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Commercial food manufacturers have used gums, a type of hydrocolloid, for decades, but artisan chefs have recently started using them in molecular gastronomy applications for both sweet and savory products. These applications often defy what can normally be done with food, and the modifications are noticeable and interesting. However, the use of gums doesn’t have to be so extreme, and the positive effects can be much more subtle, even unrecognizable.

Gums are natural and composed of hydrophilic (water-attracting) carbohydrates. Derived from plants, their primary action is to bind water in foods, affecting the rheological properties. Different gums produce different changes. In general, they help to stabilize (or create) emulsions or act as thickening agents, affecting texture. In baking, gums provide dough conditioning for both bread and pastry products. Two common batter additives are xanthan and guar gums. Xanthan gum is a highly efficient viscosity booster, creating a somewhat elastic texture, and guar gum has a more moderate, subtle affect on viscosity, creating a smoother, creamier texture.

When using gums, it is important to consider how to incorporate them. The gum should be well dispersed before being hydrated. If gums are added directly to liquids without proper shear, lumps will form that are nearly impossible to break down. Depending on the formulation, incorporation can be done in a few ways: pre-blend with a dry ingredient, such as sugar, at a 1:4 ratio; disperse in a liquid with little or no water activity, such as corn syrup; or make a slurry with liquid oil. When the gums should be added depends on the dough or batter. For creamed cakes, gums should be blended in with the sugar and fat phase. For egg foam-based cakes, the gum should be dry blended with the flour and other dry ingredients.

Gums can be used in cake batters for a variety of reasons that range from acting as a processing aid to helping suspend particulates, like blueberries in a muffin. Cake batters in their simplest form are essentially emulsions of ingredients. Typical ingredients include fat, sugar, egg, liquid and flour, and this ingredient mix contains natural emulsifiers and stabilizers, such as lecithin, starch and gluten. It is relatively easy to create a temporarily stable emulsion without adding gums to the batter, but when used properly, gums can help create a more consistent, tolerant dough or batter. This is important for products that require longer processing time or need reinforced strength to tolerate automated depositing. Furthermore, gums can produce a consistent, open crumb, increase the product volume, improve shelf life and reduce damage to the product during freeze/thaw processes.

With a little bit of testing and a controlled approach to adding them to a system, gums can add value to the product without sacrificing quality. The lemon ginger pound cake formula provided is a good example of how to incorporate gums to improve the finished product.

Brian Wood is the founder of Baking and Pastry Solutions, a company focused on assisting baking and pastry operations with product development, employee training and more. To learn more, visit tourrier.com or email tourrier@gmail.com. Brian would like to thank the San Francisco Baking Institute (SFBI) for the use of its facility for the photo shoot for this article. All photos are by Frank Wing.