ROLLING PIN
FLOUR SIFTER
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BRUS
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MILK
NG COOLI RACK
PINS COOLING RACK
UR FLO
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EGG YOLK
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ROLLING
HOW TO BAKE A VANILLA CAKE?
G EG K L YO
EGG WHIT E
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MILK
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FLOUR SIFTER FLOUR
MILK
01 The Science of Baking: Kitchen Chemistry such as salt, eggs, milk, sugar, and flour 02 Kitchen Tools: Useful Tools for baking such as whisks, ovenw, and gloves 03 Ingredients: Materials such as egg whites, egg yolk, flour, milk, and cooking oil 04 Directions and Steps: There are 12 step-by-step directions and stages to guide bakers.
The Science of Baking: Kitechen Chemistry In the home kitchen, there are
— my typically lofty gougères came
instructor and the author of several
two kinds of people: cooks and
out of the oven as flat as cookies-I
books, including The Bread Baker’s
bakers. For cooks, recipes are
decided to become less of a cook
Apprentice-into sharing the basics
mere suggestions, flexible in their
and more of a baker. So I quizzed six
behind dough construction. He told
ingredients and proportions. For
baking experts about ingredients and
me that two proteins — glutenin and
bakers, on the other hand, recipes
techniques. The secret to successful
gliadin — inhabit flour. “When you
are gospel truth, precise in their
baking? It’s all in the chemistry. And
add water to the flour to hydrate the
measurements and techniques.
here’s the scientific lowdown on
ingredients, these proteins are drawn
how each basic baking ingredient
to each other and bond,” Reinhart
the spontaneity of tweaking a recipe
functions in the kitchen.
says. “This new protein is gluten.”
or making one up based on what’s
Flour
Reinhart suggested I call Shirley
Me, I’m definitely a cook. I enjoy
in the fridge. But the downside to
I started my research with flour.
Corriher for the nitty-gritty on the
being a cook is that, no matter how
After all, the protein in flour lends
science of baking. A former Vanderbilt
often I’ve prepared a particular bread
structure to baked goods, from poufy
University biochemist, Corriher turned
or pastry recipe, I can’t guarantee
popovers to crusty artisanal breads.
her kitchen into a laboratory of sorts
the same results every time. I envy
As pastry chef Shuna Fish
and published her experiments in two
my grandmother, who can whip
Lydon wrote recently on her
cookbooks, CookWise and BakeWise.
together dough for dozens of dinner
Eggbeater blog, “In baking, protein
Kneading builds gluten networks,
rollswithout even measuring the flour.
provides the walls holding up roofs.”
says Corriher, which in turn support
She just knows when the dough looks
But you can’t build walls of any kind
bread. While dough rises, existing
and feels “right.”
without elbow grease.
gluten threads touch and create
After a recent cheese-puff disaster
I coaxed Peter Reinhart-a baking
more links. Later, inside the oven,
the proteins and starches in the flour
flour in my cupboard. Sure enough,
the other hand, lend richness and
transform into the sturdy webbing
I had made my top-heavy cheese
moisture to baked goods, says David
inside a loaf of bread. Pastries, on
puffs with a high-protein flour more
Lebovitz, a pastry chef whose books
the other hand, demand a more
appropriate for hearty bread.
include Room for Dessert. “If you
tender crumb. Corriher explains that
Eggs
were to make a cake with all egg
the lower protein content in pastry,
In pastry, eggs “help bind things
yolks, it’d be moist, but also kind of
cake, and all-purpose flour creates
together,” explains Mani Niall, a
wet,” he explains. And make sure
a less rigid gluten network and a
pastry chef and the author of the
to bring eggs to room temperature
finer crumb. But selecting the right
cookbook Sweet!. Egg whites work
before mixing. “If you add cold
flour for the job isn’t as easy as it
as leavening agents. When heated,
eggs to butter and sugar, they won’t
seems. “The problem with all-purpose
the proteins in egg whites uncoil
combine correctly,” Lebovitz warns.
