Identifying the Ingredients in Baking

In this lesson, the focus will be on the ingredients that can be of use in baking cakes. The
major ingredient used are the flour and starches, fats, sugar, liquid ingredients, eggs, and
leavening agents. Minor ingredients are salt, flavouring and spices

The ingredients used and its role or use in the batter will be well discussed in this lesson.

Flour and Starches

Flour is the major ingredient used in any baked goods. It can be made from different
kinds of grains including beans, legumes, corn, oats, soybeans, buckwheat, rye and more. Among
these, wheat flour is most commonly used in baking.
Flour is considered to be the main ingredient because it contains gluten that provides
structure to the cake.

Use the flour prescribed in the recipe. Using flour that has high gluten content makes chewy and
crusty cake, lower gluten content makes finer and soft cake, while little or no gluten
development toughens the cake.

Flour is used to thicken the batter and provide gluten. As mentioned in the first module,
gluten is a protein that gives structure to the cake. The gluten forms when the flour is combined
with a liquid. Note that over mixing can turn the cake tough.

 Bread Flour, also known as hard flour, is high in gluten that contains 12% to 14% protein.
This causes the bread to rise and gives its shape and structure.

 All Purpose Flour is made from the milling of hard wheat or a mixture of hard and soft
wheat. This wheat flour is often enriched with iron and vitamins such as riboflavin, folic acid
and niacin. It is commonly used in making noodles, cookies, cakes, quick breads and pastries.

 Self Rising Flour is a ‘convenience mix’ that when used in a recipe, allows baking powder
and salt to be ignored. This type of flour is usually a combination of 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1
½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.

 Cake Flour is low-protein flour that is silky and fine in texture. It is used for pastries, cakes,
cookies and certain breads.
 Margarine was created in the later nineteenth century as an alternative to butter. It is made
from 80% partially-hydrogenated vegetable to make it solid and the remaining 20% is made up
of flavouring, coloring, liquid and other additives.
Sugars

Sugar or sucrose is a carbohydrate in every vegetable or fruit. Sugar is formed during

photosynthesis, when a plant converts energy from the sun into food. The sugar commonly used
in every household is mostly from sugar beets and sugar cane.
Sugar is used to enhance the flavor and give the crust a golden color. This is because the
sugar interacts with different ingredients in a batter. When consumed by yeast or baking powder,
sugar can be converted into carbon dioxide or alcohol.

Sugar also helps soften gluten and egg proteins which result in a soft, moisturized crumb.

In a cake batter, white sugar, brown sugar, honey, corn syrup, and molasses can be used
interchangeably and will not have a direct effect in the yeast development.

The following are the different types of sugar:

 Granulated sugar, also known as ‘white sugar’ is made of fine or extra-fine white sugar
crystal.

 Brown sugar is a sugar crystal contained in molasses-based syrup. Its darkness or lightness in
color depends on the amount of molasses used.

 Confectioner’s sugar or Powdered Sugar is a fine powder sugar made from the crushed
granulated sugar with combined cornstarch. The 3% of cornstarch into the final product helps
prevent the sugar from clumping.

 Raw Sugar is a coarse sugar made from the evaporation of clarified sugar cane. It is 98%
sucrose and is tan or brown in its color.
Liquid Ingredients
Liquid ingredients that can be used in making cakes are usually milk and water used to bind dry
ingredients.

These are used to tenderize, increase volume and affect the symmetry of the cake mixture.

 Water is the cheapest liquid used in baking. It makes the baking ingredients rehydrated. It
helps dissolve other ingredients in the batter for it to form a smooth mixture. It also acts as a
binding agent for any baked products.

 Milk and Cream are also used to moisten the batter. They also add slight flavour to the final
baked good. They create fuller, more moist texture and help brown the surface of the cake.
 Milk that can be used in baking includes fresh milk or whole milk, evaporated milk,
condensed milk, skimmed milk and powder or dry milk.
Eggs
Eggs are added in a recipe for several purposes which include binding, leavening, coating,
glazing, moisturizing, drying or emulsifying. They can also be used to introduce flavor and color
into the baked good. Eggs can also be used in frostings to slow down crystallization.

Eggs are used to make batter rich, as they help provide color and volume to the cake. They are
also used to bind the ingredients together. This happens when the eggs coagulate as they are
heated. The lecithin in the egg yolks emulsify the fats in the batter.

1 kg of eggs aerates 1 kg of flour.

Avoid using cold eggs. Place it in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.

Leavening Agents
Leavening refers to the production of gas in a dough batter. This is produced by leavening
agents such as baking powder, yeast, baking soda, or eggs.

