Category: Uncategorized

Baking Ingredients & Its Function

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/

https://ueat.utoronto.ca/baking-ingredients-function/

My Experience In Training in BPP(bread and pastry)

It was very fun to be trained in another school especially together with my friends and classmates. Its look like that we are enjoying ourselves even though it’s not easy to bake especially if you are a beginner, you may think that I am a beginner but I’m not because I have already an experience in baking. The reason why I wrote here especially you are a beginner because 1/4 of our class is not a bread and pastry instead they are taking a housekeeping. But since our teacher said that we are going to undergo training for both but in taking an assessment for ncII we just need to choose one. Having a training with the field I’m not familiar with make me feel uncomfortable and having a hard time to learn it. That’s why when we start training in the field that I really like at first I feel nervous because of the “what if” question in my mind. But as long as I’m getting used to it, I started to feel comfortable. And also this training help me to know better my friends and my classmates.

One of the things we did was cake. Here is the picture of the cake I made but I’m not the one who decorate it because I’m not good at it, so I ask my friend to decorate it.

B612_20180316_192425

It may not look like professional but my effort on it is not wasted because seeing the result of this is worth it. But sad to say I don’t think I can continue baking anymore because my course now in college is not related in baking. So I think this experience of mine will remain in my memories. Or maybe if I got a stable job I can continue this but if I only have a free time.

 

 

BAKING TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT AND THEIR USES

When I was in grade 9 I already attend a baking class where I learned how to bake and how to use the tools and equipment in baking. It was very fun to study baking because there’s a lot of things that you can learn about foods or bread and pastry even though we are always in a group because of the expenses but there is a time where we do it individually or by a pair.

In my Senior High School, my course is Tourism where we have to choose if what are we going to take the front desk or the tour guiding but since there’s not enough room and teacher so our school decided that we will take that both but that’s only applicable in grade 11 because when I became a grade 12 still there are two choices but we just need to choose one, and I choose bread and pastry since I have already a knowledge about it compare housekeeping.  So I’m not going to prolong it anymore here are the list of baking tools and equipment together with their use.

Baking wares – are made of glass or metal containers for batter and dough with
various sizes and shapes.
Cake pans – comes in different sizes and shapes and may be round square rectangular
or heart-shaped.
1. Tube center pan – deeper than a round pan and with a hollow
center, it is removable which is used to bake chiffon type cakes
2. Muffin pan – has 12 formed cups for baking muffins and cupcakes
3. Pop over pan –  used for cooking pop over
4. Jelly roll pan –  shallow rectangular pan used for baking rolls

5. Bundt pan –  a round pan with scalloped sides used for baking
elegant and special cakes
6. Custard cup – made of porcelain or glass used for baking
individual custard

7. Griddle pans – are used to bake griddles
8. Loaf Pan –  used to bake loaf bread
2. Biscuit and doughnut cutter –  used to cut and shape biscuit or
doughnut.
3. Cutting tools – include a knife and chopping board that are used to cut
glazed fruit, nuts, or other ingredients in baking.
4. Electric mixer – used for different baking procedure for beating,
stirring and blending.
5. Flour sifter –  used for sifting flour.
6. Grater –  used to grate cheese, chocolate, and other fresh fruits.
7. Kitchen shears – are used to slice rolls and delicate cakes.
8. Measuring cups –consist of two types namely:
a. A graduated cup with fractions (1, 3/4, 2/3, ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/8) marked
on each side.
b. A measuring glass made of transparent glass or plastic is more
accurate for measuring.
9. Measuring spoons – consist of a set of measuring spoons used to
measure small quantities of ingredients.
10. Mixing bowl – comes in graduated sizes and has sloping sides
used for mixing ingredients.

11. Mortar and Pestle –  used to pound or ground ingredients.
12. Paring knife –  used to pare or cut fruits and vegetables into different sizes.
13. Pastry bag – a funnel-shaped container of icing or whipped cream
14. Pastry blender – has a handle and with wire which is used to cut fat or
shortening in the preparation of pies, biscuits or doughnuts.
15. Pastry brush –  used in greasing pans or surface of pastries and bread.
16. Pastry tip- is a pointed metal or plastic tube connected to the opening of the
pastry and is used to form desired designs.
17. Pastry wheel – has a blade knife used to cut dough when making pastries.
18. Rotary egg beater –  used in beating eggs or whipping cream.
19. Rolling pin – used to flatten or roll the dough.
20. Rubber scraper –  used to remove bits of food inside of the bowl.
21. Spatula – comes in different sizes; small spatula is used to remove muffins
and molded cookies from pans which is 5 to 6 inches; large spatula for icing
or frosting cakes; flexible blade is used for various purposes.
22. Strainer –  used to strain or sift dry ingredients.
23. Timer –  used to in timing baked products, the rising of yeast and to
check the doneness of cakes.
24. Weighing scale – used to measure ingredients in large quantities.
25. Utility tray –  used to hold ingredients together.
26. Wire whisk – used to beat or whip egg whites or cream.
27. Wooden spoon –  also called a mixing spoon which comes in various
sizes suitable for different types of mixing.

