Sugar reduction strategies in cakes and the impact on cake properties

Reducing sugar in food products is challenging for food manufacturers, not least to ensure that such reformulation has minimal changes on sensory attributes to maintain consumer acceptability. One product of focus within the UK governments “sugar reduction strategy” is cakes. This study aimed to conduct sensory evaluation on reformulated cakes compared to control. Cakes were prepared using standard recipe (eggs, self-raising flour, cake margarine, water, baking powder), with caster sugar and/or sugar replacer/sweetener (where applicable). The cake batter was individually portioned (20-25g), baked 180°C (8-10 mins), cooled then frozen prior to sensory evaluation. Panellists, aged ≥18 years were recruited from Loughry Campus (n 58) and Ulster University (n 32) and presented with four blinded samples (1: control, 2: reduced sugar, 3: inulin sweetener, and 4: carbohydrate blend sweetener replaced cakes, with 31%, 25% and 18% sugar, respectively) in randomised order. Panellists were asked to evaluate the samples on a hedonic scale of 1-9 (1: Dislike Extremely to 9: Like Extremely) for appearance, aroma, taste, texture, sweetness, and overall acceptability. In sensory analysis, both sugar replaced cakes scored significantly lower for appearance and sweetness compared to control (P <0.001). The carbohydrate blend cake scored significantly lower for texture compared to all other cakes (P 0.037). Sensory attributes were not different between the reduced sugar and control cakes. Furthermore, aroma and taste were not significantly different between the four samples. Overall, sensory evaluation revealed, control cake as the most preferred sample (35%), whilst carbohydrate blend cake, was the least preferred (15%). The carbohydrate blend cake overall was the least acceptable sugar sweetener/replacer for this cake type. Although some sensory attributes were lower in the other reformulated options, this didn't affect overall acceptability. Split opinions for the most preferred sample imply that consumer choice is needed at point of purchase.