Flour Provides the Recipe Foundation

Flour gives the structure for the product. The gluten, or protein, in flour, combines to form a web
that traps air bubbles and sets. Starch in flour sets as it heats to add to and support the structure.
In cakes, cookies, and quick breads, we want little gluten formation, which makes products
tough. Fats and sugars help prevent gluten formation.

In most baked goods, all-purpose flour is a good choice; it has less gluten than bread flour.

Fat Holds it All Together

Fat coats gluten molecules so they can't combine as easily, contributing to the finished product's
tenderness. In many cakes, fat also contributes to the fluffiness of the final product. When sugar
is creamed with fat, small pockets of air form from the sharp edges of the crystals interacting
with the fat. These pockets form a finer grain in the finished product. Fats also carry flavors and
add to a tender mouth-feel.

Commonly used baking fats include butter, shortening, coconut oil, and (less rarely these days)
lard.

Sugar Is Sweet and Helps Tenderize

Sugar adds sweetness, as well as contributing to the product's browning. Sugar tenderizes a cake
by preventing the gluten from forming. Sugar also holds moisture in the finished product. Sugar
crystals cutting into solid fats like butter help form the structure of the product by making small
holes which are filled with CO2 when the leavening agents react.

Eggs Add Texture

Eggs are a leavening agent and the yolks add fat for a tender and light texture. The yolks also act
as an emulsifier for a smooth and even texture in the finished product. And the proteins
contribute to the structure of the baked good.

Liquids Add Leavening and Tenderness

Liquid helps carry flavorings throughout the product, forms gluten bonds, and reacts with the
starch in the protein for a strong but light structure. Liquids also act as steam during baking,
acting as a leavening agent and contributing to the tenderness of the product.

Salt Adds Flavor and Weight

Salt strengthens gluten and adds flavor. Salt enhances flavors. In yeast breads, salt helps
moderate the effect of the yeast so the bread doesn't rise too quickly.
Leavening Agents Baking Soda and Baking Powder
Baking soda and baking powder form CO2, that is held by fat pockets, gluten, and starch, which
makes the baked product rise. Baking soda and powder are not interchangeable; be sure that you
have the product the recipe calls for.

Too much leavening agent will make the bubbles too big, then they will combine and burst,
leading to a flat cake or bread. Too little leavening agent will result in a heavy product, with
soggy or damp layers

A Deeper Understanding
It can be helpful therefore to understand the function of the different ingredients in baking.

By knowing the different functions of salt in baking for example, or how different leavening
agents produce different effects upon the product, you can get a better understanding of what is
going on in the oven.

This can be very useful when troubleshooting bakes which didn’t go quite as you had planned, or
when you need to substitute an ingredient for something else.

What’s more, by truly understanding the functions of the various ingredients in baking you can
even take the leap from following recipes to developing your own, unique baked creations.

It is worth noting that the ingredients sometimes play different roles, depending on the type of
baking they are used in. The chemistry of bread baking differs somewhat to the chemistry of
baking a cake, although they do of course share many similarities.

Here follows then an overview of the functions of the most popular ingredients in baking bread,
cakes and pastry. We will start with the dry ingredients, before moving onto the fats and liquids,
and then finishing with the various leavening agents.

The Function of Flour in Baking

It all starts with the flour. The vast majority of baking uses wheat flour in its various forms, and
it is this ingredient which gives form and structure to the baked product. It is the substance of the
cake or loaf, providing texture and nutritional content.

Wheat flours contain two proteins called gliadin and glutenin, which when mixed with water join
to form the protein gluten.

Gluten can form into long strands and even into a large matrix or web, which can trap the
escaping carbon dioxide gas produced by leavening agents during baking. The gluten matrix
therefore helps the bread, cake or pastry to rise, and is eventually set in place towards the end of
baking.

The amount of protein contained in flour and the extent to which it is allowed to develop are
important factors in the final texture of the baked good.

A high level of gluten will produce a tougher, chewy texture that is required for bread, whereas
less gluten development will give the tender, crumbly texture desired in cakes and pastry.