flour is that it is all over the place in
and practically explode up the sides
Sugar and Milk
protein content,” Corriher says. So
of the pan, just like Dutch baby
she shared a trick to help determine
pancakes. Corriher has experimented
addictive sweetness, but it also
flour’s protein content: Measure two
with substituting egg whites for
helps keep them moist. “If you think
cups into a bowl and stir it with a
whole eggs to force a bigger rise
of baked goods without sugar, it’s
scant cup of water. “If you have a
out of cream puffs or gougères.
bread, because it’s not tender,”
high-protein flour, it’s going to suck in
But substitutions can be tricky, she
says Niall. Not surprisingly, there’s a
water like crazy” and form a dough,
cautions, because the proteins in
scientific explanation behind sugar’s
she says. Less protein-rich flour won’t
egg whites force out moisture when
tenderizing properties. “If you have
come together unless you add more
they’re heated. The result: puffy but
a lot of sugar present, your glutenin
flour. I tested the all-purpose white
chalk-dry pastries. Egg yolks, on
runs off with sugar, your gliadin
Sugar gives pastries their
Wrote by Kelly Stewar
Eggs, Sugar, Milk, and Salt runs off with sugar, and you don’t
helps to balance sweetness and
get much gluten formed,” Corriher
enhance other flavors during baking.
explains. And then your pastry won’t
And if added as a finishing touch
have any structure. Likewise, adding
to, say, chocolate-chip cookies, salt
milk to batter helps keep baked
provides a pleasing textural contrast.
goods moist. Milk contains the sugar
Lab work
lactose, which bonds with flour proteins and hinders gluten formation.
After talking with bakers and chemists about ingredients, methods,
Both sugar and milk promote
and reactions, I decided there was
browning, Corriher says. Essentially,
one more person I needed to quiz:
bread crust is caramelized sugar.
my grandmother, the master baker
Salt
in my family. She didn’t have advice
Recipes for baked goods usually
about science, but she did say that
call for a pinch of salt because it
practice is the key to good baking.
helps conceal bitter tastes. But the
But just how much practice? Well,
mineral also plays a key role in gluten
she’s baked four to six dozen dinner
formation, says Patti Christie, a
rolls for our big, hungry family every
biochemist who teaches a series of
week or two for the past 58 years.
popular kitchen-chemistry courses
That adds up to nearly 150,000 rolls
at the Massachusetts Institute of
in more than 2,000 baking sessions.
Technology. As for sugary treats, a bit of salt added to batters and doughs
April 27, 2009
Tools
Spatula Gloves Milk Flour Gloves Measuring Spoon Whisks Flour Hand Mixer Sugar Oven 8 in
Ingredients
8 in Baking Pan 5 Eggs at room-temperature 85g Cake Flour 40g Cooking Oil 40g Whole-Fat Milk 60g Sugar for Egg Whites 30g for Egg Yolk; not recommend using Splenda Temperature 338Ëš F 42 Minutes
Spatula Gloves Milk Flour Whisks Measuring Spoon Hand Mixer Sugar Oven 8 in Baking Pan
Step
01-04 MILK
OIL
03 Ad
40g m d and c ilk ookin g oil
SUGAR
02 add
30g sugar
01
Se
par
ate
04 Ble
nd
Step
05-07 05 sift the flour in
the mixer
to
FLOUR
mix
06 ooths
sm
it u it ntil
ell u r w it il yo flou d t y en r un an l b e ee 7 0 geth ot s to nn ca ft le
Step
08-10 08 a
time dd 20g s int o eg sugar 3 gw hite
; o 338Ëš F t t a e h e r 09 p gg white e 3 / 10 b 1 ix and m r into lend a yolk mixe g g e o t l in pou egg yo l of the m l r int k o pa and n WH
ITE
Step
11
into place to 4 oven the pa n 2 m and set inut es
11-12 BAKE
12 place it upsid
on a cooling ra
ck
22
e down
23
24
WOW! YOU’RE ALLBAKING DONE!
MILK
BRUSH
TOOLS
Cakes A
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BAKING TOOLS EGG
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