Now that you already know the things that you need to have, it’s time to study the common ingredients that are crucial in baking.
Flour
Flour is the most important ingredient that is needed in any baking process. Commonly, flour is the main ingredient of a baked good. The function of the flour is to give structure to the cake, cookies and more. There are tons of flour available out there for specific purposes, for example self rising flour is suitable for making cakes, bread flour is for bread making and all purpose flour can be used for any kind of baked goods. The flour is graded through their protein content.
Sugar
There are thousands of sources of sugar. The most common is cane or palm sugar. The sugar that we commonly use is known as crystalized white sugar. For your information, brown and white sugar are the same, the only difference is that brown sugar does not go through a bleaching process which will eliminate the dark pigment, molasses aroma and taste.
Fat/ Butter
Fats are important too that is why it deserves to be on the top 3 of the most crucial ingredients in baking. Despite its bad reputation, fat gives extra moisture and aroma into baking goods. The most popular and commonly used fat is butter. Butter has two types which is salted and unsalted. If you want to know it more please visit our page:
Yeast
Yeast is one of the leavening agents for baked goods. In order to have a very airy, fluffy and springy bread texture you need to use yeast. Yeast can be divided into a few types. Firstly, natural yeast which is the most popular one, also known as the sourdough starter. Another type of yeast is fresh yeast. Before you use fresh yeast, you need to activate it so that it can do its job in the fermentation process. Lastly, is dry instant yeast. This yeast doesn’t need any startup like the other types of yeast, it can expand really fast.
Chocolate
Chocolate is made of the cocoa fruit. However, it is not the fruit that we use, it’s the bean that we use to turn it into the world’s number one favorite. There are 3 common types of chocolate: dark, milk and white chocolate. All of these require different tricks in managing them.
Jams and Fillings
Jams and fillings are loved by everyone. There are variations of them; chocolate, berries, peanuts, you name it! The usage of these products are dependent on how you are going to apply them. It can be used as a flavouring, binding agent and many more. It is a handy ingredient to have in hand. Not to mention, they taste delicious!
Colouring
It is used to colour products. Colourings that are commonly used by bakers consist of 4 types which are the water base, oil base, powder base and gel base coloring. All of the variations have their own specialty.
Emulco
Emulco is the advanced sibling of colouring. Emulco has artificial flavouring inside it. Really convenient to have some in your pantry.
Cream and Milk
Dairy products are important in baking to give you a rich dairy texture. Other than that, milk is used in altering the product texture and colour due to its percentage of fat content being higher than normal plain water.
With this guide, you’ll be ready to stock your pantry and bake like a pro. If you’re new to working with some of these baking ingredients, be sure to check out the best tips and tricks as well as essential baking basics for working in the kitchen.
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We hope this useful information will be helpful in your baking journey.
Do not miss out the previous topics: Day 2: Baking Equipment
Up Next: Day 4: Dessert Category
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