A Baker's Dozen: The “baker’s dozen” refers to providing 13
baked items for the price of 12 and originated as a way to avoid
shortchanging the customer. Bakers who shorted (cheated)
customers could be punished severely—such as losing a hand
to an axe! This allowed that one of the 13 could be lost, eaten,
burnt, or ruined in some way, leaving the baker with the original
legal dozen. The practice can be seen in the Baker Guild codes
of the Worshipful Company of Bakers in London, 12th century.
Absorption: A characteristic of flour to take up and retain
(hold) water or liquids. It is determined by measuring the
amount of liquid needed to make dough of the desired
consistency. It is expressed in a percentage (lbs./liters of water
needed per pound/kilo of flour).
Acidic: pH of less than 7. Acid ingredients react with bases
to form salts and water. They have a sour taste. A chemical
compound that yields hydrogen ions when in solution.
Acid Salt: A dry, granular white crystal that dissolves in water
before acting as an acid. The acid salt reacts chemically with the
bicarbonate to release CO2 gas. The type of acid salt used in
the baking powder can determine the rate of gas release. The
most common acid salts in home baking powders are:
Sodium aluminum sulfate NaAl(SO4)2
Monocalcium phosphate Ca(H2PO4)2
Aerate, Aeration: To whip, sift or beat air between particles,
as with flour, confectioners sugar, or sugar and butter.
Agriculture: The science and art of growing crops and raising
livestock; farming.
Alkaline: pH greater than 7. Alkalis such as baking soda
(bicarbonate of soda) neutralize acids and react with acidic
ingredients as a leavener. Alkalis have an excess of hydroxyl
ions when in solution.
All-purpose flour:
Wheat flour milled from hard wheat or a blend of soft and hard wheat. Used in homes for some yeast breads, quick breads, cakes, cookies, pastries and noodles. All-purpose flour may be bleached or unbleached. Both may be enriched with four vitamins (niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, and thiamin) and iron. All-purpose flour may be used in a wide variety of home baked goods, such as cookies, quick breads, and some yeast breads.
Amaranth flour:
Milled from amaranth seeds, it combines well with other flours for smooth-textured quick breads. It has an assertive flavor and especially complements savory breads or pastries. Its lack of gluten means it must be combined with wheat flour in yeast breads.
Altitude:
(above 3,500 ft.), adjustments may be needed in
baking, cooking time, temperature and recipes. For example:
• Water boils at 212° F below 2,000 ft. and more quickly from
3,000 to 10,000 ft. (208°-194° F.).
• Food requiring boiling (pasta, eggs, pudding/pie filling)
will take longer to cook.
• Leavening gases in breads and cakes expand more at high
altitudes. Yeast breads will rise faster—use slightly cooler
liquids to slow fermentation; punch down twice.
• Flour will be dryer and more absorbent at altitudes—use
slightly less.
• Cakes may need slightly less baking powder (1/8 to ¼ tsp),
less sugar (1 to 3 tbsp. per cup) and a little more liquid (1
to 4 tbsp. per cup).
• Increase baking temperature slightly, 15 to 25° F.
• Egg whites: beat only to soft peaks, not stiff.
(More at High Altitude Baking Series. Colorado State U.
Extension. www.cerc.colostate.edu and www.kingarthurflour.com)
Apron:
A cloth or plastic cover garment bakers wear for both
food sanitation and to protect clothing.
Ascorbic acid The scientific name for vitamin
Ascorbic acid:
The scientific name for vitamin C; it is used in bread flour for its gluten development properties. It conditions the dough to obtain a better loaf volume.
Artificial Sweetener:
Non-nutritive (contain no nutrients),
high-intensity sugar substitutes (See Lab Seven).
Artisan (Baker):
Skilled craftsman or trade; baker who
produces bread or bakery goods using production methods
that are part hand-made. Often refers to European crusty
breads or low-ratio cakes and desserts.
Bake:
Cooking food in dry heat, especially in an oven.
Baker's % Formula:
Ingredient weight divided by total flour
weight X 100 = bakers% for that ingredient.
Ex: 3 lb water divided by 5 lb. flour X 100 = 60% water.
Baker's Percent:
In baking formulas primarily based on flour,
each ingredient’s weight is measured as a percentage of the
total flour weight (100 percent). See box below.
Sample Formula
Bakers Percent
Ingredients
Bakers %
Weight
Flour*
100.0
5lbs
Water
60.0
3lbs
Yeast
3.5
2.8oz
Veg. Oil
3.5
2.8oz
Sugar
3.0
24oz
Milk Solids
2.5
2.0oz
Honey
2.5
2.0oz
Molasses
2.0
1.6oz
Salt
2.0
1.6oz
*May be bread, whole wheat, or blend.
100%=total flour weight
Baking mix:
A combination of pre-measured baking dry
ingredients (Ex: flours, meal, leavening, sugars, salt, spices).
Baking pan:
Baking pan Available in a variety of shapes and sizes for
baking specific cakes, cookies, biscuits, breads, pies, and
specialty goods. Most pans sold today are made from light- to
heavy-gauge steel, except for two-layer, insulated baking pans,
which are heavy-gauge aluminum. Most test kitchens use midgauge
aluminum pans to formulate standards for baking time,
temperature, and even baking/browning.
Baking powder
A leavening agent containing both baking soda and one or two acids - citric or
tartaric. It reacts without acid from the other ingredients when wet and when it becomes hot. The baking powder used at home is "double-acting" because it has two types of acid - one reacts when liquids are added in the bowl and the other reacts when it becomes hot during baking. Carbon dioxide is the gas produced that "lifts" the batter and makes a light product in the end. Test for strength by mixing one teaspoon baking powder with 1/4 cup very hot water. Mixture should bubble furiously.
