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BAKINGCAKES & COOKIES

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To bake...to cook in dry heat in an oven. The oven heats the air, and the hot air cooks the food.Science principle: No lid is used during baking. A lid would trap the moisture as it was trying to evaporate. The evaporating moisture would then collect on the inside of the lid during condensation, and fall back into the food. That is moist heatand is NOT baking.

2Baking Ingredients...flourliquidstructure+

Forms the shape of the productUsually purchased pre-siftedWater and milk are the most common

3Baking Ingredients...leavening agents cause the food to "rise"Yeast is a living organism, most often used as a leavening agent in breads; yeast is slow-actingBaking soda is a quick-acting leavening agent. It is only used when acids are presentthe most common of which is cream of tartarBaking powder is the most common of the quick-acting leavening agents. It is a combination of soda and acid.

Quick-acting leavening agents are used in cakes and cookies. They do this by providing air, steam, or gas.4Leavening agent + moisture + warmth =carbon dioxide bubblesThe bubbles go upward...causing the dough/batter to rise with them!

5Baking Ingredients...fats add richness, flavor, and tenderness

Butter or margarine; do NOT use soft margarines for baking, as they contain added waterCooking oils; do not substitute oils for solid fatsSolid shortening 6Baking Ingredients...

8. LEAVENING AGENT2. TENDERIZER7. PRESERVE TEXTURE6. ENRICH5. BINDER3. COLOReggs 2 eggs whites can be substituted for 1 whole egg to reduce fat and calories.1. FLAVOR

7Baking Ingredients...sweeteners for flavor

Brown sugar must be packed into the measuring cup. It is an unrefined sugar with a high moisture content.Granulated sugar is the most common sweetener in baking.Molasses HoneyPowdered sugar is also called confectioners sugar.8

Baking Ingredients...

Flavorings!Ummm....Yum!

Extracts & flavoringsFruits & vegetablesRaisins or flavored chipsNutsCandies9Standard baking procedure...Most of the time, you wouldnt even need a recipe to follow. For most cakes and cookies, just follow standard baking procedure:

1. "cream" together the fats and sugars2. add eggs one at a time, beating after each3. sift together the dry ingredients4. "add alternately" the dry and liquid ingredients5. stir in flavoring pieces by hand

Use an electric mixer to save time! Use medium speed on your mixer.

Sifting eliminates lumps and helps in even distribution of ingredientsAdd 1/3 dry, then 1/3 wetrepeat til all ingredients are usedAn electric mixer at this point would break up the chips, raisins, nuts, etc.Air + egg whites = volume

Selecting the right bakeware...

If youre using metal bakeware, a lighter colored metal is best. A very dark metal is easier to clean, but retains more heat and can overcook the food easily. A glass pan also retains more heat. If using glass bakeware, you must lower the oven temperature 25 degrees. Glass is much easier to keep clean than metal, so stays nicer looking much longer. It does break if dropped, however.

Preparing the pan for baking...

Grease & flouring a pan is one way of preparing it for baking a cake. Apply grease to sides and bottom of pan. Then add a scoop of flour, shaking it all over the greasy pan until the entire pan is dusted with flour. Discard extra flour.If you are planning to remove the cake from the pan in one piece, you might try lining the pan with waxed paper. Cut the paper to fit the pan perfectly; you still need to grease and flour the sides of the pan and perhaps even the paper.Aerosol cooking spray can be used on pans; avoid overspray; avoid inhaling contents; is especially good for low-fat diets

Choose shaped, rolled, refrigerator, filled, bar, or drop cookiesplace them on the cookie sheet for baking.Before baking...Preheating the oven to the correct temperature is critical! Adjust oven racks so you can bake in the middle of the oven! If rack is too low, food gets too brown on the bottom; if rack is too high, food gets too brown on top.

Pour cake batter into pan. Tap filled pan firmly to settle the batter and break air bubbles.After baking...

You will remove your cake from the pan by a method called inversion (placing a cooling rack on top of the cake pan and flipping the two togetherthe cake pan then lifts off and leaves the cake sitting on the rack). The cake will stay on a cooling rack until completely cool before icing.

Cookies are removed from the oven, cooled for a couple of minutes, removed from the pans with a spatula, and placed on a wire rack for cooling.How can you tell if your cake is done?

A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean when removedif the cake is done.A cake slightly pulls away from the edge of the pan when its done.Lightly tap your finger on the surface of the cake. The indentation your finger makes will pop back up if the cake is done.Cakes made without shortening, such as angel food cakes, and brownies are foods that cannot be tested in those ways listed here. Sometimes you just have to time the cakes very carefully.15Frying a hamburger or heating up a soup?Assembling a casserole or preparing a sidedish? all that is just cooking. But baking...now, THAT'S AN ART!Not everyone can bake successfully, and it takes time. That makes baking something pretty special. Its perfect for special occasions and gift-giving.

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Created by Barbara L. Swarthout, Family & Consumer Sciences teacher at Elkhorn High School