Basic Ingredients and their Functions

Baking Powder – probably the most common aerating agent in baked products like cakes. It is made up of bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar. Baking powder is a chemical aeration agent.

Eggs – another basic ingredient in many baked products. They provide structure, aeration, flavor and moisture. They also tenderise cakes and add color and nutritive value.

Fats and oils – Generally, fats are solid while oils are liquid. Fats come from a variety of animals and plants. Oils mostly come from plants. In baking, butter, margarine, shortening and oils are commonly used. Their main functions are to shorten or tenderise the product, to trap air during creaming and so aerate the cake during baking to give good volume and texture, to assist with layering in puff pastry, to help prevent curdling by forming an emulsion, and to add flavor and stales quickly.

Flour – the ingredient on which most baked products are based. Flour is made up of starch, protein, sugar and minerals. The protein content decides what the end use of the flour will be.

Milk – used in baked products to improve texture and mouthfeel. The protein in milk also gives a soft crumb structure in cakes, and contributes to the moisture, colour and flavour of a baked product. Cakes that contain milk also tend to have a longer shelf life.

Salt – usually added in very small amounts to baked products but has a noticeable effect on the flavour. It not only provides its own flavour but brings out the natural flavour of other ingredients. In bread doughs, salt strengthens gluten and improves the consistency of the dough. Carbon dioxide given off by the yeast is more easily trapped by the strengthened gluten, which makes a better loaf of bread. Salt is also a good preservative as it absorbs water so there is less free water for bacterial and fungal growth.

Sugar – gives cakes and other baked products sweetness and is used in many forms and many ways. In yeast raised products, sugar acts as food for the yeast. In cakes, sugar assists with the aeration and stabilizing of batters. Sugars improve the crust colour of baked products, improve flavour and help to retain moisture, keeping products softer for longer and so reducing staling. Examples of sugar forms are granulated sugar, castor sugar and icing sugar. Sugar also comes in liquid forms such as syrup, treacle, corn syrup, honey and caramel.

Yeast – belongs to the fungi family. It ferments carbohydrates (sugars) to produce carbon dioxide gases and alcohol, which aerate bread and other yeasted products, giving it volume and texture. These by-products of yeast also contribute to the colour and aroma of bread and other yeasted products.

CHIFFON CAKE INGREDIENTS FUNCTIONS

• Cake flour – main structure for the cake. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour so it makes a more tender cake, however all-purpose flour can be substituted.
• Baking powder & baking soda – chemical leavenings that help the cake to rise
• Salt – round out the sweet flavor of the cake
• Sugar – divided into two parts: The bulk of the sugar does the sweetening of the cake, and part of the sugar is also used to create the meringue that makes the cake super fluffy!
• Oil – adds richness and keeps the cake very moist
• Butter – also adds richness and a slight buttery flavor
• Egg yolks – add some moisture and more richness to the cake
• Buttermilk – acidic and works to activate the baking soda while adding a slight tanginess and moisture to the cake
• Egg whites – beaten to create a meringue which creates an incredibly fluffy and light chiffon cake

Instructions:

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Prepare a tube pan by greasing only the bottom of the pan and not the sides or the tube. Measure out all ingredients for each section of the recipe and keep each grouping together to help with the flow of the recipe.
2. Mix the Dry Ingredients: Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl and then whisk together to combine. Set aside.
3. Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a separate medium bowl, whisk together all wet ingredients and set aside.
4. Make the Meringue: In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on the medium/high speed until they start forming medium peaks. With the mixer still running, slowly stream in the sugar and keep beating until you reach stiff peaks.
5. Combine the Components: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredient bowl and stir together with a rubber spatula. Once the dry ingredients are saturated, add about ½ cup of the egg whites into the mixture and stir in completely to lighten the batter. Next add in the rest of the egg whites and gently fold them in gently until completely combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
6. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 40-50 minutes until a tester comes out with moist crumbs clinging to the tester.
7. Cool & Serve: Set the cake pan on a cooling rack and allow it to cool completely before turning it out of the pan. Serve plain, dusted with powdered sugar, with a powdered sugar glaze, or with whipped cream.
8. Store cooled cake covered at room temperature for up to 4 days.

NOTES:

It is traditional for this cake to be baked in a tube pan because it can climb up the center, resulting in a very spongy texture. However, this cake can also be baked in 8” or 9” round cake pans and be stacked as a layer cake. Adjust baking time to 22-22 minutes when baking it in round cake tins.