Baking sheet:
A sheet of metal that is rigid and is used for baking cookies, breads, biscuits, etc. It usually has one or more edges that is turned up for ease in removing from the oven. Types include shiny, heavy-gauge aluminum, the standard used in most test kitchens for even baking and browning. Darkened, heavy-gauge pans will produce especially crisp exterior crusts desired for specialty baked goods. Insulated baking sheets are two sheets of aluminum with air space between, and are especially good for soft cookies or tender-crust breads or rolls. Also, see Cookie sheet, Insulated bakeware, and Jelly roll pan glossary listings.
Baking soda
A base, alkaline in nature, formed when sodium
carbonate (purified form of mineral trona) is mixed with carbon
dioxide and water to form sodium bicarbonate.
Na2CO3
+
CO2
+
H20
+
NaHCO3
sodium
carbonate
carbon
dioxide
water
sodium
bicarbonate
Baking soda is the source of CO2 gas in leavening systems. It
neutralizes acids in the batter, adjusting the final pH of baked
goods. Baking soda is not the same as baking powder.
Baking stone:
A round or rectangular plate of stone or unglazed, tile-like material used to provide the baking qualities of a brick oven floor. The stone is placed on the lowest oven rack. Follow the manufacturer's directions regarding whether preheating the stone with the oven is recommended. The product to be baked or the product in its pan are placed on the stone to bake.
Barbados Sugar: Also known as muscovado sugar. A British specialty brown sugar; it is very
dark brown and has a strong molasses flavor.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar? P.8 www.sugar.org
Batard:
A long loaf (thicker and stubbier than a baguette).
Barley flour:
A low-gluten flour made from hulled barley. It imparts a sweet taste, moisture, and relative lightness to cakes, cookies, and quick breads.
Batch:
One recipe of a dough or batter, such as bread or cookies.
Batter:
Thin mixture of flour and water that can be poured or
spooned into pan or on a griddle.
Batter or Dough?
Other ingredients plus the ratio of liquid to
flour help determine if it’s a batter or dough.
Liquid to Flour
Pour batter: 1 to 1
Drop batter: 1 to 2
Soft dough: 1 to 3
Stiff dough: 1 to 4
Source: www.baking911.com
Beat:
Making a smooth mixture by whipping or stirring with a wire whisk, spoon, beater or electric mixer.
Bench:
The counter or surface bakers use to work with dough.
Bench Time:
Allowing yeast dough 5 to 15 minutes resting
time after fermentation, punching, dividing and before shaping
to allow gluten to relax.
Biga:
Italian pre-ferment, see Pre-ferment.
Bind:
To thicken or smooth out the consistency of a liquid.
Biscuit:
A small tender, flaky quick bread, usually leavened with
baking powder or using self-rising flour and is usually a savory
(not sweet) hot bread served with meals.
Bittersweet Chocolate:
Baking chocolate containing a
minimum of 35% chocolate liquor (See Chocolate IQ Chart, Lab 11)
Blend
To mix two or more ingredients together with a spoon, whisk, electric mixer, blender, or processor.
Bloom:
Bread: In bread baking, bloom refers to the attractive, brown color of the crust of a well-baked loaf of bread.
Chocolate: Pale, grayish streaks or blotches on the surface of chocolate indicating the cocoa butter has separated from the chocolate. It indicates the chocolate was stored in too warm an environment, but it can still be used.
Boil:
To cook in liquid that is heated until bubbles rise to the
surface and break. Bubbles form throughout the mixture.
Temperature: 212° F or 100° C (Also see Altitude).
Boule (Miche):
Round loaf; taut skin stretched perfectly over a
dome of bread dough, sealed on the bottom.
Bread:
Baked foods produced from dough made of flour, water,
salt and other optional ingredients, and leavened by yeast or
other leavening agents.
Braid:
To weave together three or more long pieces of dough.
Bran:
The outer layers of a kernel of grain that lie just below the
hull. “Miller’s bran” is produced during milling when the bran
layers are removed from the grain kernel. About 14.5 percent
of whole wheat flour is bran. Bran is used in baked goods and
cereals to add dietary fiber and nutrients.
Bread flour
Unbleached, wheat flour that is higher in protein for better yeast bread dough development and preferred for use in bread machines. Look for bread flour that is enriched - as indicated on the ingredient label.
Bread scoring
1. Evaluation of finished baked product to
determine quality. 2. Slashing the surface (top) of loaves to
allow for expansion as the loaf is baked.
Break:
The rough portion of the bread crust formed during
oven spring between the pan’s edge and the curve of the loaf’s
top. Break may occur on both sides or one side only.
Breakfast:
(n.) The first meal of the day.
Brown:
To give a cooked surface to a food (such as meat or
flour) by applying high heat. Also occurs during baking and
roasting.
Brown Sugar
Sugar crystals coated in a molasses syrup with natural flavor and color. May be produced by boiling a special molasses syrup until brown sugar crystals form, then centrifuging the crystals until dry.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar? P.8 www.sugar.org
Brownie
A dense, chewy, cake-like cookie that is generally chocolate-flavored and colored (hence the name) and cut in bar shapes to serve.
Buckwheat flour:
A gluten-free flour made by grinding hulled buckwheat seeds. It is not a relative of wheat. Originating in Russia, buckwheat has a distinctive flavor and is used in pancakes and some baked goods, such as multi-grain breads. Russian blini are made with buckwheat flour. Groats and kasha also are produced from buckwheat.
Bulgur:
Whole-wheat kernels that have been steamed, dried, and cracked. Bulgur may be soaked or cooked and added to baked goods. Bulgur also may be ground into flour.
