Nearly all bakery products are prepared using a common list of ingredients that fall into eight categories:
- Strengtheners, such as flour and eggs
- Fats/shortenings,such as butter and oils
- Sweeteners, such as sugars and syrups
- Chemical, organic, and physical leaveners, such as baking powder, baking soda, yeast, and steam
- Thickeners, such as cornstarch, flour, and eggs
- Flavorings, such as extracts and spices
- Liquids, such as water, milk, cream, eggs, honey, molasses, and butter
- Additives, such as food coloring
Sweet butter is thick and strong. Add it to chocolate milk and go to heaven.
Sweet – Sweetener; Butter – Fat; Thick – Thickener; Strong – strengthener; Add – Additives; Chocolate – Flavorings; Milk – LIquids; heaven- Leaveners
Strengtheners
In baking, strengtheners provide stability and ensure that the baked item does not collapse once it is removed from the oven. Flour is a main strengthener used in baking.There are six popular types Wheat Flour. To check the gluten content of a particular flour, look at the nutrition label: the higher the protein content, the higher the gluten content. Gluten (gloo-ten) is a protein found in flour. The more bakers mix, work, and knead yeast doughs, the more the gluten becomes elastic and stretchy. When baked, it helps provide the firm structure and light, even texture needed in bread production.
Types of flour
Fats/Shortenings
Fats/Shortenings make baked goods moist, add flavor, and keep baked items fresh longer. Any fat, such as oil or butter, acts as a shortening in baking. The more thoroughly mixed, the more the fat will affect the item’s overall texture. Fats that are rubbed, cut, or rolled into doughs tend to separate the dough into layers, creating a flaky texture. When the fat is thoroughly creamed together with the other ingredients, the resulting texture of the baked item will be smooth, soft, and more cake-like.
Leaveners
Leaveners are necessary in baking because they allow the dough or batter to rise. It is important to measure all leavening agents very carefully. Even small changes can produce major defects in baked products. Leaveners fall into three categories: chemical, organic, and physical.
Baking Soda
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a chemical leavener that releases carbon dioxide gas when mixed with a liquid and an acid. For example, baking soda will leaven a batter when mixed with an acid such as lemon juice, yogurt, or buttermilk. Other, less reliable reactants are honey, molasses, cocoa, and chocolate. Because heat is not necessary for the leavening process to occur, bake the item right away to prevent the gases from escaping and leavening the item too soon.
Baking Powder
Chemical leaveners react with other ingredients to produce carbon dioxide gas, which helps batter to rise as it is heated. Baking powder is a very versatile chemical leavener. It is a mixture of baking soda and an acid with an inactive material, like starch. Because there is acid in the baking powder, the pastry chef does not need to add any acid to the batter for leavening to take place. Leavening occurs when liquid and heat are added.
Yeast, the Organic Leavener
An organic leavener, yeast is a microscopic fungus used often in baking. It comes in two forms: fresh or dry. When yeast is mixed with carbohydrates (such as sugar and flour) and a liquid, it ferments, producing carbon dioxide gas and alcohol. Yeast works in much the same way that the chemical leaveners do, by releasing carbon dioxide gas, causing the bread dough to rise.
Physical leavener
Introducing air into the batter is another way to leaven a baked item. The air expands during baking and leavens the product. Pastry chefs use two methods to introduce air into batter: creaming and foaming. In the creaming method, beat the fat and sugar together. Use the creaming method most often in cake and cookie making. In the foaming method, beat eggs, with or without sugar. Use whole-egg foams in sponge cakes, and egg-white foams in angel food cakes, meringues, and souffles. Steam ploys a role in all baked goods. When water is converted to steam, the volume increases. Steam is used as a leavener in cream puffs and pie crusts.
Liquids
Liquids are one of the most important elements used in baking. The liquid used in baking can be water, milk, cream, molasses, honey, vegetable oils, or butter. Liquid is used in baking to provide moisture to the product and to allow the gluten to properly develop. Water is the most basic and common form of liquid used in baking. Often, milk products such as whole milk, buttermilk, cream, or dried milk are used. Milk provides the baked product with flavor, nutritional value, and texture. Honey, molasses, eggs, oil, and butter also act as liquids in baking by contributing moisture to the baked item, as well as a unique taste and texture.
Sweeteners
Sweeteners Include refined sugars, sugar syrups, molasses, brown sugar, corn syrup, honey, and malt syrup (usually used in yeast breads). Sweeteners add flavor and color to baked goods. They also help the shortening blend with other ingredients and make the product soft and tender. When a product containing refined sugars is baked, the heat causes the sugar to turn a light brown color. This process is called caramelization and occurs whenever sugar is used as an ingredient in baked items. Artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes used in baking do not create caramelization, so they will produce baked goods that are lighter in color.
Other Important Ingredients
Thickeners include gelatin, flour, arrowroot (a powdered starch made from a tropical root), cornstarch, and eggs. Thickeners, combined with the stirring process, determine the consistency of the finished product. For example, custard cooked over direct heat and stirred constantly will result in a sauce. The same custard recipe can be cooked (without stirring) by placing it in a bain-marie and then gently cooking it by surrounding the pan with simmering water. Then, it will set into a firm custard that can be sliced.
Flavorings, such as cocoa, spices, salt, nuts, and extracts, affect a baked item’s taste and color. Cocoa is the basis of all chocolate desserts and is absolutely vital to any dessert menu. Spices used most often in baking are cinnamon, nutmeg, mace, cloves, ginger, caraway, cardamom, allspice, anise, and poppy seed. Salt plays an important role in baking. In addition to enhancing flavor, it improves the texture of breads and controls how yeast ferments in bread doughs.
Extracts Are flavorful oils (some are alcohol based) taken from such food items as vanilla bean, lemon, and almond. A few drops of extract will greatly enhance the flavor of baked goods. Flavorings need to be measured accurately so that the flavor of the spice or extract will not overwhelm the flavor of the finished baked product.
The final, eighth category of elements used in baking is additives. Additives are substances added to food to enhance its taste and/ or appearance. Additives, such as food coloring or xanthan gum, are often used in baking to enhance the product’s color, texture, and taste, as well as to extend its shelf life.
Artificial Sweeteners and Baking
If you decide to use artificial sweeteners when baking or cooking, there are a few important things to know:
- Baked products may be lighter in color because real sugar has a caramelizing/ browning effect and artificial sweeteners do not.
- Volume may be lower in cakes, muffins, and quick breads because artificial sweeteners do not have the same bulking ability as sugar.
- Texture may be altered in some baked products, especially cookies.
- Taste may be slightly altered if you are sensitive to the sweetener’s aftertaste.
- Sugar naturally holds in moisture and increases keeping quality, so baked products made with the sugar removed will not keep as long.
