A sensitive palate can tell the difference between a box-mix cake and a homemade version made with fresh ingredients. As familiarity with baking increases, you can begin to identify the butter quality, percentage of milk fat, and type of flour used in the ingredients, and these details transform a mediocre cake into a memorable eating experience. Whole-wheat pastry flour is one such ingredient that not only improves the flavor of cake when used appropriately, but also increases its healthfulness so that you feel less guilty when you take a bite.
Gluten
The most important characteristic flour adds to the quality of baked goods is its gluten content. Gluten is the protein in flour that reacts with liquid and forms a flexible, dough-like consistency evident in bread dough and dessert batter. The different flour types are differentiated based on the grain source and the amount of gluten they contain. Bread dough contains the most gluten, followed by all-purpose flour, and finally by pastry and cake flours. The low-gluten count in pastry flour yields a tender texture and a moist consistency.
Texture
The texture of cake is important and varies with each recipe. A German chocolate cake, for example, has a dense texture compared with an angel food cake. The flour in cake is one ingredient that influences texture. A pastry flour has a low-gluten count that yields tender texture. A whole-wheat pastry flour, however, contains wheat bran, which is the hard, outer surface of a wheat seed that provides benefits, such as fiber, but it also adds a grainy texture, which sometimes interferes with the desired outcome. Only use whole wheat pastry flour in a compact cake because the density camouflages the bran.
Flour Combining
The decision to include whole-wheat pastry flour in a cake recipe is not a black-and-white one. Bakers familiar with particular ingredients and resulting outcomes often experiment and blend flours, which is where the artistry in baking comes in. For a amateur baker, a half-and-half ratio is appropriate for most cakes. Add half all-purpose flour or cake flour and half whole wheat pastry flour to reduce the textural impact of the bran and improve the nutritional value.
Nutritional Value
The nutritional value of whole-wheat flour is based on the bran and germ, the elements of the wheat seed that milling removes in standard refined flour. They provide fiber, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. Whole-wheat flour contains more fiber compared with refined flour. Fiber is important for digestive and cardiovascular health. The mineral content and B vitamins in whole-wheat flour are higher, and the essential fatty acids in wheat germ oil, provide fuel for the brain and improve cardiovascular health.
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