Not all wheat is the same, with so-called hard wheats which are grown in cooler climates such as
the northern US and Canada, having a higher protein content than soft wheats which are grown
in cooler climates such as the southern US and southern Europe.
While these wheats can sometimes be used on their own, millers usually create mixes of several
different types of wheat to create flour with a specific protein content and thus specific baking
characteristics.

Bread Flour

Bread flour contain the highest levels of protein, about 12%, and so creates a strong web of
gluten that leads to a soft, fluffy loaf with great volume and a chewy texture.

Specialist bread flours or those produced from single varieties of wheat can have different
protein levels however, and produce different types of bread.

A very high protein bread flour, such as Canadian Manitoba Cream, will give the greatest
volume to a loaf, whereas a lower protein bread flour will produce bread with a distinctly
European character, such as an Italian ciabatta or a French pain de campagne.

Cake and Pastry Flour

Unlike bread, cakes and pastries require only a limited amount of gluten development. Too much
gluten will lead to your cakes becoming tough and chewy, more like a sweet bread than a cake.

Cake and pastry flour is therefore mixed to have a much lower protein content, of around 7.5%.
This allows the flour to hold together and give structure to the cake or pastry, while still having a
tender and crumbly texture that breaks easily apart.

Gluten development is further hindered in cakes and pastries by the addition of fats and sugar
(see below).

All-Purpose Flour

All-purpose flour sits somewhere in between bread and cake or pastry flour. It is a mix of both
hard and soft wheats which creates a flour with about 10.5% protein.

This is enough to form sufficient gluten in bread baking, but not so much that it will have
adverse effects upon the texture of a cake or pastry. It is something of a compromise, which will
not give quite the same volume as a high-protein bread flour, but which is a good choice for
those who do not bake quite as often.

It is advisable to use a little less all-purpose flour in a cake recipe if cake flour is called for.

Self-Rising Flour

Self-rising flour is a variety of all-purpose flour which has had baking powder and salt added to
it.
This allows it to be used directly in cakes without the addition of salt or a leavening agent. It
ensures that the baking powder is distributed evenly throughout the flour, avoiding the need to
sift them together before adding the other ingredients.

Baking powder deteriorates over time, so self-rising flour that is past its use-by date may have
lost some of its potency.

You can make your own self-rising flour by whisking in 1½ teaspoons of baking powder and ½
teaspoon salt into one cup of all-purpose flour.

Wholewheat Flour

Unlike bread flour which is made from only the central part of the wheat grain known as the
endosperm, wholewheat flour is milled from the whole grain, including in it the bran and germ.

These elements are highly nutritious, containing large quantities of fiber and minerals such as
iron and zinc. It is therefore used in place of bread flour wholly or in part to increase the
nutritional content of a loaf.

It gives a more complex flavor to bread, less sweet than white bread flour.

The bran in wholewheat flour cuts through the gluten network in a dough during mixing, leading
to less volume and a heavier, denser loaf.

The germ contains higher levels of unsaturated fat, and therefore reduces the shelf life of
wholewheat flour.

Alternative Flours

Many alternative flours are also available for baking, some of which, such as rye and corn, have
long histories of being used in traditional recipes.

Others have seen increased popularity in recent years with the rise of gluten-free baking, such as
soy, buckwheat, oat, rice and potato starch flours.

While these different flours each have their own particular properties and nutritional profiles,
what they have in common is a significantly lower level of gluten compared to wheat flours.

This makes their chemistry somewhat different to that of baking with wheat flour, and they often
require the addition of additional binding or thickening ingredients to help them rise and give
structure to the product.

It is best to follow specific instructions for any recipes that call for these flours, and note that
they can rarely be substituted for wheat flour without additional alterations.
The Function of Sugar in Baking

Sugar does much more in baking than just imparting a sweetness of flavor, although this is of
course an important function of sugar.

Its various forms, from simple granulated sugar to the more complex caramel, honey and
molasses, each offer a different type of sweetness to the baked product.