Butter:
Butter is produced by churning cream into a semi-solid form. By U.S. standard definition, it is 80 percent milk fat, with the remaining 20 percent consisting of water and milk solids. Butter for baking may be salted or unsalted and is valued by most bakers for its irreplaceable flavor and ability to create flaky layers, crispness, tenderness, carry flavors, and provide golden-brown color.
Visit: www.landolakes.com.
CO2:
Carbon dioxide; the gas released from leavening
reactions and fermentation that creates bubbles and space in a
batter or dough.
Cacoa:
(kuh-KOW) Tropical evergreen tree cultivated for its
seed pods from which cocoa powder and cocoa butter are
produced.
Cake Flour
Fine-textured, silky flour milled from soft wheat, with a low protein content for making cakes, cookies, pastries and some breads.
Canning & pickling salt:
A pure granulated salt, with no additives or free-flowing agents. It may be used the same as table salt in baking recipes. It may cake when exposed to greater than 75 percent relative humidity. Also, see Salt glossary listing.
Capping:
When yeast loaves are under-proofed and the interior
pushes up the top crust leaving a rough, sharp edge along the
side of the loaf having the appearance of a “cap.”
Carmelization:
To heat sugar until brown and a characteristic
flavor develops; occurs at 300° F.
Cereal grain:
Cereal refers to grain and foods derived from
them; the word cereal comes from Ceres, a pre-Roman goddess
of agriculture. Also see Grain.
Chemical leavening:
The reaction of a leavening base
(such as baking soda) with a leavening acid (such as sodium
aluminum sulfate) in the presence of moisture and heat to
produce carbon dioxide gas.
Chill:
Make mixture or cooking bowl cold by placing in
refrigerator or in ice.
Chocolate:
From the Aztec word xocolatl, meaning "bitter water." The many forms we bake with - unsweetened, bittersweet, semi-sweet, and milk - all have a base of "cocoa liquor" made from roasted, blended, and ground cacao bean nibs (small pieces). See other glossary listings for types of chocolate. Also, visit: www.hersheys.com.
Chop
Cutting food into small bits.
Clarify:
To make a substance clear or pure.
Cloverleaf Roll:
Dinner rolls shaped by placing three small
equal-sized balls of dough in a greased muffin cup and
proofing until light before baking.
Coat:
To thoroughly cover a food with a liquid or dry mixture.
Cocoa:
see also Cocoa powder.
Cocoa butter:
The portion of fat in the cacao bean.
Cocoa powder:
Unsweetened powder made from cacao beans that are fermented, dried, roasted, and cracked. The nibs (small pieces) are ground to extract about 75 percent of the cocoa butter - a thick paste which is called chocolate liquor. This is dried and ground to powder. Dutch cocoa has been further treated with an alkali to neutralize cocoa's natural acidity.
Coarse:
Refers to the crumb structure of some baked goods.
Coarse Salt:
Large crystals of salt, such as Kosher, rock salt,
some sea salts, pretzel salt.
Combine:
Mixing together.
Conditioned Raisins:
Moistened raisins before mixing into a
batter or dough to prevent the raisin from grabbing moisture
from the mixture or baked product, making the baked product
crumbly. How to condition raisins: Cover raisins in tap water
(80º F.) for 5 to 10 minutes; drain off water. Measure raisins
needed; place remainder in sealable food container or bag.
Store refrigerated. More at www.LoveYourRaisins.com
.Confectioners' or powdered sugar:
A granulated sugar that has been crushed into a fine powder. A small amount (about 3 percent) of cornstarch is added to prevent clumping.
Consumer:
A person who buys goods or services for his or her own needs and not for resale.
Convection cooking:
A method of cooking in which a fan continuously circulates heated air in the oven cavity while foods are cooking. Advantages are that some foods cook faster and larger quantities of food can be cooked at one time. The user has the flexibility of using multiple racks at the same time. Frequently, it is recommended to reduce the recipe temperature when using convection.
Convection oven:
A gas or electric oven equipped with a fan that continually circulates the hot oven air around the product. Circulating hot air allows products to bake on several racks at one time. Oven temperature can usually be reduced by 25°F and preheating may be unnecessary.
Cookie
A flour-based, sweet, hand-held small cake (from the Dutch word "koekje," meaning "little cake").
Cookie pan:
A flat, rectangular baking pan made of steel or aluminum that is rigid. All four sides feature a 5/8- to ¾-inch side to prevent cookies from sliding off the edge, as well as to make removal of the pan from the oven easier. In home baking, jelly roll pans also are sometimes called, or used as, cookie pans.
Cookie sheet:
A flat, rectangular baking pan made of steel or aluminum that is rigid. Sizes range from 10 x 8 inches to 20 x 15 inches. A cookie sheet is designed with two, non-edged sides so cookies can slide off either side for easier removal.
Cool
When hot foods reduce in temperature until neither very hot or cold.
Cooling rack:
A rectangular grid of thick wire with "feet" that raise it above the countertop. They are used to cool cakes, cookies, and other baked goods when they come out of the oven. Products are cooled while in their pan for a short time and after the product is removed from the pan prior to storing or freezing. Yeast breads are removed from the pans and onto the rack as soon as they come out of the oven to prevent a soggy crust.
Core:
Remove the seeded, inner portion of a fruit.
Corn bread
Quick bread in which half or more of the flour used is cornmeal. It may be thin and crisp or thick and light. Popular types are hushpuppies, Johnnycakes and spoon bread.
Corn flour:
Flour milled from whole corn, it has the flavor of corn and is excellent in cornbread, muffins, waffles, and blended with cornmeal.
Cornmeal
Dry degerminated or whole grain corn kernels (yellow, white or blue varieties are grown) that have been ground into fine, medium or coarse meal.
