Basics of making cakes

Basics of making cakes. Many people like to eat cakes in life, especially on birthdays. Generally, many people are used to eating cakes. Many people can buy cakes in the store and learn to make cakes by themselves. The following are the basics of making cakes. Basics of making cakes 1

There are many types of cakes, and the basics for getting started with baking are chiffon cake, sponge cake, and angel food cake. The most essential difference between these three cakes is not in the raw materials, but in the production process.

Chiffon cake: The egg white and egg yolk are separated. The egg yolk and flour are first mixed into a yolk paste, then the egg white is beaten separately, and then mixed again.

Sponge cake: The most traditional cake. Pour all the eggs into a beating bowl and beat them. After whipping, add oil, powder, and sugar to make it.

Angel cake: Separate the egg whites and egg yolks of the eggs, and only use the egg whites to beat, discarding the egg yolks. Then add flour and sugar to make it.

Getting started with baking is both easy and difficult. Either the baked cake will be soft or it will be burnt.

7 practical basic baking knowledge that will best understand your little thoughts:

1. Why do you need to use low-gluten flour when making cakes?

Using flours with different gluten properties will cause the pastry to have different expansion and hardness. For example, when making sponge cakes, low-gluten flour is used, and the finished product has a soft texture, elastic texture, and an upright shape that will not collapse. If high-gluten flour is used, the excessive gluten will inhibit the expansion of the cake, resulting in a small baked product with a solid texture and a slightly hard texture.

2. How to beat eggs?

The beating of eggs is divided into: beating of separated eggs and beating of whole eggs.

Separate egg beating refers to the method of beating egg whites and egg yolks separately, and then combining them into one after being beaten.

Separate the eggs and beat them. To beat the egg whites, you must first ensure that the container needs to be water-free and oil-free. It has two states, wet foaming and dry foaming.

Wet foaming: Beat the egg white into a rough foam, then add sugar and beat until it is textured, white and smooth. When you pull up the egg beater, it will be elastic and stand upright but the tail end will be slightly bent.

Dry foaming: Beat the egg whites into rough foam, then add sugar and beat until the texture is obvious and white and smooth. When you pull up the egg beater, it will be elastic and the tail end will be straight.

Whisting whole eggs refers to the method of beating egg whites, egg yolks and sugar together.

Beat whole eggs, usually with hot water. When beating whole eggs, because the egg yolks can reduce their consistency when heated, increase the formation of emulsions, and accelerate the mixing with egg whites and air, making them more likely to foam and expand, so they must be beaten with heat.

3. Is the cake batter too thick?

If the batter is too thick, you can add some water, milk, or orange juice to adjust it. Otherwise, the baked cake will easily crack or fail to rise.

4. Why can’t you stir in circles when making cakes?

Stirring the batter in circular motions can easily cause gluten in the batter, resulting in the resulting cakes and biscuits not being soft enough; when mixing batter with whipped egg whites, it is easy to cause the whipped egg whites to defoam. Therefore, it is better to mix the batter by stirring or cutting.

5. The cake collapsed during baking?

The reasons for this situation are: the batter is too thin or too thick. If too much sugar is used, the overall structure of the cake will be unstable. For stale eggs, the egg whites are over-beaten, and the instability of the egg whites also leads to the collapse of the structure.

6. The cake is very loose and has no toughness?

The amount of eggs used affects the toughness of the cake. Sometimes if the cake is very loose and breaks when touched, it may be due to the lack of eggs.

7. How to judge whether the cake is cooked?

A mature cake will emit a rich aroma, and its skin will turn golden brown and begin to harden. When you insert a bamboo skewer into the cake and pull it out, there will be no batter on it. Basics of making cakes 2

Sufficient time

Almost all desserts must be cooled or even frozen after baking before further operations can be performed, such as frosting or cream decoration. If the cake is hot, the decorations will melt and fail. As for cutting, you can only cut it into the ideal shape after it has cooled. Baked cookies must wait for them to cool before they harden, otherwise they will crumble when handled. It usually takes more than 1 hour to cool completely. In addition, it takes 1 to 2 hours to make the dough successfully, so if you don’t have enough time and patience, don’t bother.

When whipping egg whites, it will fail if there are impurities such as water or oil in the container.

Egg whites are generally beaten with sugar and cream of tartar until they are hard and foamy, and then mixed in I couldn't find any cream of tartar in the batter. Later I found out on the Internet that white vinegar can be substituted for the cream of tartar with the same effect. More importantly, in fact, it should be to avoid impurities. If there is water, the egg whites will be able to beat a lot of bubbles, but they will not become hard after beating for a long time. It can be used to make egg cakes, but not so good for making cakes.

Moreover, the sugar needs to be put in several times, so it is easy to harden. The taste of the cake depends largely on this sugar protein, otherwise it will be as rough as bread.

Baking powder, baking soda and dry yeast

Baking Powder is baking powder and baking soda is baking soda. The latter is commonly used in American families as an odor absorber in the refrigerator. Both are commonly used in baking. Use a small spoonful at a time, but remember, you must add salt!

I don’t know how the chemical reaction works. In short, these two powders will only work if salt is put in. Dry yeast (instant yeast) is very convenient. To make it work, you must first mix warm water and sugar. After the sugar is dissolved, put the dry yeast in and stir gently until it dissolves. Wait 10 minutes, and a layer of bubbles will appear on the water surface, which means that The yeast has awakened and can be put into the dough to rise.

