There are few people are confused with the used of some ingredients in baking. So I decided to make this blog so that it will be served as a guide. It is natural that we got confused with the used of several ingredients since we are starting to learn. And I was one of them before but since I always encounter those term or name of the ingredients I became more familiar about it. So here is the list below;
Baking Powder
Made from Cream of tartar and starch, baking powder is a leavening agent, which causes your batter to rise.
Baking Soda
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and needs to be paired with an acidic ingredient like honey, chocolate, or yogurt.
Butter
As a solid fat, butter is better suited for baking than any other fat product. Butter, in particular, adds flavor, with a melting point just below body temperature, which is why some cookies and baked goods tend to “melt in your mouth.” It also helps in leavening and adds moisture.
Cornstarch
This ingredient has multiple purposes depending on the type of dish it’s being used in. Cornstarch is usually either a thickener or a binder, but can also be an anti-caking agent. It’s great to use in gluten-free cooking instead of flour to thicken sauces, custards, or cake fillings.
Eggs
Eggs do a lot in baking, but most importantly they’re a leavening agent (adding volume), and are a binder, meaning they keep the finished product together. You can use the whole egg, for flavor, binding, thickening, or glazing, or you can use egg whites and egg yolks for separate things. Egg whites are a drying agent and add moisture and stability. Egg yolks contribute to texture and flavor.
Flour
Flour holds ingredients together in baking. When flour protein is combined with moisture and heat, it develops into gluten. Different types of flours have different levels of protein, which are suitable for various baked goods.
different kinds of flour:
- All-purpose flour. An refined blend of high-gluten hard wheat and low-gluten soft wheat. Milled with only the endosperm— not bran or germ. used for baking, thickening and breading. usually sold pre-sifted. Some fortified with calcium and vitamins A or D.
- Cake or pastry flour. Fine-textured refined flour made from soft wheat. High in starch. Used for tender cakes and pastries.
- Bread flour. Refined flour made from hard wheat and a small amount of barley flour. Very high gluten content. Used for bread making.
Milk
The protein in milk softens, contributes moisture, and adds color and flavor to baked goods. It’s a double-whammy in terms of function, as it gives the dough or batter strength and structure, as well as add tenderness, flavor and moisture.
Salt
Salt does a couple different things in baking. For one, it helps preserve the color and flavor of the flour. In bread, it controls the fermentation rate of yeast and strengthens the gluten protein in a dough. Though it seems salt is out of place in sweet recipes, if you skip it, your product will taste very bland, as it also enhances flavor.
Shortening
Shortening is just 100%, solid fat made from vegetable oils, almost exclusively used in baking. When you use shortening instead of butter in baking, you’ll get a softer and more tender, though taller and less flavourful, product.
Sugar
In any given recipe, sugar is performing a number of functions you’re probably not aware of. For one, it adds texture, like keeping your baked foods soft and moist.
Yeast
It is a single-cell organism, which needs food, warmth, and moisture to thrive. It converts its’ food (sugar and starch), through fermentation, into carbon dioxide and alcohol. It’s the carbon dioxide that makes baked goods rise.
So I hope it will help a lot.
source:
https://foodandnutrition.org/summer-2012/flour-power-learn-different-kinds-flours/
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