Corn starch
The fine, powdery flour obtained from the
endosperm of corn used as a thickener for pie fillings and puddings;
in combination with wheat flour in cakes, cookies, pastries, it
produces a fine-textured product. Cornstarch may be referred to as
cornflour in some recipes. More at www.argostarch.com.
Corn Syrup
Corn syrup is a mildly sweet, concentrated
solution of dextrose and other sugars derived from corn starch.
It is naturally sweet and is not the same as High Fructose
Corn Syrup (HFCS). Corn syrup contains between 15% to 20%
dextrose (glucose) and a mixture of various other types of sugar.
Corn syrup has 60 calories per tablespoon, 20 calories per
teaspoon.
Light corn Syrup (clear and colorless) – a mixture of corn syrup
flavored with salt and pure vanilla. Lite Karo clear corn syrup is also
available with 33% fewer calories and no high fructose corn syrup.
Dark corn syrup A mixture of corn syrup and a small amount of
refiners’ syrup (a cane sugar product with a molasses-like flavor).
Caramel flavor, sodium benzoate (a preservative), salt, and
caramel color are added. Dark corn syrup has a rich brown color
and distinctive flavor.
Cream:
Using beaters, a mixer or a large spoon to mix fats (butter, margarine or shortening) and sugars together until creamy in appearance.
Cream of Tartar:
An acidic salt—potassium hydrogen tartrate
(also referred to as tartaric acid); stabilizes beaten egg whites
and leavens some baked goods.
Crepe:
(KRAYP) The French word for pancake; paper-thin,
flexible egg-rich pancakes used to wrap or fold around sweet or
savory ingredients as a first or main course.
Crescent roll:
Also called a Butterhorn roll; a thin, triangular
wedge rich yeast dough rolled from wide end to point.
Crumb:
The interior of baked goods—not the crust; interior
texture formed by air cell pockets trapped inside a webbing of
starch and protein gelatinized by baking.
Crush:
To pulverize, as with herbs and spices used in baking.
Crust:
The caramelized crisp or chewy outer layer of a baked
product that covers the crumb or more tender inside.
Cultivation:
Growing plants or crops.
Cutting in:
To blend together cold shortening or butter (fat) and flour or sugar without creaming (mixing air into) the two. Two knives or a pastry blender may be used to create a mixture that is crumbly or grainy in appearance.
Danger Zone:
The temperature at which perishable food
should not be held or left out of refrigeration for any longer than
2 hours—The Danger Zone for food safety is 40° F. to 140° F.-–
perishable foods held in this “zone” for over 2 hours should not
be eaten.
Dark chocolate:
is also bittersweet, semi-sweet, and sweet
dark chocolate; all contain cacao beans, sugar, an emulsifier
such as soy lecithin to preserve texture, and flavorings such as
vanilla but do not contain milk solids. They are distinguished by
the amount of cocoa powder: 30% (sweet dark) to 70%, 75%, or
even above 80%, for extremely dark bars.
Degerminated:
A term for grain foods, such as some brands of cornmeal, that have had the germ removed in the milling process.
Demera Sugar:
A light brown sugar whith large golden crystals which is slightly sticky from adhering molasses. It is popular in England for tea, coffee or to top hot cereals.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar? P.8 www.sugar.org
Dextrose:
Also dextroglucose and known as glucose, this
sugar is the chief source of energy in the body. Glucose is
chemically considered a simple sugar or monosaccharide and
naturally occurs and is derived from plant starches such as corn.
Dissolve:
Stirring a dry substance into a liquid until solids are no longer remaining. (For example: stirring sugar into water, yeast into water, etc.).
Divide:
Equally portioning a dough or batter before shaping or
panning prior to baking.
Dock:
A baking technique in which regularly spaced holes are
poked all over the surface of a dough to promote a crisp baked
surface (crackers, pet treats, pie shells, all may be docked
before baking).
Docking:
Slashing or making incisions in the surface of bread or
rolls for proper expansion while baking. Done just before baking.
Double in bulk:
Refers to expansion of gluten cells in yeast
bread that has risen and is ready to be punched down. Recipe
will give a range of time. Varies with dough and environment’s
temperature. May be difficult to tell visually: Finger test used
by bakers: gently press two fingers into dough, if marks remain
unchanged, dough is ready to punch.
Double in size:
Refers to the final rising (proofing) before
bread is baked. This is a visual measurement, subject to
guessing. Some bakers make a template for a guide—when
bread is a certain height above the pan edge. Look for recipe
or formula guide: “3/4 proof=half again as large” or “full
proof=almost double in size.” May touch side of loaf very
gently—if slight print remains, bake.
Dough:
A mixture of flour and liquids, and may have other
ingredients, that is thick enough to be handled, kneaded or
shaped.
Dough scraper, dough or bench knife:
A flat, heavy metal
blade (about 3 X 5-inches) with straight sides, sharp corners
and a handle on top edge for moving, kneading, clean-cutting
dough, incising, or even cleaning work surfaces.
Drain:
To remove liquid from a food product.
Drizzle:
To pour a light amount, from a spoon, over food.
Dissolve
Stirring a dry substance into a liquid until solids are no longer remaining. (For example: stirring sugar into water, yeast into water, etc.).
Drop:
To deposit even portions of dough on a baking sheet
using spoon or batter dispenser.
Dry ingredients:
Refers to the ingredients in a recipe, such as flours, sugar, leavening, salt, baking cocoa, spices, or herbs, that may be blended before adding to another mixture in the recipe.
