Bakeshop Ingredients
CULINARY 2
Using EXACT ingredients
 Unlike cooking, you MUST use exact ingredients
when baking
 If a recipe/formula is not followed precisely, the
products taste and texture will be affected!

You can’t substitute the same amount of cake flour for bread
flour
** to be a successful baker, you must understand how key
ingredients work together**
Wheat Flour
 The main ingredient in many baked goods
 Proteins and starch in flour give these products structure
 The classification of flour is based on the type of wheat it
comes from

Soft or hard
Hard Wheat
•
Comes from kernels that are firm, tough, and difficult to cut

Example: bread flour
 Has high protein content
 When mixed with water, certain proteins form
gluten

The higher the protein content = the more likely it is to form
gluten
Gluten
•
A firm, elastic substance that affects the texture of baked goods
 Makes bread dough strong and elastic
 The dough would collapse
Soft Wheat
 Comes from a soft wheat kernel
 Has a low protein content
 Making it ideal for tender baked products such as
cookies, pastries and cakes
Bread Flour
 Used in bread-making
 High gluten forming protein content
 Allow bread to rise fully and develop a fine crumb
 Give the bread chewier, firmer texture
Examples: yeast breads, pizza, bagels
Cake Flour
 Lower in protein than bread flour and pastry flour
 Produces a softer and more tender product
 Bleached with chlorine to help produce a fine, white
crumb in cakes
Pastry Flour
 The protein content is in between bread and cake
flour
 Generally used in pie dough, cookies, muffins and
quick breads
Liquids
 An essential part of baking
 Most common liquids are:
Water
 Milk
 Cream
 Can also be found in eggs, sugar syrups, butter = 15% water

**Accurate measurement of liquids is important because too much
of too little can affect the outcome of the baked product**
Water
 Most common liquids ingredient used in baking
 Especially for breads
 Has many uses besides moistening dry ingredients
 Water is necessary for gluten structure to form flour
 Also used to adjust temperatures
** Because water is tasteless, odorless and colorless it doesn’t
affect the flavor or color of baked goods and adds NO
calories**
Milk and Cream
 Milk
 Protein, fat and sugar content make it a valuable addition to
baked products


Ice creams and custards
Improves the flavor and texture of bread and other baked
goods
Some milk and cream improvements include:
 Yielding soft, rather than crispy, crust on items such
as cream puffs or éclairs
 Adding more color and flavor to crusts when applied
to the baking surface
 Extending shelf life by delaying staling.

The process by which moisture is lost
Continued…
 Dried milk solid are also used in baked goods
 Non fat dried milk can be reconstituted with water or used dry
 Dairy products such as buttermilk, yogurt and sour
cream are also used in the bakeshop

Have live bacteria that convert milk sugar into acid
Continued…
 Heavy cream
 High fat content
 Allows baked goods to tenderize
 Cream is often whipped for toppings, chilled desserts and
fillings for pastry cream
Fats
 During the baking process, fats surround the flour
particles and prevent long strands of gluten from
forming.

Tenderizes the baked good
Adds flavor, moistens, browns, leavens, and adds flakiness to
the baked goods

Solid fats are referred to as: SHORTENING

Fats Continued…
 Purified oils are made solid by hydrogenation
 Making oils solid by the addition of hydrogenation to the oil
Vegetable Shortening
 Generally think of solid, white, flavorless fat used for
baking
 Made from purified oils that have been hydrogenated
to make them solid and less likely to become rancid


Fairly high melting point
Good choice for frying, making cookies and cakes
Emulsified Shortening
 High- ratio shortenings
 Allow the baker to add a high ratio of water and sugar to make
a cake or icing
 Look like creamy oils
Cakes will be extra moist, airy and tender
 Will have a longer shelf life

Oil
 Fats that are extracted from plants




Soybeans
Corn
Peanuts
Cottonseed
 Liquid at room temperature
 Neutral in flavor and color because they are highly
refined


Oil makes baked products more tender
Can be used in quick breads, pie crusts, doughnuts, chiffon cakes
Butter
 Unsalted butter is used in baking because of its
pleasant flavor


Soft at room temperature, makes dough easier to handle
80% fat so it produces a less tender baked product than
shortening
Margarine
 Typically hydrogenated vegetable oil with color,
flavor and water added


