Preparing rubbed in cakes is a fundamental skill in the cake making profession, requiring mastery of specific techniques to ensure a light and tender texture. This chapter introduces key terminology and essential personal protective equipment (PPE) necessary for safe and hygienic cake preparation. In various Kenyan workplaces such as county referral hospitals, universities, and retail bakeries, adherence to these basics prevents contamination and workplace accidents, enhancing both product quality and employee safety.

1.1 Definition of Terms

Understanding the terminology related to rubbed in cakes establishes a solid foundation for practical skills and communication in professional baking environments. Precise use of terms ensures consistency in recipes and clarity in instruction, vital in settings such as hotel kitchens and cooperative bakery units.

1.1.1 Rubbed In Method

The rubbed in method is a cake mixing technique where fat, usually butter or margarine, is combined with flour by rubbing the two ingredients together using fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. This process coats the flour particles with fat, inhibiting gluten formation and resulting in a crumbly, tender cake texture. For example, a bakery in a Nairobi hotel uses this method to prepare shortbread bases for layered cakes, ensuring a delicate crumb.

How the Method Is Carried Out

1. Sieve the dry ingredients together, which removes lumps and incorporates air into the flour.
2. Cut the cold fat into small pieces and add it to the flour.
3. Rub the fat into the flour with the fingertips, lifting the mixture above the bowl as you work so that air is drawn in and the hands stay cool.
4. Continue until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, with no visible lumps of fat remaining.
5. Add the sugar and any dried fruit, mixing them through evenly.
6. Add the liquid and bring together quickly into a soft dough or batter, handling it as little as possible.

Use the fingertips, not the palms. The fingertips are the coolest part of the hand. Palms warm the fat, which then melts into the flour instead of staying as separate coated particles, and the result is heavy and greasy rather than short and crumbly.

Keep everything cold. Cold fat, cold hands and a cool working area all keep the fat solid while it is being dispersed, which is what the method depends on.

Examples of Products Prepared Using the Rubbed-In Method

• Scones
• Rock cakes
• Shortcrust pastry
• Shortbread biscuits
• Fruit crumble toppings
• Light traditional fruit cakes

Note that the method is not confined to cakes. Shortcrust pastry, shortbread and crumble toppings are made the same way, which is why a baker who masters rubbing in can produce a wide range of products from one technique. What they share is a high proportion of flour to fat and a desired texture that is short and crumbly rather than light and springy.

1.1.2 Gluten Formation

Gluten formation refers to the development of elastic protein strands when water and flour interact during mixing. In rubbed in cakes, limiting gluten formation is crucial to avoid toughness. The fat coats flour particles, reducing water absorption and gluten development, which is why the rubbed in method produces softer cakes often preferred in county government catering services for official functions.

How Gluten Is Kept Low

• Fat coats the flour, physically preventing water from reaching the protein and forming strands. This is the shortening action that gives shortcrust and shortbread their names.
• Soft flour is used rather than strong flour, because it carries less protein to form gluten in the first place.
• The liquid is kept to a minimum, since gluten cannot develop without water.
• Mixing stops as soon as the dough comes together, because every extra moment of handling develops more gluten.
• The mixture is not kneaded, unlike bread dough, where gluten development is the whole object.

This is the opposite of bread making. In bread, gluten is deliberately developed to trap gas and give a chewy, elastic structure. In rubbed in work it is deliberately suppressed, and a rubbed in product that has been overworked comes out tough, hard and shrunken.

1.1.3 Crumbly Texture

A crumbly texture describes a cake that breaks easily into small pieces rather than stretching or bending. This texture is desirable in rubbed in cakes as it indicates a tender structure. In cooperative bakeries across Kenya's agricultural regions, achieving this texture is essential for products like scones and shortbread, which rely on the rubbed in method.

The trade word for this quality is shortness. A product is described as short when it crumbles cleanly under slight pressure. Shortness comes directly from the fat coating the flour, so the more fat in proportion to flour, the shorter the result. Shortbread, with its very high fat content, is the shortest of the products listed above.

1.1.4 Creaming Method

The creaming method involves beating fat and sugar together until light and fluffy before adding other ingredients. Unlike the rubbed in method, creaming incorporates air to give cakes a different texture and rise. In educational institutions with culinary courses, students learn to distinguish between these methods to produce a variety of cake types.

Rubbed In Compared With Creamed

The fat to flour ratio is the quickest way to tell the two apart. When the recipe calls for fat weighing half the flour or less, it is a rubbed in mixture. When the fat approaches or equals the weight of the flour, it is creamed. This single check answers most examination questions asking which method a given recipe uses.

1.1.5 Aeration

Aeration is the process of incorporating air into the cake batter to improve volume and texture. In rubbed in cakes aeration happens in three ways, and it is important to know which one does most of the work.

• Chemical raising agent: Baking powder, or bicarbonate of soda with an acid, releases carbon dioxide during baking. This is the main source of rise in rubbed in products, which is why omitting the raising agent produces a flat, heavy scone no matter how well the fat was rubbed in.
• Mechanical aeration: Air is drawn in while sieving the flour and while lifting the mixture during rubbing, and this contributes a smaller part of the rise.
• Steam: Water in the mixture turns to steam in the oven and expands, lifting the structure further.

This is the clearest difference from the creaming method, where air physically beaten into the fat and sugar does most of the lifting and the raising agent plays a supporting role. A retail bakery in Mombasa combines careful rubbing with correctly measured baking powder to produce tender tea cakes that appeal to local customers.

Chapter Summary