Dry measuring cups:
Straight-sided, graduated sizes of cups with a handle attached at the top lip. A home baking measuring tool used in the U.S. The common cup sizes are ¼, 1/3, ½, 1, and 2 cup, and are often nested for ease in storage. They are used to measure a standard amount of dry ingredients, such as flour, sugar, cornmeal, or brown sugar, for home baking recipes. The dry ingredients are spooned into the cup and leveled off with a straight-edged utensil.
Dust:
To lightly sprinkle a baked product or surface with powdered sugar, flour, or meal.
Dutch-processed cocoa:
Unsweetened baking cocoa that
is further processed with an alkali to neutralize cocoa’s natural
acidity; Substitution guidelines: 3 tablespoons (18g) Dutchprocessed
cocoa = 3 tablespoons (18g) natural cocoa powder
plus pinch (1/8 teaspoon) baking soda.
Eggs:
In home baking, neither the shell color nor the grade of egg matter. The size standard recipes call for is large unless stated otherwise. Eggs perform many functions - leavening, binding, thickening, coating or glazing, emulsifying, moisturizing or drying, and adding color, flavor, and nutrients to the finished product. Eggs also may be used to retard crystallization in some frostings.
Visit the American Egg Board at www.aeb.org.
Egg wash:
A thoroughly combined mixture of 1 whole egg, egg yolk, or egg white mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water or milk. This mixture is brushed on the unbaked surface of breads, pastries, or other baked goods just before baking to provide a rich color or gloss to the crust.
Egg yolk:
The yellow center portion of a whole egg; an
emulsifier contaning lecithin, vitamins, lutein, fat and choline.
Elasticity:
Capable of recovering shape after stretching;
developed gluten in dough is elastic.
Electrolyte:
Dissolved compound capable of carrying an
electric current and be broken down into elemental parts.
Emulsify, emulsifier:
An ingredient such as an egg that, when
beaten with two non-mixing ingredients like oil and vinegar, will
hold them in a suspension so they do not separate.
Enrich:
To improve the nutritional value of an ingredient or
food. Baked goods may be enriched by using milk, enriched
flour, whole grain flours, eggs, soy protein or flour.
Endosperm:
The starch granules in grain embedded in
gluten-forming proteins from which flour or meal is produced;
80-85% of a wheat kernel is endosperm.
Equipment:
Hand or electrical tools and appliances needed to
accomplish a task, craft or job.
Equivalent:
Equal or the same (Ex: three teaspoons is
equivalent to one tablespoon).
Fermentation:
A process by which a food goes through a chemical change precipitated by enzymes produced from yeast, bacteria, or microorganisms. In baking, it refers to the first stages (rising times) after a bread dough is developed and before it is shaped. This stage helps leaven the dough and develop the bread's flavor.
Flour:
Flour is a major ingredient in most baked goods. Although wheat flours are the most common and often essential flour to a product's quality, flour may be produced from many kinds of grains, potatoes, legumes, beans, and seeds. Example: Flour from soybeans, corn, oats, spelt, teff, quinoa, amaranth, rye, buckwheat, and more.
Focaccia
Italian bakers' snack, from Latin term "focus" or hearth. The focaccia was originally baked on a stone hearth.
Folding
To gently combine two or more ingredients or a delicate
mixture into a heavier, thicker one by cutting vertically through
the mixture and turning it over by sliding the mixing tool across
the bottom of the bowl or pan with each turn. To combine
without stirring or deflating a mixture.
Gluten:
A protein found in wheat and other cereal flours that forms the structure of the bread dough. It holds the carbon dioxide (CO2) produced by the yeast and expands during fermentation. Gluten is developed when flour is combined with water and liquids, mixed, and kneaded. It provides the elasticity and extensibility (stretch) in bread dough. Glutenin and gliadin are the two proteins that form gluten
Gluten-free:
Home baking allows gluten allergy sufferers to experiment with baking with gluten-free flours, such as amaranth, rice, corn, milo, soy, and potato.
For a complete list visit Celiac Sprue Association's web-site: www.csaceliacs.org or Phone 1-877-272-4272
Graham, stone-ground or whole-wheat flour
Made from either hard, soft or a blend of both wheat classes. All are produced by either grinding the whole-wheat kernel or recombining the white flour, germ and bran to make a whole-wheat flour. Coarseness may vary, but nutritional value differs very little.
Granola Cereal mixture of toasted rolled oats, barley or other
grains, plus dried fruits, seeds, nuts and sweeteners.
High-altitude baking:
Adjustments to liquids, leavening agents, sugar, and oven temperature are needed at altitudes over 3,000 feet.
For more information contact:
Colorado Cooperative Extension Resrouce Center for High Altitude Baking guides: Toll Free: (877) 692-9358 E-mail: CERC@vines.colostate.edu Web-site:www.colostate.edu/Depts/CoopExt
High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS):
Primarily used in commercial beverages and foods,
HFCS is made when corn starch is converted to dextrose-rich syrup; using isomerization, the dextrose-rich corn syrups are further processed to create fructose. The fructose is then blended with dextrose syrup to produce the commercial corn syrups with 42% to 95% fructose. Fructose is 130 to 180% sweeter than sugar.
How Much do You Know about Sugar. P.13-14. www.sugar.org
Honey:
An all-natural sweetener produced by bees from flower nectar. Color and flavor vary due to the nectar the bees find available. Honey develops golden crust color and holds moisture in baked goods.
Ice cream salt:
A coarse rock or solar salt added to ice for cooling when making ice cream. It is not food grade and should not be used in baking. Also, see Salt glossary listing.
Instant-read thermometer:
A stainless-steel probe thermometer indicating the temperature of a liquid, mixture, dough, or meat almost instantly. It is an excellent baker's tool for yeast bread baking.
Insulated bakeware:
Metal bakeware constructed of two layers which are separated by an insulating cushion of air. Benefits of baking with insulated bakeware include even baking and consistent results with less bottom crust browning.
