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Food Types and Properties

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Making a cake

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Changing the recipe

Recipes for baked foods like cakes and pastries and bread have to be followed carefully:

too much flour will make the cake dry too much fat will stop it rising too much sugar will affect its texture.

We can add flavouring ingredients like lemon zest or cocoa power, but we have to keep the proportions of the ingredients the same.

For a Victoria Sponge, that’s equal weights of eggs, fat, sugar and flour.

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Function of ingredients

Ingredients in recipes are there for a reason.They have a particular function:

physical – affects the structure of the food – the flour in the cake set the foam and held the cake together

sensory – gives colour, flavour or texture – the sugar in the cake made it taste sweet

nutritional – added for its food value – eggs are a source of protein.

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Function of carbohydrates

Dextrinization – when starch is baked it changes colour, flavour and smell. For example, bread becomes toast.

Caramelization – when sugar is heated until it melts, it changes to caramel, which gives chewiness, sweetness and flavour.

Gelatinization – when starch is mixed with water and heated, the starch grains swell and absorb the liquid. The mixture thickens, as in a blancmange.

Flavouring – sugar makes food taste sweet.

Preserving – jams are made with lots of sugar and this can prevent micro-organisms growing.

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Function of proteins – coagulation

What’s happening here?

The heat makes the proteins in the egg uncoil and form a solid structure.

Raw eggs are runny, but when they are cooked the white changes colour and become solid. This is called coagulation.

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Gluten

Gluten is made when proteins from wheat flour are mixed with water. It is important when making bread.

Kneading dough untangles the protein strands and develops the gluten.

The gluten is strong and elastic, and holds the bread together.

Gluten traps the gases that form in bread when you cook it.

Strong flour has more gluten, and so is better for making bread than ordinary flour.

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Gelatine

Gelatine is a protein that can be used to set foods.

Gelatine is extracted from the connective tissue in meat.

When you make a jelly, you mix gelatine with warm water, which makes the protein chains unfold.

As the jelly cools, the proteins form a network and the jelly sets.

If you heat the jelly up it will become a liquid again.

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Function of fats

Shortening – fat coats the particles of flour and stops it absorbing water, so gluten does not develop and texture stays crumbly.

Plasticity – some fats are solid at room temperature, some are liquid.

Aeration – creaming fat with sugar makes air bubbles.

Flakiness – flaky pastry uses fat to keep layers of starch separate.

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Oils and water don’t usually mix.

If you mix them up, they separate out again.

Emulsions

If you want to keep the oil and water mixed, you have to add an emulsifying agent.

Mayonnaise is a mixture of oil and vinegar. Egg yolk is added to make the mixture into an emulsion and stop it separating.

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Food additives

Additives are substances that are added to food when it is processed.

Some are natural, others are man-made.

Some are used to make the food look nice, such as colourings.

Preservatives are added to make the food keep longer.

They can be added for other reasons, such as adding flavour or improving texture.

New additives have to be checked for safety before they can be used.

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E numbers

All food additives are given a code called an E number.

E 100–199 add colour to your food.

E 200–299 preserve food and increase its shelf life.

E 300–321 are anti-oxidants and stop fat going rancid.

E 322–321 are emulsifiers to stop oil and water separating.

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Herbs and spices

Herbs and spices are not usually added to food for their nutrition value, but because they make it taste and smell nice.

Pilau rice can contain spices like cardamom and cloves which add flavour and make the rice smell wonderful.

Herbs like parsley, mint and coriander can be bought while they are still growing, so that they can be cut fresh and full of flavour.

Dried herbs and spices have a more intense flavour, so you don’t need to use as much of them.

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Summary

Starches add bulk to food, and can be used as thickeners.

Sugar adds sweetness, colour and flavouring and can be caramelized.

Fat traps air when it is beaten with sugar.

It also shortens foods to give a crumbly texture and makes mixtures feel moist when eaten.

Proteins trap air when they are whisked into a foam.

The protein in egg white coagulates and sets when heated.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat and is important when making bread.