Vanilla Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:

Batter Mixture:

1 ½ c cake flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ c white sugar

6 pcs egg yolk

1 tbsp vanilla

¼ c oil

½ water

Meringue:

              6 pcs egg whites

              1 tsp cream of tartar

              ¼ c white sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven.
2. Grease & line the pan.
3. Sift flour & sugar. In a bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Mix well and make a well at the center.
4. Pour water, egg yolks, oil and vanilla. Mix well until no lumps. Set aside
5. Beat white eggs and cream of tartar until soft peaks form then gradually add the sugar. Continue beating until thick peaks form.
6. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the meringue and batter mixture. Be careful not to deflate them until well combined.
7. Pour mixture into the prepared pan.
8. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 15-20 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.
9. Let it cool.

PROCESSES IN THE BAKING BREAD

Dough be prepared for baking by machine, hand or a combination of two. It is carefully planned & executed for once the mixing of ingredients has begun. A process is now in motion which cannot be interrupted with damage of the finished product. Consequently, dough formulas and dough schedules are determined in advance as rigidly as possible.

9-STEP PROCEDURE IN BAKING BREAD

STEP 1: WEIGHING AND MIXING – the preparation of dough batch is the assembly and weighing of ingredients. Flour, salt, yeast, sugar and shortening are concerned to carefully weigh them in the amounts required by the formula being used. Preparing other ingredients is more involved.

              Mixing Process:

1. To spread the yeast cells evenly throughout the dough
2. To distribute food for the yeast (sugar)
3. To smooth the mass of ingredients and free it of lumps
4. To form and develop gluten

Mixing induces the formation and development of gluten by bringing moisture into contact with the gluten forming protein in the flour. For satisfactory development of gluten, all particles of flour must be thoroughly wet. Absorption of qualities of flour vary widely the exact time required for proper mixing. It will differ according to the flour being used. As mixing continues, all dough ingredients cohere and stick together, and more and more gluten are formed until a complete gluten network is developed in the dough. The mixing process of pulling and folding the dough mass is continued until the gluten particles are arranged into something of parallel pattern, which account for smooth appearance of a well-mixed dough.

              2 Common Dough Mixing Methods:

1. STRAIGHT DOUGH METHOD – all dough ingredients are mixed at one time and prepared for a single fermentation period
2. SPONGE DOUGH METHOD – a portion of the ingredients are mixed and allowed to ferment before the remaining ingredients are added. This method has two mixing periods and two fermentation periods. The first dough mass that mixed is called the sponge and the final dough mass is the sponge dough or simply the dough. This method is preferred and should be used wherever condition permits.

Bread made by sponge method has better keeping quality and more softness than straight dough bread. Sponge dough method makes dough easier to scale machine. It has more tolerance than straight dough. The sponge dough can be held in the event of delays for considerable time loss, whereas the straight dough cannot be held for any length of time without loss of bread quality. After the sponge has fermented sufficiently, put it back into the mixer and add the remaining portions of the ingredients. Mix the whole batch thoroughly and allow it to ferment until it is ready for make-up.

STEP 2: FERMENTATION – the chemical changes that take place once the ingredients of the dough are mixed. It starts immediately after the yeast is put into the mixture and continues until the yeast is killed by the heat in the oven.

ACTION IN FERMENTATION

1. Primary action – the raising of the dough. Fermentation in simple terms caused by chemical action which creates carbon dioxide gas. The gas is caught in the gluten network, and as it expands, the gluten, together with the whole dough mass also expands.
2. Secondary action – the maturing or ripening of the dough as result of changes in combination of starch and gluten it enables the dough to absorb and retain more water than it otherwise would and add to its stretching qualities. The secondary action makes the dough spongy and results in bread is light and easily digested.

YOUNG AND OLD DOUGHS

Young dough – one which has not been sufficiently fermented and condition. A young dough tends to color too rapidly and deeply in the oven and has only small oven spring. Oven spring refers to the rise during the few minutes of baking.

Old dough – one which has been allowed to ferment long. While neither of these doughs are desirable, it is better to use a dough still slightly young than an old dough. If a dough is too young, it will be stiff and bucky and will not make up well into loaves.

Bread produced from a young dough has the following characteristics:

• Small volume
• Dark reddish-brown crust
• Sharp corners
• Crust blister
• Coarse grain
• Yellowish crumb
• Break in the crust

Bread produced from an old dough has the following characteristics:

• Pale crust
• Gray or streaked crumb
• Harsh texture
• Open grain
• Strong odor
• Poor flavor
• Poor keeping qualities
• Irregular break and shred

FERMENTATION TOLERANCE

• Refers to the range of time a dough may stand after a normal fermentation period without injury to the finished product. Satisfactory fermentation tolerance depends largely on two factors in the COMPOSITION OF DOUGH.