With insulated baking pans, the oven temperature for cake and brownie mixes should be set 25°F higher. For all other baked goods, use the recommended temperatures, but longer bake times may be needed.
Invert sugar:
Sugar syrup exposed to a small amount of acid and heating to break sucrose into glucose and fructose to reduce the size of the crystals. Invert sugar is used for fondant icings for cakes.
Jelly-roll pan:
A rectangular baking pan that features a 1-inch edge and is usually 18 x 13 inches in size - commercially known as a "half-sheet pan." In home baking, sizes vary; a common size listed in recipes is 15½ x 10½ x 1 inch.
It is preferred for baking sheet cakes, sponge cakes, or bars. (It gets its name because the sponge cake for a jelly roll cake is baked in this pan.)
Kitchen:
The place in a home where lives converge, are sustained, and flourish.
Kneading
Working with dough with the heels of your hands by pressing and folding it and turning the dough a quarter turn after each press and fold.
Kosher salt:
A coarse-flake salt used for koshering meats, for topping baked goods, or where a coarse salt is preferred. It is not iodized, but may contain an anti-caking agent.
Leavening
Process of producing gas in a dough or batter. Agents such as baking soda, baking powder and yeast that are used to lighten the texture and increase the volume of baked goods with the production of carbon dioxide. Eggs also are leavening agents. In earlier days, leavening agents were called "lifters."
Liquid measure:
A clear, hard, plastic or glass cup with a lip for pouring. The cup is usually a pint or quart measuring tool marked with lines to measure liquid ingredients in home baking. It will have lines to mark ounces, milliliters, and 1/8, ¼, 1/3, ½, 2/3, ¾ and 1 cup or more. Liquid ingredients should be measured in this cup, with the cup placed on a flat surface for accuracy in home baking.
Margarine:
Developed as a butter substitute in the late 1800s, margarine is 80 percent vegetable oil that is partially hydrogenated to hold a solid form. The remaining 20 percent is liquids, flavoring, coloring, and other additives. Margarine may be salted or unsalted.
For best results in home baking, recipes that call for margarine should use margarine and not a spread, whipped, or reduced-fat form.
Meal
Grain or seeds milled or ground more coarsely than flour.
Measuring cups and spoons:
Containers or spoons that come in graduated sizes and are used to accurately measure dry or liquid ingredients when cooking or baking.
Melt
Heating a solid food such as butter or sugar until it is liquid.
Milk chocolate:
Sweetened dark chocolate (at least 10 percent chocolate liquor) with additional milk solids (at least 12 percent).
Millet flour:
Finely ground flour from whole millet; a starchy, low-gluten flour with a texture similar to rice flour.
Mixing
Stirring, usually with a spoon, until the ingredients are well-combined (no individual ingredients can be seen or identified).
Muscovado Sugar:
See Barbados Sugar.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar? P.8 www.sugar.org
Muffin pans:
Muffin pans come in many sizes and shapes, even "muffin tops." The standard muffin pan called for in many recipes has 6 or 12 cups that measure 2½ inches across the top. For best results, always line with paper liners or grease just the bottoms and lower thirds of the muffin cups. Mini-muffin tins, also called "tea muffins," are popular in 12-cup and 24-cup pan sizes. Also, see Insulated, Nonstick, and Baking pans glossary listings.
No-knead:
This home baking method refers to yeast breads that require no kneading. They also are called "batter breads."
Nonstick:
A coating which is either applied through a high temperature process called coil-coating on metal before the pan is formed, or spray coated on after the pan is formed. It may be silicone-based or a PTFE-based (polytetrafluorethylene or teflon) formulation.
Benefits of nonstick: These vary depending on the coating, but relate to the ease of removal and cleanup of baking pans. Most nonstick coatings darken pans. Look for packaging instructions regarding the lowering of baking time or temperature for best results.
Nut flour:
Nut meats, toasted or untoasted, that are finely ground for pastry crusts, breads, cakes, and cookies.
Nuts:
The dry fruit of trees, legumes, or seeds; an edible kernel encased in a hard, dry shell. Rich in nutrients, flavor, and texture, nuts provide sensory appeal to baked goods and other menu items. Nuts may be as high as 90 percent fat, but the fat is primarily the healthful, monounsaturated type.
Oats:
A grain that is toasted, hulled, cleaned, and cooked whole (groats), or the groats are steamed, steel-cut, or flattened (rolled). Rolled oats, or old-fashioned oats, may be cut further making them quick-cooking. They may be used interchangeably in baking and are whole grain. Instant oats may not be used interchangeably in baking due to finer cutting and further cooking of the starch.
Oat flour:
Groats or rolled oats ground into flour.
Oat bran:
The outer layers of the oat kernel that are particularly high in soluble fiber; good added to baked goods.
Oils:
The liquid fat pressed from plants and their nuts or seeds. The oil is extracted either by solvent-extraction or cold-pressed. Common types used in home baking are soybean, safflower, corn, sunflower, canola, and olive oils. No oil derived from a plant contains cholesterol, but they will vary in amounts of poly- and mono-unsaturates and saturated fat.
Oven:
An oven may be defined as an enclosed area with parts which supply heat and air flow in order to cook food. Conventional/thermal ovens use electric elements or gas burners to bake, roast, or broil; convention ovens use electric elements or gas burners plus the addition of a fan to circulate heated air over, under, and around the food. Most electric ovens have controls which cycle the lower and upper elements for consistent temperatures. Recently, ovens have been introduced which also use halogen lights and/or microwave energy to increase the cooking speed. Ovens may vary in width from 20 inches to 36 inches and may be in a free-standing, slide-in, drop-in, or wall oven configuration. Ovens can have cleaning options of standard clean (clean by hand), self-clean, or continuous clean.