Less likely to spoil than butter
Can be purchased salted or unsalted
Sugars and Sweeteners
 Add sweet and pleasant flavor to baked products
 Create a golden brown color
 Stabilize mixtures such as beaten egg whites
 Provide food for yeast in yeast breads
 Retain moisture = longer shelf life
 Tenderize baked products by weakening the gluten
strands
 Serve as a base for making icings
Refined Sugars and Sweeteners
 Produced from sugarcane or sugar beets
 Crushed to extract the juice
 The juice is then filtered and gently heated to evaporate the
water
 Through a series of heated induced steps, the sugar is
crystallized and then separated from the dark forms, molasses,
to the more refined sugars.
Molasses
 Thick, sweet, dark liquid made from sugarcane juice
 Premium grades have a golden brown color and a mild, sweet
flavor
 Lower grades are typically darker in color with a less sweet
flavor.
** The stronger the color and flavor the more desirable it is in
baked products **
Brown Sugar
 Soft textured mixture of white sugar and molasses
 Can be light or dark in color
 Must be stored in air tight containers to prevent moisture
absorption
Turbinado Sugar
 Raw sugar that has been steam cleaned
 Course crystals are blond colored and have delicate molasses
flavor
Coarse Sugar
 Sanding Sugar
 Large, course crystals that don’t dissolve easily

Used in doughnuts and cakes
Granulated Sugar
 Extra fine white sugar or table sugar
 Most commonly used sugar in the bakeshop
 Used in cooked icings, candies and other baked
products
Confectioners’ sugar
 Powdered sugar
 Granulated sugar that has been crushed into a fine powder
 Contains about 3% corn syrup

Helps keep the sugar from clumping
- Often used in uncooked icings and glazes and as a decorative
“dusting” on baked products
Superfine Sugar
 More finely granulated than regular white sugar
 Dissolved instantly
 Prefect for making sweetened cold liquids

Example: meringues
Corn Syrup
 Produced from the starch found in corn
 Starch removed from kernels and treated with acids to create a
thick, sweet syrup
 Does not crystallize easily so it is popular in jams, candies,
frostings and jellies
Maple Syrup
 Adds unique flavor to baked products
 Made from the sap of a maple tree
 Graded according to flavor and color
 The lighter and milder the syrup the higher the grade it will
receive
Honey
 Thick, sweet liquid made by bees from flower nectar
 Widely used to give baked products a distinct and sweet flavor
Eggs
 2nd most important ingredient in baked products
 Bakeshops use egg yolks instead of whole eggs when a richer,
more tender product is desired
Functions of eggs
 Add structure
 Emulsification
 Blend ingredients smoothly
 Aeration
 Beaten or whipped eggs assist in the leavening because they
trap air and expand when heated causing baked goods to rise
 Flavor
 Color
Leavening Agents
 A substance that causes a baked good to rise by
introducing carbon dioxide or other gases into the
mixture



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Air
Steam
Baking soda
Baking powder
Yeast
Salt
Flavorings
 Include extracts and spices

Extracts
Liquid flavorings that contain alcohol
 Mostly concentrated volatile oils or essences that are diluted with
alcohol
 Made by passing alcohol through the vanilla bean with little or no
heat to extract the flavor


Spices
Add to the enhancement of food and baked goods
 Mostly come from berries, bark, roots, flower buds, or seeds

Chocolate or Cocoa
 Add bold, bulky and unique flavor
 Made from the cocoa bean
 Meat of the bean is roasted and ground into a thick substance
called chocolate liquor
Unsweetened chocolate
 Semi sweet chocolate
 White chocolate
 Cocoa powder
 Dutch process cocoa powder

Mixing Batters and Dough
 Batters
 Contain almost equal parts dry and liquid ingredients
 Usually easy to pour

Cakes and muffins are examples
 Dough
 Contain less liquid than batters
 Easier to work dough with your hands
Ways to mix batters and dough
 Beating – agitating ingredients vigorously to add air
 Blending- mixing of folding together until they are evenly combined
 Creaming – vigorously combining softened fat and sugar to add air
 Cut in – mix solid fat with dry ingredients until lumps of the desired
size
remain
 Folding – gently adding light, airy ingredients, such as eggs to
heavier ingredients by using a circular motion
Continued…
 Kneading – working through dough with hand
 Sifting – passing dry ingredients through wire mesh
to remove lumps
 Stirring- gently blending ingredients until they are
combined
 Whipping- vigorously beating ingredients to add air
Hydrogenation
 What is hydrogenation:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zU0atqAL4s
 How shortening is made:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJT8d5zqavU
 How Honey is made:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT6IQx26eHk
 How Sugar is made:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBOou6cahtw
 How Chocolate is made:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiMjr3Rwdjs
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdTpA0luD2U
 HOMEMADE PIZZA DOUGH:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b91fSTbONMs
 Rolling out the pizza dough:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xlgs1gsQ2QU