When I was a student at Baltimore International Culinary College many years ago, the chef who taught one of my baking classes blew my mind. “All of baking is 5 basic ingredients,” he said. “Butter, milk, eggs, flour, and flavoring, they make everything from pound cake to crepes. HOW you combine these ingredients makes baking magical”.
Baking cakes, pies, cookies, or breads need not be difficult or intimidating, but it does require an understanding of ingredients and mixing methods. Every ingredient has a role in the science and biology going on behind baking.
While a recipe will give you the list of ingredients and a step-by-step procedure, it will never tell you the HOW or WHY behind baking and why you need each to bake great results.
Great baked goods begin with high quality ingredients. Even the finest ingredients must be combined in the proper balance. Each ingredient performs a specific function and has a specific effect on the final product. Ingredients are classified by function as:
Tougheners
Flour, milk, and eggs contain protein. Protein provides structure and toughens the item. Too little protein and it may collapse, too much protein and it may be tough and course-textured.
Tenderizers
Sugar, fats, and egg yolks shorten gluten strands, making a cake, muffin or pie dough tender and soft. These ingredients also improve the items’ keeping qualities.
Moisteners
Liquids such as water, milk, juice and eggs bring moisture to the mixture. Moisture is necessary for gluten formation and starch gelatinization, as well as improving shelf-life.
Driers
Flour, starches, and milk solids absorb moisture, giving body and structure to baked goods.
Leaveners
Baked goods rise because the gases in the batter expand when heated. They’re leavened by the air trapped when fat and sugar are creamed together, by carbon dioxide released from baking powder and baking soda, and by air trapped in the beaten eggs. Even with yeast or chemicals, all baked goods must rely on natural leaveners – steam and air – to create the proper texture and rise.
Flavorings
Flavorings such as extracts, cocoa, chocolate, spices, salt, sugar, and butter provide the desired flavors. Acidic flavoring ingredients such as sour cream, chocolate and fruit also provide the acid necessary to activate baking soda.
Whether you continue to experiment on your own with written recipes, or enroll in baking classes, an examination of the role of each ingredient will give you the insight to fix common cake faults. If you cake collapses, perhaps you need more leavening or driers. If the cake is too dark, perhaps you have too much tenderizer in the mixture.
These things become apparent when you know the HOWS and WHYs behind baking, something a recipe will never tell you.
Hi Geraldine!
Thanks for your kind comment. I try not to be a "snotty" chef because I just HATE the stereotype spread on TV. Most chefs I know are not fat, do not yell at people, and are not snotty. Only the ones seeking TV ratings are.
I love to watch your videos on You Tube . You are alot of fun. I am so glad that you are not one of those snobish chefs . I don't get the snobish factor . I wonder if that is something that they in culinary school.
Hi Mary!
I'm currently in Hawaii filming new videos for release soon. I've visited a Pasture-fed beef processor, and am headed to the Koloa Rum Company tomorrow for a tour by the owner. So, I'm sorry it's taken me a few days to respond to you.
I'm flattered that you're a fan and have completed your cooking training. I had comments from some of my followers that they wanted baking lessons without having to wait until Week 30 of WebCookingClasses to do so. Thus, I created WebBakingClasses from the same material as you'll find in the Pro Techniques module of WebCookingClasses, Weeks 32-48.
If you're a graduate of WebCookingClasses, and thus a lifetime member, you've already had access to all the videos in WebBakingClasses.com.
Hi Emily!
Thanks for sending me a message and your kind comments. In my Web Baking Classes, you'll learn a lot about chocolate cakes and decorating.
Even more importantly you'll learn the secrets behind the mixing methods that make any cake better.
Good luck in Catering School!
hi dr,hope ur gud.i love ur lectures.am actually in a catern skool here in Nigeria but the lectures are not in details like you have just made yours.thanks alot.i'l like to know more about making chocolate cakes and cake decorations.
tnks
emily
Hi Chef Todd,
I'm a big fan of yours. Love your training method (as I've stated in the past) and LOVE your DVDs. I've completed my cooking training, now I see you have "WebBakingClasses". Will these classes be different from what I've learned? I'm presuming they will be because the FREE trial mentions its 5 months long. If there's more to learn, I will be extremely thrilled to take the course.
Again, love it, love it, love it!!!
Mary Anne