In yeasted products such as bread or vienoisserie, sugar also acts as a food for the yeast, kick-
starting fermentation and helping the product to rise. The yeasts eat the sugar and convert it to
carbon dioxide which aerates the dough or batter.

Too much sugar however will slow fermentation, as sugar draws water out of the yeast cells,
preventing them from functioning. Very sweet doughs will therefore take longer to rise, and may
require a special kind of yeast.

In cakes and pastries, sugar plays an important role in limiting gluten development, increasing
the tenderness of the cake. This also allows cookies to spread when baked in the oven.

The water-binding properties of sugar also help baked products to retain their moisture over
longer periods, keeping them soft and delaying staling.
Sugar also contributes to crust development, affecting its color and flavor. The crust is the hottest
part of the product in the oven, and it is here that complex chemical reactions occur, known as
Maillard reactions.

These, along with the process of caramelization, produce many different organic molecules that,
when combined, produce the wonderful flavors that are found in bread and pastry crusts, as well
as their brown color.

And we should of course not forget sugar’s role in decoration. Icing sugar and pearl sugar can be
dusted or sprinkled over baked cakes and pastries to produce a pleasing effect, or icing sugar can
be mixed with water to create icing or frosting.

The Function of Salt in Baking

Salt shares some functions with sugar in its role in baking. It not only adds flavor to bread and
cakes, but it also brings out the best in the flavors of its fellow ingredients.

A loaf of bread or a cake without salt will taste bland, but too much salt will overpower the other
flavors.
Besides flavor, salt helps to strengthen the gluten network in a bread dough, allowing it to trap
more carbon dioxide and give volume to the loaf. A bread dough lacking in salt will be very
short, sticky, and result in bread that is dense and doughy.

Like sugar, it also binds to water, drawing water from yeast cells and slowing fermentation. This
moderating effect is important in bread baking as it prevents the dough from rising too quickly,
and allows other fermentation reactions to occur, building more complex flavors.

The Function of Fats in Baking

Fats are used in many forms in baking, and serve a range of functions. Both animal fats such as
butter and lard and plant-based oils can be used to differing effect, along with chemically altered
fats such as margarine and shortening.

Fats generally serve to shorten a dough, hindering the development of gluten and producing a
more tender crumb.

In a pastry dough, butter or some other solid fat is first rubbed into the flour to coat the
individual granules with a layer of fat. This stops the proteins in the flour joining together to
form gluten.
Butter can also be creamed with sugar to trap air before being added to a cake or pastry mix. This
gives a lighter and airier texture to the cake.

In puff pastries and laminated doughs, butter serves to create layers interspersed with dough,
which trap escaping steam when baked and cause it to rise.

Fats are also one of the big contributors of flavor and mouthfeel in baking, and like salt add both
their own flavor and enhance the flavors of the other ingredients. Butter especially adds a
richness of flavor much prized in cakes and pastries, as well as giving pastries a lovely golden-
brown color.

When added to a bread dough, a small amount of fat can help the gluten to stretch, which can
give the loaf greater volume. It also helps to soften the crumb, however too much will negatively
affect the gluten development.

The Function of Milk and Other Liquids in Baking

Liquids are like the ignition keys in baking. The proteins, starches and leavening agents in the
other ingredients need to be hydrated for the chemical reactions to occur, otherwise they will
simply sit together as dry ingredients in a bowl.
It is the liquid that allows the gluten to form in flour, and that wakes the yeast cells from their
hibernation. The hydration of starches and proteins adds moisture to the final product, and kick-
start enzymes in the flour that break down the starches into simple sugars for the yeast to eat.

Bread tends to use water for liquid, whereas cakes usually use milk. These are not hard and fast
rules however, and they are often interchangeable in recipes.

They will give different results however, with milk adding a softness to the crumb of both cakes
and bread. It also provides nutritive value in the form of protein and fat, and assists in the
browning of crusts.

White bread will have a particularly white crumb if milk is included as part of the liquid. Cakes
will not be as rich if milk is not used, but water can be a good alternative in vegan baking.
Generally, milk provides better flavor and mouthfeel.