Oven Mitt:
Thickly padded or heat-insulated large mittens
worn to load or remove baked goods from oven.
Pastry flour:
A fine-textured, soft wheat flour with low-gluten and high-starch content. It may be bleached, unbleached, or whole wheat. Soft red or white wheat may be used to produce this flour.
Preheat
Heating the empty oven to
the recommended temperature
before placing the product to
be baked in it.
Proof:
In bread baking, this term indicates the period of time a product is allowed to rise after it is shaped and placed on or in pans. Products are usually proofed until doubled in size, or when a finger, lightly placed on the side of the loaf, leaves an indentation. Products are "proofed" in a humid, draft-free, 95°F to 100°F place. In homes, a barely damp, clean, non-terry cloth towel or plastic wrap sprayed with pan spray may be lightly placed over the product to prevent the crust from drying. Some ovens have a proofing feature. Follow the manufacturer's use guide.
Pumpernickel:
A medium- to coarsely ground, rye flour, light brown in color. It may be labeled "medium rye." A mixture of rye and wheat flour used to produce a distinctive bread. Molasses are usually used to add color and flavor.
Punch down
In reference to bread dough - when dough has doubled in size or when a dent remains after two fingers are lightly pressed ½ inch into the dough, make a fist and push it into the center of the dough. Pull the edges of the dough to the center and turn the dough over. Cover and let rest or rise again before shaping.
Quick bread
Bread that is quick to make because it doesn't require kneading or rising time.
Quinoa flour:
A gluten-free flour made from grinding quinoa grain. It is highly nutritious and yields a tender, moist crumb in cookies, pancakes, waffles, and fruitcakes.
Raw Sugar:
A coarse, tan granulated product similar to turbinado sugar; an intermediate product in cane sugar production. The raw sugar is then shipped to a refinery for final processing. Raw sugar is available to consumers.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar. P. 8. www.sugar.org
Red wheat:
In the U.S., wheat is classified into six classes - three of the classes have a bran coat that is considered "red" in color. These classes are hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat, and soft red winter wheat. Also, see glossary listing for White wheat.
Resources
Materials, time, money and abilities available for use that can be drawn upon for aid or to take care of a need.
Rye flour:
Milled from rye grain, the flour is darker, heavier, and low in gluten. It is sold as light, dark, or medium for home baking. The light and medium rye flour have most of the bran removed. Dark rye flour is whole grain. Also, see Pumpernickel in the glossary listing.
Salt:
Salt (Sodium Chloride - NaCl) can be produced three ways:
Open-air evaporation of salt brine in shallow ponds. By mining of rock salt deposits.
By boiling and evaporation of higher purity brine.
Salt contributes to flavor in baked goods, and controls fermentation of yeast in breads. Coarse grades are available for use as toppings on soft pretzels and other specialty breads. Also, visit the Salt Institute at www.saltinstitute.org.
Salt substitute:
Usually potassium chloride in granular form, intended for lowering sodium intake; generally bitter in taste. It is not recommended for baking.
Salt substitute mixtures:
Usually a blend of granular potassium chloride and sodium chloride, intended for lowering sodium usage; tastes similar to regular table salt. Morton Lite Salt® Mixture is a leading brand.
Sauté
Cooking or browning food in a small amount of hot oil or fat until softened and the flavors are released.
Scratch baking
Baking method that begins with measuring basic ingredients such as flour, sugar, butter and leavening. It requires a recipe rather than convenience products, like mixes.
Sea (solar) salt:
Generally, salt made by outdoor evaporation of salt brine in shallow ponds; level of refinement may vary, as well as coarseness. It may be used for baking, although very coarse salt would not be suitable.
Self-rising cornmeal:
One of the first convenience baking mixes. It is a blend of cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Approximate equivalent = 1½ cups cornmeal, ½ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Self-rising flour:
One of the first "convenience mixes," self-rising flour is a blend of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. When self-rising flour is used in a standard flour recipe, the baking powder and salt are then omitted. Approximate equivalent = 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1½ teaspoons baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Semi-sweet chocolate:
Baking chocolate that contains between 15 percent and 35 percent chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sugar, lecithin, and vanilla. It may be used interchangeably in some recipes that call for bittersweet or sweet chocolate, but is not interchangeable with milk chocolate.
Semolina flour:
Flour produced by further grinding semolina (granules) made from durum wheat. Specialty breads sometimes call for part semolina or semolina flour. Also called pasta flour.
Spread
a) Distributing a product/ingredient in a thin layer over the surface of another product.
b) A fat sold in stick form or in tubs that is less than 80 percent fat.
Spreads:
Products in sticks or tubs that are less than 80 percent fat. They are not recommended for baking due to their water content.
Soy flour:
A whole-grain, high-protein flour produced from hulled and roasted soybeans. The flour may be de-fatted, low-fat, or full-fat - check the ingredient labels to determine.
Sprinkle
Scattering particles of sugar or toppings over a surface, like frosting, cake or bread.
Standard:
In home baking, this refers to recipes, measuring tools, ingredients, methods, and equipment that are used to produce a defined product with consistent results to assist manufacturers or consumers.
Staple
The chief item or most important items made, grown or sold in a particular place, region, country, etc.
Starter
A mixture of flour, water, yeast and sugar that is allowed to ferment in a warm place until foamy. A portion of the starter is used (about 2 cups) in place of a package of yeast in breads, usually after "feeding" the mixture with additional flour and water. Starters are kept in the refrigerator after initial development and "fed" every two weeks.
Stir
Using a spoon to mix ingredients with a circular or figure-eight motion.
