Bakeshop Notes

Foods I Bakeshop Notes Bakeshop Ingredients It is extremely important when baking to use exact measurements. Major Bakeshop Ingredients: 1. Wheat Flour: main ingredient in many baked goods. - Hard Wheat Flour: High protein content o Gluten: makes bread dough strong and elastic. Without it you couldn’t stretch the dough; it would collapse and result in a coarse crumb. o Crumb: the internal texture of a baked product. o Bread flour is one type of hard wheat flour - Soft Wheat Flour o Comes from a soft wheat kernel o Cake flour and pastry flour are two types of soft flours - Other Types of Flours o Whole Wheat Flour o Cracked Wheat Flour o Non-wheat flours (corn, rye, barley, oat, rice, almond, etc.) 2. Liquids: - Liquids give the baked product moisture - The most common liquids used in baking are water, milk and cream - Other dairy products are often used in baking, such as buttermilk, yogurt, heavy cream and sour cream - Eggs, sugar syrups and butter can also add liquid to a baked product 3. Fat - Tenderizes baked goods - Adds flavor, moistness, browning, flakiness, and leavening - Types of fat: o o o o o Vegetable Shortening Emulsified Shortening Oils (olive, vegetable, peanut, canola, safflower) Butter Margarine 4. Sugars and Sweeteners - Functions of sugars and sweeteners: o o o o o o o Add a sweet, pleasant flavor to baked products Give baked goods a golden-brown color Stabilize delicate mixtures (meringue) Provide food for yeast Retain moisture for a longer shelf life Tenderize baked products Base for making icings - Types of Sugars and Sweeteners o o o o o o o o o o Molasses (from sugarcane juice) Brown Sugar Turbinado sugar (raw, steam-cleaned sugar) Coarse sugar (sanding sugar) Granulated sugar Confectioners sugar (powdered) Superfine sugar Corn syrup Maple syrup Honey 5. Eggs - Second most important ingredient in baked products - Function of eggs: o o o o o Give structure and help thicken Emulsification: helps to blend ingredients Aeration: can trap air when beaten to help products rise Flavor Color 6. Leavening Agents - Cause baked goods to rise by introducing carbon dioxide or other gases into the mixture - Main leavening agents: Air – added when mixing Steam – added when water evaporates Baking Soda – must be used with acid to give off CO2 Baking Powder – baking soda + acid (cream of tartar) + corn starch  Double Acting – releases CO2 twice o Yeast – during fermentation, yeast breaks down sugars into CO2 and alcohol  Types: compressed, dry active, quick-rise dry o o o o 7. Flavorings - Extracts: Liquid flavorings that contain alcohol. o Vanilla Extract is made by passing alcohol through the vanilla bean o Imitation Extracts are often used in place of real extracts - Spices: add flavor, aroma, and color o Usually come from the bark, roots, flower buds, berries or seed of plants and trees o Ground spices – release flavor quickly o Whole spices – release flavor over time 8. Chocolate and Cocoa: add body, bulk and a unique color and flavor to baked goods a. Common varieties: Unsweetened, semi-sweet, liquid chocolate, cocoa powder and Dutch-process cocoa powder 9. Additives: add color, thicken, provide texture and replace fat 10.Nuts: used to provide flavor, texture and color Batter vs. Dough - Batters: Contain almost equal parts of dry and liquid ingredients and are easy to pour o Cakes and muffins are made from batters - Dough: contains less liquid than batters, making it easy to work doughs with your hands. o Breads are made from a dough