BAKING

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BAKING
CAKES COOKIES
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To bake...
to cook in dry heat in an oven.
The oven heats the air, and the hot air cooks the
food.
Science principle No lid is used during baking.
A lid would trap the moisture as it was trying
to evaporate. The evaporating moisture would
then collect on the inside of the lid during
condensation, and fall back into the food. That
is moist heatand is NOT baking.
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Baking Ingredients...
flour
Usually purchased pre-sifted

liquid
Water and milk are the most common
structure
Forms the shape of the product
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Flour

• Proteins starch make up structure
• Gluten
• Types
• - All-purpose, bread, cake, whole-grain

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Leavening Agent

• Air
• Steam
• Yeast
• Baking soda
• Baking powder

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Baking Ingredients...
leavening agents cause the food to "rise"
They do this by providing air, steam, or gas.

1. Yeast is a living organism, most often used as a
   leavening agent in breads yeast is slow-acting
2. Baking soda is a quick-acting leavening agent. It
   is only used when acids are presentthe most
   common of which is cream of tartar
3. Baking powder is the most common of the
   quick-acting leavening agents. It is a
   combination of soda and acid.

Quick-acting leavening agents are used in cakes
and cookies.
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Leavening agent moisture warmth
carbon dioxide bubbles
The bubbles go upward...
causing the dough/batter to rise with them!
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Other Ingredients

• Fats
• Eggs
• Sweeteners
• Flavorings

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Baking Ingredients...
fats add richness, flavor, and tenderness
Butter or margarine do NOT use soft margarines
for baking, as they contain added water
Solid shortening
Cooking oils do not substitute oils for solid
fats
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Baking Ingredients...
eggs
1. FLAVOR
8. LEAVENING AGENT
5. BINDER
2. TENDERIZER
6. ENRICH
7. PRESERVE TEXTURE
3. COLOR
2 eggs whites can be substituted for 1 whole
egg to reduce fat and calories.
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Baking Ingredients...
sweeteners for flavor
Molasses
Brown sugar must be packed into the measuring
cup. It is an unrefined sugar with a high
moisture content.
Granulated sugar is the most common sweetener in
baking.
Powdered sugar is also called confectioners sugar.
Honey
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Baking Ingredients...
Flavorings! Ummm....Yum!
Nuts
Candies
Raisins or flavored chips
Extracts flavorings
Fruits vegetables
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Batters Doughs

• Pour batter
• Drop batter
• Soft doughs
• Stiff doughs

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Standard baking procedure...
Most of the time, you wouldnt even need a recipe
to follow. For most cakes and cookies, just
follow standard baking procedure
1. "cream" together the fats and sugars
Use an electric mixer to save time! Use medium
speed on your mixer.
2. add eggs one at a time, beating after each
Air egg whites volume
3. sift together the dry ingredients
Sifting eliminates lumps and helps in even
distribution of ingredients
4. "add alternately" the dry and liquid
ingredients
Add 1/3 dry, then 1/3 wetrepeat til all
ingredients are used
5. stir in flavoring pieces by hand
An electric mixer at this point would break up
the chips, raisins, nuts, etc.
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Selecting the right bakeware...
A glass pan also retains more heat. If using
glass bakeware, you must lower the oven
temperature 25 degrees. Glass is much easier to
keep clean than metal, so stays nicer looking
much longer. It does break if dropped, however.
If youre using metal bakeware, a lighter colored
metal is best. A very dark metal is easier to
clean, but retains more heat and can overcook the
food easily.
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Preparing the pan for baking...
Grease flouring a pan is one way of preparing
it for baking a cake. Apply grease to sides and
bottom of pan. Then add a scoop of flour,
shaking it all over the greasy pan until the
entire pan is dusted with flour. Discard extra
flour.
Aerosol cooking spray can be used on pans avoid
overspray avoid inhaling contents is
especially good for low-fat diets
If you are planning to remove the cake from
the pan in one piece, you might try lining the
pan with waxed paper. Cut the paper to fit the
pan perfectly you still need to grease and flour
the sides of the pan and perhaps even the paper.
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Before baking...
Pour cake batter into pan. Tap filled pan firmly
to settle the batter and break air bubbles.
Choose shaped, rolled, refrigerator, filled, bar,
or drop cookiesplace them on the cookie sheet
for baking.
Preheating the oven to the correct temperature is
critical! Adjust oven racks so you can bake in
the middle of the oven! If rack is too low, food
gets too brown on the bottom if rack is too
high, food gets too brown on top.
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After baking...
Cookies are removed from the oven, cooled for a
couple of minutes, removed from the pans with a
spatula, and placed on a wire rack for cooling.
You will remove your cake from the pan by a
method called inversion (placing a cooling rack
on top of the cake pan and flipping the two
togetherthe cake pan then lifts off and leaves
the cake sitting on the rack). The cake will stay
on a cooling rack until completely cool before
icing.
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How can you tell if your cake is done?

1. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out
   clean when removedif the cake is done.
2. A cake slightly pulls away from the edge of the
   pan when its done.
3. Lightly tap your finger on the surface of the
   cake. The indentation your finger makes will pop
   back up if the cake is done.

Cakes made without shortening, such as angel food
cakes, and brownies are foods that cannot be
tested in those ways listed here. Sometimes you
just have to time the cakes very carefully.
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Frying a hamburger or heating up a
soup? Assembling a casserole or preparing a
sidedish?
all that is just cooking.


But baking...now, THAT'S AN ART!
Not everyone can bake successfully, and it takes
time. That makes baking something pretty
special. Its perfect for special occasions and
gift-giving.
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THE END