Stoneground flour or meal:
Grain ground into flour between stones. It may be coarse or fine and is usually whole grain.
Sugar:
Sugar or sucrose is a carbohydrate occurring naturally in every fruit and vegetable in the plant kingdom. It is the major product of photosynthesis, the process by which plants transform the sun's energy into food. Sugar for home baking is produced in greatest quantities from sugar cane and sugar beets.
Granulated sugar: Fine or extra-fine white sugar crystals. Often referred to as "white sugar" in home baking. Brown sugar: Sugar crystals contained in a molasses syrup with natural flavor and color components. Dark and light brown sugars may be substituted according to individual preferences for product color or taste. Confectioners' sugar: Also called powdered sugar. See glossary listing. Raw sugar: About 98 percent sucrose and tan or brown in appearance; it is a coarse, granulated solid obtained on evaporation of clarified sugar cane juice. It is not considered fit for direct use as food or a food ingredient by the USDA.
Turbinado sugar: Raw sugar refined to a light tan color by washing in a centrifuge under sanitary conditions. Surface molasses is removed in the washing process and is closer to refined sugar than raw.
Table salt:
Also called granulated salt, it is produced by boiling and evaporation of brine. It may be iodized and contains anti-caking agents.
Temperature:
The intensity of heat in a mixture, baked product, or oven; measured in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) in home baking in the United States.
Texture:
Indicates the appearance of a cut portion of bread or cake.
Turbinado Sugar:
Raw sugar that has been refined to a light tan color by washing it in a centrifuge to remove surface molasses.
Types of Sugar. How Well Do You Know Sugar? P.9 www.sugar.org
Ultragrain Flour:
100% whole wheat flour made by using a special flour milling process developed to produce a lighter-colored, ultra smooth texture whole grain wheat flour with the texture of white flour.
Ultragrain flour may be
Underproofed loaves or rolls:
Shaped bread or rolls which have not reached the desired height or volume before they are baked.
Unleavened:
A word to describe breads, cakes, or other baked goods that do not use a leavening agent, such as baking powder, baking soda, yeast, or cream of tartar.
Unbleached flour:
Flour that is bleached naturally as it ages; no maturing agents are used in the milling process. It may be used interchangeably with bleached flours and has no nutritive differences.
Vegetable Oil:
See oil.
Vegetable shortening:
Vegetable oil (soybean or cottonseed) that is hydrogenated so it will be a solid fat. It is 100 percent fat with no water, milk fat, or other solids added. It is nearly flavorless and is used for imparting flakiness and tenderness.
Wheat flour:
Milled from soft (lower protein) red or white wheat for cakes, pastries, waffles, and other products, or hard white or red wheat for pizza crust, yeast breads, bagels, and some rolls or hearth breads. High-protein durum wheat will be used for flour or semolina for some specialty breads, but is primarily a pasta wheat.
Home baking (called "family flour" in the milling industry) wheat flour may be: Unbleached or bleached all-purpose, cake, pastry, whole-wheat or graham, and bread flour.
Whip
Beating a food lightly and rapidly with a mixer, whisk or beater to incorporate air and increase volume.
White chocolate:
A mixture of sugar, cocoa butter, milk solids, lecithin, and vanilla. If cocoa butter is not mentioned, the product is confectionary or summer coating, not white chocolate. It is not a true chocolate due to no chocolate liquor present. Chips or pieces and coating chunks are popular home baking ingredients.
White wheat:
In the U.S., wheat is classified into six classes - three classes have a bran coat that is considered "white" or pale to amber in color. These classes are soft white wheat, hard white wheat, and durum wheat. Also, see Red wheat in the glossary listing.
Whole grain
Whole grain Using whole kernel or ground whole kernels of
a grain (barley, corn, oats, wheat, soy, rye) in a food at 51% or
more of the flour weight. There must be more flour than sugar
and fat for the food to be a“grain food” product. 16
grams of whole grain flour
or meal per serving is 1/3
of the daily need for whole
grain in a diet. Learn more:
www.wholegrainscouncil.org
or www.bellinstitute.com.
Whole-wheat flour:
Flour produced from the whole kernel of wheat. Also called graham flour. It is usually produced in flour mills but may be ground in a mill using a stone grinding process.
Whole-white wheat flour:The classes of U.S. wheat grown are red, white or durum
(pasta) wheat. Any wheat can be used to produce a whole wheat flour. Whole white wheat flour is a flour produced from soft (lower protein) or hard (higher protein) varieties of white wheat.
XXX or XXXX confectioners' sugar:
Indicates the fineness of the powdered sugar. Four X is slightly finer, but both may be used interchangeably. It does not affect whether sifting is required - go by the recipe's directions.
Yeast
In baking, yeast refers to a single-celled fungi in the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which ferments sugar. The by-products of this fermentation are principally carbon dioxide and alcohol. The carbon dioxide raises or expands the bread dough. Always use a thermometer to measure liquid temperature before adding it to or with the yeast.
Home baking yeast may be active dry or fast-rising. Fresh or compressed yeast also may be available in some supermarkets' refrigerator case. One-quarter ounce dry yeast is about 2¼ teaspoons and equals one 0.6-ounce cake of compressed fresh yeast.
Yield:
The amount of product obtained as a result of a given amount of ingredients.
Zest:
The fragrant, flavorful, thin, outer skin of citrus fruit which is removed with a citrus zester, vegetable peeler, or paring knife and used to contribute flavor to baked goods.
References:
HBA member definitions
Lansky, Vicki. Baking Soda. Over 500 Fabulous Fun and Frugal Uses
Herbst, Sharon Tyler. Food Lover's Companion. The Food Lover's Tiptionary
Greenspan, Dorie. Baking with Julia
Sultan, William J. Practical Baking
