BASIC ENGRIDIENTS IN BAKING

Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by

convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on
hot stones.[1] It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and
pies, tarts, quiches, and cookies. Such items are sometimes referred to as
"baked goods," and are sold at a bakery. A person who prepares baked goods as
a profession is called a baker. It is also used for the preparation of baked
potatoes, baked apples, baked beans, some pasta dishes such as lasagna, and
various other foods, such as the pretzel.

1. Flour is a powder made of cereal grains. It is the main ingredient of bread,

which is a staple food for many civilizations, making the availability of
adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various
times throughout history

2. An egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of any number of

different species, consisting of an ovum surrounded by layers of
membranes and an outer casing, which acts to nourish and protect a
developing embryo and its nutrient reserves. Most edible eggs, including
bird eggs and turtle eggs, consist of a protective, oval eggshell, the
albumen (egg white), the vitellus (egg yolk), and various thin membranes.
Every part is edible, although the eggshell is generally discarded.
Nutritionally, eggs are considered a good source of protein and choline.

3. Sugar (see below for etymology) is a class of edible crystalline

substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds
interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily
comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit,
honey, sorghum, sugar maple (in maple syrup), and in many other
sources. It forms the main ingredient in candy. Excessive consumption of
sugar has been associated with increased incidences of type 2 diabetes,
obesity and tooth decay.

4. Milk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of

mammals (including monotremes). It provides the primary source of
nutrition for newborn mammals before they are able to digest other types
of food. The early lactation milk is known as colostrum, and carries the
mother's antibodies to the baby. It can reduce the risk of many diseases in
the baby. The exact components of raw milk varies by species, but it
contains significant amounts of saturated fat, protein and calcium as well
as vitamin C. Cow's milk has a pH ranging from 6.4 to 6.8, making it
slightly acidic.
 a. Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented
cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as
well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and
frying. Butter consists of butterfat, water and milk proteins.

Most frequently made from cows' milk, butter can also be

manufactured from that of other mammals, including sheep, goats,
buffalo, and yaks. Salt, flavorings and preservatives are sometimes
added to butter. Rendering butter produces clarified butter or ghee,
which is almost entirely butterfat.

5. A leavening agent (also leavening or leaven) is any one of a number of

substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action which
lightens and softens the finished product. The leavening agent—biological,
chemical, or even mechanical—reacts with moisture, heat, acidity, or other
triggers to produce gas (usually carbon dioxide and sometimes ethanol)
that becomes trapped as bubbles within the dough. When a dough or
batter is mixed, the starch in the flour mixes with the water in the dough to
form a matrix (often supported further by proteins like gluten or other
polysaccharides like pentosans or xanthan gum), then gelatinizes and
"sets"; the holes left by the gas bubbles remain.

a. Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent used to increase

the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods such as muffins,
cakes, and cookies (biscuits). Baking powder works by releasing
carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base
reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus
leavening the mixture. It is used instead of yeast for end-products
where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the
batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than
a few minutes.

b. Sodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the

chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate
is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine
powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing
soda (sodium carbonate). It is a component of the mineral natron
and is found dissolved in many mineral springs. The natural mineral
form is known as nahcolite. It is also produced artificially.
 Since it has long been known and is widely used, the salt has many
related names such as baking soda, bread soda, cooking soda,
bicarbonate of soda. Colloquially, its name is shortened to
sodium bicarb, bicarb soda, or simply bicarb. The word
saleratus, from Latin sal æratus meaning "aerated salt", was widely
used in the 19th century for both sodium bicarbonate and
potassium bicarbonate. The term has now fallen out of common
usage.

c. Yeasts are eukaryotic microorganisms classified in the kingdom

Fungi, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate
fungal diversity in the oceans. Most reproduce asexually by
budding, although a few do so by binary fission. Yeasts are
unicellular, although some species with yeast forms may become
multicellular through the formation of a string of connected budding
cells known as pseudohyphae, or false hyphae as seen in most
molds. Yeast size can vary greatly depending on the species,
typically measuring 3–4 µm in diameter, although some yeasts can
reach over 40 µm.

6. Flavor or flavour (see spelling differences) is the sensory impression of a

food or other substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses
of taste and smell. The "trigeminal senses", which detect chemical irritants
in the mouth and throat, may also occasionally determine flavor. The flavor
of the food, as such, can be altered with natural or artificial flavorants,
which affect these senses.

Flavorant is defined as a substance that gives another substance flavor,

altering the characteristics of the solute, causing it to become sweet, sour,
tangy, etc

a. Salt is a dietary mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride that

is essential for animal life, but toxic to most land plants. Salt flavor
is one of the basic tastes, an important preservative and a popular
food seasoning.

7. Cocoa powder is unsweetened chocolate (technically, chocolate liquor)

that has been partially defatted and then ground into a powder.

Cocoa powder is good for hot cocoa, reduced-fat chocolate recipes,

super-fudgy brownies, layer cakes, chocolate tart dough, and chocolate
syrup. And for rolling truffles, of course. It’s not good for snacking. Whole
chocolate is best for everything else: hot fudge sauce, dipping,
candymaking, ganache, and snacking.
8. Shortening is a semisolid fat used in food preparation, especially baked
goods, and is so called because it promotes a "short" or crumbly texture
(as in shortbread).Shortening is basically just fat or lard from an animal or
vegetable. The term "shortening" can be used more broadly to apply to
any fat that is used for baking and which is solid at room temperature,
such as butter, lard, or margarine. Shortening often has a higher smoke
point than butter and margarine, and it has 100% fat content, compared to
about 80% for butter and margarine.

Although the term has been in use for many years, it is now known that
shortening works by inhibiting the formation of long protein (gluten)
strands in wheat-based doughs. The similarity in terms is entirely
coincidental since full understanding of the structure and chemistry of
dough is comparatively recent