Liquid also plays an additional role in the rising of baked goods, as the water turns to steam in
the oven. This helps to expand the air pockets caused by fermentation, giving greater volume.

In layered puff pastries the steam will be caught between the layers, causing them to puff up.

The Function of Eggs in Baking

Eggs are the real multi-tasker of the group, providing functions similar to each of the other
ingredients here, along with some unique to themselves.

They are really two ingredients in one, as the egg whites and yolks have very different
properties, each performing different functions. They are therefore often separated in certain
recipes in order to take advantage of their individual functions.

Both parts of the egg contribute nutritive value to a cake, the whites providing protein and the
yolks fat. Being about 75% water, they also provide liquid to the mix, hydrating the other
ingredients.

Used whole, eggs function as a binder of the other ingredients, holding a cake together. They can
thicken batters, and be used as a glazing on the surface of baked goods to provide a golden-
brown color.
There are many complex proteins in eggs, which undergo transformations when they are beaten,
heated, or otherwise manipulated in some way.

Beating an egg incorporates air into it, which can then be added to a cake mix to make it light
and airy. They act as a leavening agent, creating structure in cake.

Eggs are also a natural emulsifier of fats and liquid, helping them to be mixed without separating
and so creating a uniform structure in the mix.

The fat in egg yolks contribute flavor to a cake, while also improving texture, as with other fats.
Egg whites create structure, offering stability, aeration and consequently volume.

Egg whites alone can be manipulated in many ways to create quite complex structures and
effects in different baked goods.

The Function of Leavening Agents in Baking

The term “leavening agent” refers to any ingredient that helps a dough or batter to rise. They
produce carbon dioxide when they are heated in the oven, which is then trapped in the structure
of the dough to form small pockets of air.

These are then baked in place as the cake or loaf sets. These agents can be natural, living
organisms, or synthesized chemicals.

Yeast

Baker’s yeast is a living microorganism that belongs to the kingdom of fungi. The particular
strain of yeast used in baking is called saccharomyces cerevisiae, and has been selected and bred
for its quick and effective action.

It can be found in dried and fresh forms, with the dried form lasting much longer than the fresh.

Yeast is activated by liquid, and works best at warmer temperatures of around 85-95°f (30-35°c).
It feeds upon the sugars in flour, which are themselves broken down from starches by enzymes
present in the flour.

The yeast ferments these sugars, producing carbon dioxide, alcohol, and other organic molecules
as by-products. The carbon dioxide is caught in the gluten structure of the dough, giving it
volume, and contributing to its texture.

The by-products of yeast fermentation also produce much of the flavor and aroma in a yeasted
baked product, and the longer that it is allowed to ferment, the more complex the flavor will
become.

Once the yeast has exhausted its supply of sugar however it will cease to produce carbon
dioxide, and so it must be placed in the oven at just the right time to ensure a good final rise.

The speed of yeast fermentation can be controlled by the addition of salt and sugar. Both
ingredients draw out water from the yeast, slowing them down.

Doughs that contain high levels of salt or sugar will therefore need longer proving times or larger
quantities or special strains of yeast.

Yeast multiply very quickly in a dough during fermentation, reaching a peak once a critical
amount of the sugar has been exhausted. They are all destroyed in the heat of the oven during
baking, but their flavorful by-products remain.

Baking Soda

Unlike yeast, baking soda is a chemical leavening agent which is more used in cakes than in
bread. It is the chemical sodium bicarbonate, which produces carbon dioxide when mixed with
an acid ingredient and a liquid.
This carbon dioxide then aerates a dough or batter much like yeast does.

Recipes which use baking soda as a leavening agent will make sure to include an acidic
ingredient as well, such as lemon juice or vinegar.

The reaction occurs as soon as the baking soda comes into contact with liquid, and so it is
important to bake it as soon as possible after mixing to contain as much of the gas as possible in
the batter.