1. The dough must have sufficient sugary agent or diastolic activity to create sugar in the dough batch continuously. There must be enough sugar to enable the yeast to raise the dough in order to produce the proper degree of sweetness in the finished loaf, and to create the desired crust color.
2. The gluten must retain its mellowness, and its powder power to expand without softening too much or becoming too slack. In the baking of bread, it is important to maintain proper conditions to follow established procedures so that satisfactory tolerance is obtained.

STEP 3: PUNCHING

              The dough is punched for the following reasons:

1. To equalize the temperature throughout the dough which brings about a thorough and uniform fermentation
2. To expel some of the carbon dioxide gas that has been formed during the fermentation process
3. To strengthen and develop the gluten by relaxing it after its constant tension during the period of the expansion of the dough

DETERMINING TIMING FOR PUNCH

The exact time for the punch determined by inserting the fingers greatly into the top of the dough to a depth of 1 to 2 inches and observing the dough closely when the dough neither collapses nor springs back but sinks slightly around the depression. If the indention caused by the fingers tends to spring back, the dough is not ready for the punch. If the surface of the falls rapidly, the proper time to make the punch has already passed, the dough should be punched at once. It takes only a little experience to be able to tell when dough is ready for punching.

STEP 4: MAKE-UP DOUGH – This period is done immediately after fermentation. It includes the time consumed in dividing, scaling, rounding, proofing, molding and panning.

Dividing & scaling – The first steps in dough make-up are dividing and scaling that is, separating the dough mass into leaf sized pieces and weighing the pieces to ensure the accuracy and uniformity. Dividing is accomplished by machine or hand.

Rounding – The second step is rounding each dough piece into a firm ball with smooth, unbroken skin over its entire surface. The purpose of rounding is to produce an evenly shaped piece of dough for molding. Also, the smooth unbroken skin retains in the dough piece the gas generated during intermediate proofing if there is one. The gas gives the dough piece workability either by hand or machine.

Molding – After completing rounding, the dough pieces are molded by hand or machine in the shape desired for finished loaves.

STEP 5: RESTING

Panning – After the loaves are molded, the loaves are placed carefully, with seam down in the greased pans. Too much grease on the pans cause the loaves to burn on the bottom and too little causes them to stick to the pan.

STEP 6: PROOFING – Before the loaves are put into the oven for baking, they must be allowed to rest for some time under controlled conditions of temperature and humidity. The object of pan proofing is to enable the loaf to regain the lost carbon dioxide released during the process of punching and to enable the loaf to attain proper volume before it goes to the oven and to give the gluten in the dough final mellowing. Since molding compress the dough pan, proofing is necessary to restore lightness to the dough which ensures proper oven spring and to improve the grain and texture of the bread.

STEP 7: BAKING – Dough is turned into bread when it is subjected to intensive dry or moist heat in an oven. Oven temperature should be maintained at about 450°F during the baking period. The oven temperature goes down when loaves are put in for baking. This drop occurs because heat escapes from the oven during loading and the cool damp dough absorbs heat rapidly. To ensure uniform baking of all loaves, space the pans of the dough in the oven so that the heat can spread evenly around leaves.

During the first few minutes, the dough expands greatly, causing a rapid rise in the dough, known as oven spring. After oven spring, the dough’s pliability gradually lessens. The dough becomes set and slowly changes to bread. Some of the moisture is driven off, the starch becomes gelatinized and more digestible, and the gluten and other proteins become coagulated. Coloring of the crust should start from 10 to 20 minutes after the loaf is placed in the oven. The golden-brown color of the curst is the result of chemical changes in the starch and sugar, known as caramelization.

Insufficient heat and sugar cause a pale, rubbery crust. Excessive heat and sugar cause a dark, thick crust. Within the loaf, the crumb near the crust is subjected to a temperature as high as 300°F. the temperature gradually decreases toward the center of the loaf, where it never rises above 212°F. At this temperature, the gluten becomes stiff enough to give the loaf permanent form and to retain its cellular structure.

STEP 8: COOLING – When the baked bread is taken from the oven, the outside of the crust is at a temperature of about 350°F, and the inside of the loaf is about 210°F. The outside cools rapidly, but the inside cools slowly. Be careful that there is no inferior foreign objectionable odor in the surrounding air. It is in the cooling process that the bread is highly susceptible to molds & other organisms. As much as possible, all contacts made on the baked goods should be clean and sanitary.

STEP 9: STORING – Store bread under ideal condition. Always handle carefully for the tender crust might be broken, the bread dries out quickly. Do not throw the bread into containers, rather, pack them carefully in the containers so as to avoid crushing and mutilation.