20 Baking Terminologies explained

We love sharing recipes with you so you can enjoy baking at home as much as we do ^_^.

We’ve decided to define some baking terminologies that may be used and not well understood by some. Hope this helps you and makes baking recipes much more easier and baking fun like it should be.

BAKING TERMINOLOGIES

1.)Aeration
Incorporation of air and/or gas in bakery products by mixing, beating or whisking. Gas is introduced by baking powder or yeast.

2.) Batch
One mixing of bread or cakes.

3.) Batter
A soft completed cake or quick bread mixture.

Batter

4.) Beat
The aeration of fat, sugar, eggs and other materials.

5.) Body
Firmness and response of the crumb or dough to pressure.

6.) Egg Wash
Eggs beaten and brushed on bakery products before baking.

7.) Coat
 To cover a cake with icing, cream, glaze or egg wash.

8.) Consistency
The “feel” of dough or batter.

9.) Crumb
All the bread loaf or cake except the crust. The ‘inside’ of the cake or bread.
10.) Crust
That part of the outside of the bread or cake that is dehydrated and caramelized during baking. It’s usually the outer brown part. 

11.) Curdle
A mixture (cake batter or other), which has separated and has lost its smooth consistency.

Curdling batter

12.)Dough
A raw completed yeast or pastry mixture.

13.) Dust
To sprinkle flour e.g. on the table-top to prevent dough from sticking or on a greased pan to avoid cake sticking. This can also apply to icing sugar/confectioner’s sugar on a cake.

14.) Essences
Aromatic food compounds used for flavoring confectionery(cakes, breads or icings) e.g. Vanilla essence, Strawberry essence, etc.

15.) Glaze
– to egg wash before baking.
– to brush with highly boiled fruit puree.
– to wash with sugar solution after baking e.g. lemon drizzle glaze.

16.) Gluten
Insoluble wheat protein found in foods processed from wheat and related grain species, including barley and rye. It gives elasticity to dough, helping it keep its shape and giving the final product a chewy texture.

17.) Icing/Frosting
The coating and decoration of a cake with prepared butter cream icing or frosting.

Frosting/Icing a cake

18.)Pinched
 The decoration on the edge of a short bread, pastry etc.

19.) Snow
Well-beaten egg whites.

snowy beaten egg whites

20.) Yield
The calculated units from the total baked weight of a particular formula e.g. 1 Kg of cake or 400gms Bread.

Have you read any terminologies in baking recipes that have stumped you? Let us know we will see if we can help ^_^