Baking Powder

Baking powder is essentially a more convenient form of baking soda and is often used in quick
breads. It combines sodium bicarbonate with an acidic ingredient – usually cream of tartar – so
that all is needed to start the reaction is the addition of a liquid.

To ensure that the reaction does not occur prematurely in humid environments, a filler material is
also added that acts as a moisture absorbent. This is usually a food-derived starch such as potato
starch.

Sufficient baking powder or baking soda must be added into a cake or cookie mix to give it an
airy texture. Too much however can lead to the final product having a slightly bitter flavor.

Classic Baking Methods

Creaming method

This type of recipe will say things like “cream” the butter and sugar or “beat the butter and sugar
till pale and creamy”. Cakes made using this method will first cream the butter together with the
sugar, and then the eggs are added one by one, and finally the flour (which is usually added
alternatively with a liquid).

To cream butter, start with softened butter. Literally beat the butter in your mixer until it changes
colour and becomes lighter or pale. The butter will eventually lose its buttery taste and become
creamier.

Why is this such an important baking technique? Creaming the butter with sugar not only helps
the sugar to “dissolve” into the butter and be spread evenly through the batter; it also aerates
(adds air) to the butter – giving a lighter texture to bakes.

Rub in method

This method is often used in bread and pastry making. The recipe will begin with the instruction
to “run the butter into the flour”.
To do this, simply use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it begins to look like
crumbs. This rubbing in will coat the flour in a fine layer of butter, which helps give a pastry or
bread the correct texture when baking.

Hot milk method

This type of recipe calls for the butter and liquid to be boiled together before being added to the
flour. Cupcakes and old fashioned hot milk puddings are made using this method.

Blind bake method

Pies or tart recipes will ask you to “blind bake” your pastry. This means that you need to precook
your pastry before adding the filling to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy.

To bake blind, follow the steps below:

1. Roll the pastry out slightly larger than the pan.

2. Use a rolling pin to lift the pastry and position it over the pan.
3. Leave an overhang of pastry around the sides of the pan. Roll the rolling pin over the top to trim
off the excess pastry.
4. Lightly press the pastry into the pan using your fingertips and prick the base of the pastry case
all over with a fork.
5. Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the pastry and fill the middle with baking beans, dried
pulses or rice. (The baking beans or rice are added to the baking paper to add weight to the
pastry shell and help hold it in place as it bakes.)
6. Bake the pastry case for about 15 minutes in a hot oven or until the pastry is firm. Remove the
beans and the paper and cook for another 5 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and
crisp.

All in one method

This one is as easy as, well, pie. All the recipe ingredients are mixed together in one go.

Common baking techniques

In addition to following a specific baking method, baking recipes also expect one to know a few
other techniques. Here are a few of the most commonly used:

Sieve

Most recipes will instruct you to sieve dry ingredients. The main reason is to add more of that all
important air to the batter. Sieved flour will yield a greater volume (not mass) than non sieved
flour.
To sieve like an all star baker, step one is to make sure that the sieve is completely dry. Hold the
sieve a good distance from the bowl and tap gently with your free hand so that the dry
ingredients fall a little distance to the bowl, thereby incorporating air.

Fold

Folding is a delicate technique used to mix ingredients (like flour or stiffly whipped egg whites)
thoroughly into a batter without deflating it.
Folding is done by hand using a thin rubber spatula or a metal spoon. Add ingredients to a batter
in thirds as this helps keep the mixture light.

Add the first third of the ingredient to the egg batter. Cut down into the center of the batter and
sweep the spatula around the side of the bowl. Scoop the batter up from the bottom of the bowl
and bring it to the rim, folding it over the ingredient on the surface.

Repeat the folding motion, giving the bowl a half turn after each action, until well blended. Add
the remaining ingredient in batches repeating this technique.

Separate eggs

There are nifty little gadgets specifically made to separate the egg yolk from the egg white on the
market. But if gadgets aren’t your thing, you can do this perfectly well by hand.

