000) entitled “Foam Inducing Compositions and Method for Manufacturing Thereof”; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/258,759, filed Feb. 26, 1999, entitled “Use of Mesophase-stabilized Compositions For Delivery of Cholesterol-reducing Sterols And Stanols in Food Products”; and co-pending U.S. patent application entitled “Microwaveable Pizza Crust” filed on the same day as this present application, all of which are owned by the present assignee and all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
The present invention includes mesophase-containing sponge cakes comprising about 5 to about 15 percent of a mesophase gel or foam; about 10 to about 30 percent maltodextrin; about 10 to about 30 percent cake flour; about 1.0 to about 5.0 percent starch; about 5 to about 20 percent sugar; about 0.5 to about 5.0 percent egg white; about 0.5 to about 2.0 percent salt; about 0 to about 1.0 percent vanilla flavoring; and about 25 to about 45 percent water, wherein the sponge cakes rise and are baked to a light and palatable state in a microwave oven.
The present invention also includes methods for making such mesophase-stabilized sponge cakes for use in microwave ovens. One such method comprises (a) forming a dry mixture containing about 10 to about 30 percent maltodextrin, about 10 to about 30 percent cake flour, about 1.0 to about 5.0 percent starch, about 5 to about 20 percent sugar, about 0.5 to about 2.0 percent salt, (b) mixing about 5 to about 15 percent mesophase gel (which has about 20 to about 40 percent maltodextrin and/or sugar and about 20 to 40 percent water added), about 25 to about 45 percent water, and 0 to about 1 percent vanilla flavoring into the dry mixture to form a cake batter, and (c) pouring the cake batter into one or more cake pans; wherein the microwaveable sponge cake batter, when heated using a microwave oven, rises and forms a palatable sponge cake.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The present invention relates to microwaveable cakes, especially microwaveable sponge cakes. Such sponge cakes, when heated in a microwave oven, rise in a manner similar to conventionally-baked goods. In addition, such sponge cakes, when subjected to microwave treatment, not only rise, but result in highly palatable and light sponge cakes, which resemble those that are conventionally prepared. Moreover, such sponge cakes maintain their palatable texture for at least 1 hour after baking. The sponge cakes utilize a mesophase structure for leavening and palatable texture of sponge cake baked in microwave ovens. The mesophase-containing sponge cakes described herein are prepared by combining a mesophase gel and conventional ingredients of sponge cake, in the absence of conventional leavening agents such as yeast or chemical leavening agents.
Although not required, conventional microwave susceptors can be used with the present microwaveable cakes if desired. The use of such microwave susceptors can provide a firmer and/or criper product. Generally, however, it is preferred that microwave susceptors not be used with the present invention.
Mesophase gels formed using two or more emulsifiers can be used. Such mesophase gels have been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,876 (May 30, 2000) entitled “Mesophase-Stabilized Emulsions and Dispersions For Use in Low-fat and Fat-free Food Products”; U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,006 (Feb. 15, 2000) entitled “Foam Induc
Akashe Ahmad
Chen Weizhi
McPherson Andrew E.
Miller Miranda
Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery
Kraft Foods Holdings, Inc.
Tran Lien
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