1. Home Baking © PDST Home Economics

2.  Better flavour  Attractive appearance  Cheaper  No preservatives  You can control ingredients Advantages of Home Baking

3. Ingredients for baking  Flour: usually wheat flour because it contains gluten  Fat: keeps bread fresh, butter has the best flavour, margarine is economical

4. Ingredients for baking  Sugar: granulated or castor sugar can be used for sweetness, brown sugar adds a spicy flavour, icing sugar is used for decorating  Eggs: should be fresh and at room temperature used to trap air

5. Ingredients for baking  Fruit: fresh or dried used to add flavour  Liquid: water, milk, egg used to make dough

6. Ingredients for baking  Raising agent: makes product light and spongy, can be natural, chemical or biological

7. Raising Agents  Raising agents make bread and cakes rise in the oven so that they have a spongy texture  Raising agents put a gas (air and/or CO 2 ) in the mixture  In the oven the heat makes the gas expand which pushes up the mixture  The mixture is able to stretch because of the gluten in the flour  After a while the heat in the oven sets the gluten so that the mixture keeps the risen shape

8. Natural raising agent: Air  Used alone in sponge cakes and pastry or with another raising agent in other baked goods.  Air is put into mixtures by (a) Sieving (b) Rubbing fat into flour (c) Creaming sugar and fat (d) Whisking eggs with sugar

9. Chemical Raising Agents  These depend on a chemical reaction to make the gas in the dough.  An alkali and an acid react to make a gas called carbon dioxide (CO 2 )  Baking Powder + Milk = CO 2  (Alkali + Acid ) + Moisture = Gas  Bread Soda + Buttermilk = CO 2  Alkali + (Acid + Moisture) = CO 2

10. Biological Raising Agent  Yeast  Tiny living organisms make CO 2 in the dough  In the oven the bubbles of CO 2 expand and pushes up the dough, until the gluten sets the dough  The heat also kills the cells

11. Oven temperature  Pre-heat oven to correct temperature  Too hot – outside burns inside still raw  Too cool – gas escapes – bread doesn’t rise

12. Rules for Home Baking  Prepare tins and oven shelves in advance.  Pre-heat oven.  Use fresh ingredients.  Weigh and follow recipe carefully.  Sieve to add air.  Add liquid carefully.  Handle as little as possible, knead lightly.  Once wet put in oven a.s.a.p.  Time carefully, avoid opening door.  Test for doneness.  Cool on wire tray.

13. Methods of baking MethodUsed for The rub-in method. Fat rubbed into flour. Scones, yeast bread, pastry The creaming method. Fat and sugar creamed. Queen cakes Madeira cakes The all-in-one method. All ingredients mixed together at once Madeira cakes Queen cakes The whisking method Sponge cake Meringue The melting method Oatmeal biscuits Ginger bread

14. Cake Mixes  Mixture of flour, fat, sugar, raising agent, salt and additives sieved blended and packed.  When buying check expiry date and that its sealed, store in cool place.  When using follow instructions when adding the liquid.  Advantages: Saves time & labour, simple to use, quick in emergencies.  Disadvantages: Expensive, contain additives, lack fibre, too much salt & sugar

15. Cake Mixes

16. Pastry  Mixture of flour, fat and water.  Richer pastry may have egg or sugar added.  Many types, used for sweet or savoury dishes.

17. Shortcrust and Rich Shortcrust

18. Flaky and Puff pastry

19. Suet pastry and choux pastry

20. Filo pastry

21. Pastry ingredients  Flour: plain flour only, self-raising flour makes pastry soft.  Fat: Butter gives good flavour, hard margarine is economical and lard makes pastry light and crispy. A mixture of margarine and lard can be used.  Water: should be cold and added a little at a time to make stiff dough.  Air: makes pastry rise, the more air in the pastry the better, sieving, rubbing in, rolling and folding.

22. Rules for making pastry  Weigh accurately.  Keep ingredients and equipment cool.  Introduce air.  Avoid over-handling.  Use knife to mix.  Add water carefully.  Knead & roll lightly.  Relax pastry in fridge before baking.  Avoid stretching pastry.  Bake in hot oven so burst starch grains can soak up melting fat.

23. Baking Blind  Baking a pastry case without a filling e.g. for quiche or a fruit flan.  The base of the case is marked with a fork  Grease proof paper is spread over the base and weighted down with dried beans.