Firstly, wash and dry your hands. Then, set out three clean and dry bowls. Crack the egg gently
on a flat surface or on the rim of a bowl, as close to the middle of the egg as possible. Turn the
egg out into the first bowl. Use your fingers to gently lift the yolk from the white and transfer the
yolk to the second bowl.

Crack the second egg into the third bowl, remove the yolk and add it to the first. Add the egg
white to the bowl of whites. Cracking each egg into a bowl of its own first is a good idea. That’s
because if you do accidentally break the yolk, it won’t run into the egg whites that you’ve
already separated.

Keeping the yolks and whites completely separate is very important if you need to whip up the
egg whites. This is because any yolk (or fat) in the whites will prevent them from whipping up
fully.

Tip: Chilled eggs are easier to separate. If a recipe asks for separated eggs, separate them
straight from the fridge and then let them come to room temperature before using
 Hygiene and food safety in professional pastry making

This article has been updated and transferred to cmevt.com

Basic Hygiene Requirements in a Pastry shop
Whether it is a bakery, restaurant or any other place where food is prepared, there are certain
hygiene requirements that need to be maintained. In certain countries these standards are so strict
that if any restaurant or bakery is found violating these hygiene standards, they are not allowed
to continue their business and their licenses are detained which virtually ensures that they go out
of business. With the increase in technology, more and more bakeries are adopting automated
processing where the output is a lot more than a small bakery. The hygiene standards here are
checked at regular intervals starting from the source of ingredients, delivery of ingredients,
storage of ingredients, mixing, baking, packing and finally till the storage of the baked products.

TIP: As an owner, if you can display your workshop with great pride, to any customer at any
time during the day, you know deep down inside that you are following proper hygienic
procedures.

Dangers of contamination
 The ingredients or the raw materials in a bakery are the ones which are prone to contamination.
Pastry shops have to be extra careful as most of the products are high in protein such as dairy
products (milk, heavy cream, cream cheese), eggs, etc...
 Due to the danger of salmonella, eggs should be kept refrigerated at the correct temperature at
all times (4° C or less).
 Foods with high moisture content or containing a lot of water, promote bacterial growth.
 Temperatures of mixtures that range between 40 deg. F and 135 deg. F also promote bacterial
growth. To prevent bacterial growth, mixtures that are between that range of temperatures,
must be quickly brought to a temperature below 4-deg.C and immediately stored in the
refrigerator. An example of this, would be pastry cream, custards, etc.

Precautions to be taken for maintaining good hygiene

 Cleaning and sanitizing worktables after every use.
 Avoid handling foods with your hands as much as possible.
 Properly cover all the food items - The food both cooked and raw is prone to get spoiled if it is
left uncovered. At no point should it be left uncovered.
 Use the raw materials on a first-in-first-out basis - Whenever the raw materials are taken out,
they must be on a first-in-first-out basis as by doing so you make sure that the ones that come in
earlier are not left to rot. This practice is more convenient and also saves you a lot of money.
  Make sure that the package is free of any debris - There is a fairly good chance that while
moving the raw materials from one point to another, some debris may come in contact with the
food.
 Soak wiping cloths in a sanitized solution when not in use.
 Use only clean baskets or trays - The baskets and trays used to carry the food must be kept clean
each time they are used. These are some measures that need to be taken in any case to ensure
that the food stays clean, fresh and free from contamination.
 Refrigerator and freezer temperatures should be closely monitored and should be kept between
2-4° C, at all times, especially for eggs and dairy products.
 Make sure that the dishwasher's water temperature is greater than 77 deg. C in order to kill all
harmful bacteria.
 Always sanitize worktables, at the very least, at the end of the day.

Personal hygiene tips that one needs to maintain

 Properly wash your hands with soap and water numerous times during the work day.
 Make sure you wash your hands with soap and water after coming in contact with raw eggs.
 Keep your hands clean by washing them with soap and water.
 Keep your fingernails short and clean.
 Avoid touching your any part of your head or hair when handling food.
 Don't wear any jewelery while working in a pastry shop or bakery.
 If you have any injury do not expose it and keep it covered with proper dressing.