Leaveners are used to produce carbon dioxide bubbles, which are trapped by starch, then expand
during baking.This process causes the cake to rise. Examples of leaveners are baking soda and
baking powder.

Baking Powder is a leavening agent that is the mixture of baking soda and either citric or
tartaric acid. Either wet, hot or without acid, this powder will react with other ingredients being
baked. It is entirely different from baking soda.

It is an ingredient that produces the gas Carbon Dioxide (CO2) when moistened and heated. The
production of gas leads to the aeration of cakes. The residual salt it forms after the chemical
reaction should be tasteless and without odor.

Baking Soda, is also known as bicarbonate of soda, or sodium bicarbonate. It is a powerful

leavener that reacts easily with the batter or dough.
 Cream of Tartar is a by-product of the wine making industry. This is used to stabilize the
egg whites while whipping to reach its maximum volume.

Salt, Flavouring and Spices

Salt, Flavoring and Spices (also referred to as minor ingredients)

 Salt
(or Sodium Chloride/NaCl) is an ingredient used to add flavor and control fermentation to the
baked goods. It regulates the rate of yeast or baking powder activity making the batter rise
slowly and steadily. This ingredient is also used to strengthen the gluten structure, not
allowing the trapped carbon dioxide bubbles to expand too quickly. Salt usage is 1.5% based
on the egg quantity.

 Cocoa Powder
is an unsweetened powder from cacao beans that has been fermented, roasted, dried and
cracked.

 Glycerine
is used to increase the shelf life of the cakes and other bakery products. It is also added to
increase foam stability, create finer and more moist crumb. Swiss roll with glycerine has less
chance to crack while rolling or assembling. The usage ratio of glycerine is 2% of total cake
batter, 10g to 30g for every 500g sugar and 70g to every 5kg dried fruit.

 Milk Powder
that can be used is skim or full cream milk powder. It is added to increase the sweetness, water
content and crust color. Cakes with milk powder produce products that have better volume and
color. It should be sieved with the flour and baking powder for even distribution.

 Fruits
such as cherries, mixed peel, dates, figs, apricots, currants, sultanas, raisins, pears and
pineapple can be used as fillings in making cake. The ratio of fruit to batter in fruit cake is as
follows: Light fruited cake 25% 1 part fruit, 4 parts batter, Medium fruited cake 50% 1 part
fruit, 2 parts batter, Heavily fruited cake 100% 1 part fruit, 1 part batter.

 Nuts
like almond, hazelnut, walnut, pecan, macadamia and peanut are added to enhance the flavor
of the product and usually toasted prior to use. Its weight should not exceed the weight of the
sugar. To achieve best outcome, reduction of flour by 1/3 of total weight of nuts is required.
Replace 30g of flour with 60 to 90g nuts.

 Flavors
Each ingredient contributes greatly to the overall flavor of the cake. Butter has a different
flavor than cake margarine, brown sugar tastes different than caster sugar and milk has
different flavor than water. Traditional baking flavors are lemon and vanilla for Madeira cake;
almond, lemon and orange for Genoise cake; rum, almond, lemon, orange, vanilla and mixed
 spice for Heavy Fruit cake; almond and vanilla for Sultana cake; and lemon, orange, almond,
cherry, vanilla and maraschino for Dundee.

 Cocoa Powder
is actually a byproduct of extracting cocoa butter from cacao beans. It is added to replace flour
in recipes like chocolate sponge, where 4% of the flour is replaced. Replacement of flour to
cocoa powder makes an enormous change on the balancing on the quantity of ingredients. For
example, in a recipe requiring 1,000 grams flour, substituting will change the recipe to 960g of
flour plus 40g of cocoa powder. Since cocoa powder has greater water absorbing power than
flour, an increase of the milk-water is needed. The amount equal to the cocoa powder will be
the gauge in the additional milk, having 40ml milk in 960g flour and 40g cocoa powder.
Additional milk in the recipe would affect the mixture, thus adding 2g of baking powder is
appropriate to achieve the same degree of aeration.

 Chocolate

The types of chocolate that can be used in baking are:

o Unsweetened Chocolate,
also known as baking, plain or bitter chocolate. This is made with cocoa mass and cocoa
butter. It needs to be tempered before using as garnish. Tempering is the process of heating,
cooling and warming the chocolate to its appropriate temperature making the melted
chocolate smooth, silky and glossy.

o Bittersweet and Semisweet Chocolate

(can be used interchangeably) contains cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, vanilla, and sometimes
lecithin. It has 35% cacao and less than 12% milk.

o Milk Chocolate is made with milk in the form of milk powder, liquid milk or condensed
milk.