Ovens are the workhorses of the bakery and pastry shop and are essential for producing the
bakery products. Ovens are enclosed spaces in which food is heated, usually by hot air.
Several kinds of ovens are used in baking.
A. DECK OVENS are so called because the items to be baked either on sheet pans or
in the case of some bread freestanding are placed directly on the bottom or deck of
oven. This is also called STACK OVEN because several may be stacked on top of
one another. Bread is baked directly on the floor of the oven and not in pans. Deck
oven for baking bread is equipped with steam ejector.

1. RACK-OVEN is a large oven into which entire racks full of sheet pans can be
wheeled for baking.

2. MECHANICAL OVEN The food is in motion while it bakes in this type of oven. The
most common types are a revolving oven, in which his mechanism is like that of a
Ferris wheel. The mechanical action eliminates the problem of hot spots or uneven
baking because the mechanism rotates throughout the oven. Because of its size, it is
especially used in high volume operations. It can also be equipped with steam
ejector.

3. CONVECTION OVEN contains fans that circulate the air and distribute the heat
rapidly throughout the interior. Strong forced air can distort the shape of the products
made with batter and soft dough.

 

okay, that’s it. I hope this information will help a lot

 

Note:

the source where I get the information that I put in this blog is written in my notes and in the book that we used before.

 

sweetly sweet dessert

1694ed77c54e9d7375b3db0e4396fc14--chocolate-humor-chocolate-quotes

In the title, it is obvious that it refers to sweet foods that we sometimes call a dessert.

there are different types of dessert and these are the first is Frozen Desserts that include ice cream, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and sherbert. The second one is cakes, cookies, pies, chocolates, and candies, and lastly, pastries.however all the said dessert share one common quality and it is sweetness.

there are so many desserts around the world but there just one thing I want to eat and that’s nothing else but chocolate. it is okay for me to eat other desserts like cakes, ice cream, and others as long as it has a chocolate flavor.

so here is the list of some of my favorite dessert to eat, together with its recipe. ( I only eat/buy this if I have extra money haha) the use pic is not mine I just get it on google.

1.CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM

Ingredients

  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Stir together sweetened condensed milk, cocoa powder and vanilla in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of your mixer, Whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form (do not overbeat.)
  3. Fold sweetened milk mixture into whipped cream. Pour into a 2-quart container, cover and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

2. Chocolate cake

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 4 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup fresh milk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 Eggs

Instructions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the fresh milk, sugar, vanilla extract, melted butter, and eggs.

2. Add the sifted flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

3. Mix well until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

4. Pour the mixture into a greased baking pan.

5. Preheat the oven for 160°C.

6. Bake the cake for about 30-40 minutes, then let it cool.
recipe source: https://www.mamasguiderecipes.com/2017/02/08/easy-baked-chocolate-cake/

S-D-Product-Just-Cakes-IB163
3. Chocolate (with cocoa powder)

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (220g) cocoa powder
  • 3/4 cup (170g) butter, softened at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (100g) sugar (preferably powdered)
  • 2/3 cup (150ml) milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
  • 1 cup (235ml) water
Instructions
1.Blend cocoa and butter. Place the cocoa powder and softened butter in a bowl and stir until blended and mix until it becomes a paste.

Transfer the chocolate mixture into a bowl (or top of a double boiler)

2. Fill the saucepan or double boiler about 1/4 full with water (1 cup). Place the chocolate mixture on top of the saucepan or double boiler, and bring the water to just simmering, over low heat.

Heat until hot, stirring frequently. Regularly scrape the chocolate off the sides with a rubber spatula, to prevent scorching. When the paste is hot (but not cooked), Put it back in the processor and mix till smooth.

3. Blend in milk and sugar. Stir the paste, and add milk and sugar gradually. Mix well until the paste is smooth and creamy. Taste, and adjust with more sugar if necessary, and salt as needed.

4. Pour in mold or ice cube tray. Put it in the fridge until the chocolates have set.

recipe source: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Chocolate-With-Cocoa-Powder

Homemade-Dark-Chocolate_-2

My very first national certificate II

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

(credit to the owner of this pic.)

Its been five months already since I took an assessment for bread and pastry production ncII. at first, I just did not expect that I could pass because I just like to bring home the cake, cupcakes, and bread that I made. And that time I only think that the result will be an epic but luckily it’s, not even though I did not perfect the Swiss buttercream. Before that day I prayed to God that whatever happens or whatever the results are I will accept it and I will not regret it. He guides me and helps me not to panic that time because it’s almost time and I’m not yet done decorating my cake and cupcakes using only a few designs. it was a very tiring day after all. Some of my classmates are hoping that they will pass but it looks like luck is not on their side.

Until now I really can’t believe that I passed because I never expected to pass after all. It just that the only thing that I want is to bake. After hearing that I passed I don’t even know how I’m gonna react because I’m so very tired.

img_20180930_0756181323774149.jpg