Flour classification

There are several types of flour for making pastries, including self-rising flour. With this, you don’t need baking powder, etc., but I think this flour is too coarse. , and it’s yellow, I don’t know how to improve it), cake flour (cake flour), high-gluten flour (bread flour), all-purpose flour (all-purpose flour, the most commonly used flour)

There is also whole wheat flour specially made for making whole wheat bread, and corn flour for making corn cakes. If Chinese flour is added, there will also be glutinous rice flour, Chengfen (transparent flour, used to make transparent snacks such as shrimp dumplings), corn starch (called corn starch or cornstarch in Guangdong, used for yawning), sticky rice flour ( Rice flour), potato flour, etc. are all available, so be careful when using them.

When making cakes, the flour generally has to be sifted, because the flour will clump together, and after sifting, it will become more fine and the effect will be different!

Classification of sugar

The white sugar in Western supermarkets includes natural sucrose and sugar substitute (sweetener) prepared for diabetics. There are also differences in shapes. General sugar is sugar, and powdered sugar is called confectioners' sugar, which is refined fine sugar and is used to decorate pastries.

Brown sugar is brown sugar, and sugar cubes are sugar cubes. They are used less. Of course there are also colorful decorative sugar grains (coarse sugar). Syrup is called syrup, and the most common ones are corn syrup and maple syrup. There is also highly purified molasses, a supporting role that is not easy to find.

Spices and saccharin

The spices and saccharin in Western pastry are nothing more than these. The most commonly used saccharin is vanilla extract, which only needs a small spoonful. The cake adds a vanilla flavor. Others include orange saccharin, lemon saccharin, etc. The most commonly used spices are cinnamon and nutmeg, but clove and mint are also sometimes used.

Other ingredients

I like the taste of coconut, and coconut flakes often play the leading role in my desserts. The chocolate flavor can be made with cocoa powder or boiled and melted whole chocolate, but chocolate is too sweet, so I generally avoid using it. I also often use corn cereal and oatmeal (oats, eating more is good for the heart) to increase toughness and taste. For nuts, I mainly use walnuts and almonds, because they are cheaper...

Recently I have been looking for dried dates everywhere because I don’t like raisins. ), sweet dates can be used instead. Butter (buy the unsalted kind in strips, not the butter spread used for bread, you can also use margarine instead to reduce fat), eggs, vegetable oil, etc. are the hardcore green leaves that appear every time.

Roast and measuring tools

After talking for a long time, I realized that I forgot to mention the stage background - the roaster! The picture below shows the basic baking pan, which is available in glass and resin versions. The 9X5-inch pan is specially used for baking bread, while the round pan is used for baking cakes. There is also a special baking pan, the most exaggerated one I have ever seen, which can make an entire football stand, amazing! Basics of making cake 3

Basic raw materials: eggs, sugar, flour, salt.

Auxiliary raw materials: oil, bulking agent, moisture, spices.

The basic functions of eggs in cakes: 1. Bonding 2. Foaming 3. Holding air 4. Increase the softness, toughness, color and nutrition of the product.

The role of egg yolk in baked products: 1. It has a crisping and puffing effect on dry products

2. It has a binding and coagulating effect on wet products

3. It has a coloring effect on baking

4. It has an emulsifying effect on the product’s texture

5. Increases the golden color of the product

6 , Promote the baking effect

The role of protein on cakes: 1. Promote the expansion of the cake body

2. Increase the taste and nutrition, and increase the whiteness

3. Increase the toughness of the cake

The mixing state of the protein: warm state, neutral state, wet state.

The impact of stirring status on cake: 1. When the egg white is not stirred enough, it will not be in good condition after being mixed with other materials

; 2. When it is over-stirred, it will easily foam after mixing

Other uses of protein 1. Biscuits use a large amount of protein, which can promote crispiness and hardness.

2. Improve the appropriate toughness of dough and batter

3. Have an adhesive effect

4. Can be used in surface coatings to promote baking color

　5. Surface decoration materials (meringue)

Two major effects of white sugar on baked products: 1. Tangible effects: aroma, sweetness, filling, stability, caramelization, viscosity

2. Intangible functions: softness, Q-transformation, moisturizing, moisture absorption, antisepsis, heat, hardness and crispness (for the constitution of the product)

Low-gluten flour for cakes

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Flour: 6.5-8.5

The role of flour in the cake: 1. Promote the formation of batter

2. Promote the expansion and stability of the cake

3 , maintain cake volume (qualitative effect)

The effects of fat on cakes and baked products: 1. Can make food more delicious

2. Improve the nutritional value of products

< p> 3. It can promote the different effects of product texture such as loose, soft, crispy, thin, tender and slippery

4. It can make the product volume expand and loosen

5. It can make the dough Or the batter is smooth and not sticky

6. Extend the shelf life

7. Increase the flavor of the product

Three types of leavening agents: 1. Baking powder ( Baking powder) 2. Soda ash 3. Amenia (smelly powder)

The function of cake foaming agent (SP): Mix in a large amount of air during mixing, and the expansion state of the batter will be relatively stable. The reason is that the foaming agent has strong foaming ability and emulsifying function, so that water and oil can be fully integrated.

Classification of milk products: liquid dairy (milk), concentrated dairy (condensed milk), powdered dairy (milk powder)

The role of water in cakes: 1. Provide the necessary ingredients for cakes Moisture

2. Adjust the batter

3. Promote the expansion of gluten and make the batter reach appropriate toughness

4. Make the cake more expanded

5. Make the product more delicious

The effect of salt on cakes: 1. Make the taste more refreshing and seasoning

2. Reduce the sweetness of the cake

3. Extend the shelf life

4. Increase the whiteness of the product

5. Increase the toughness of the protein

Classification of cakes: batter type, chiffon type, Milk foam (whole eggs) are classified according to different mixing methods.