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CHAPTER 8
BREADS AND DESSERTS
This chapter deals with basic baking terminology,
ingredients, and the procedures used to produce breads
and desserts. To bake a satisfactory product, you must
have a thorough knowledge of these terms, ingredients,
and baking procedures.
BREADS
The term bread has been used for centuries to
describe a mixture of flour, sugar, shortening, salt, and
liquid. This mixture is made into dough, then yeast is
added to the mixture to make the dough rise.
Two kinds of bread are used in the general mess
(GM). One kind includes yeast breads such as
yeast-raised breads and rolls, sweet-dough rolls of
various kinds, coffee cakes, doughnuts, pizza, and quick
breads. The other kind includes products leavened by
chemical leavening agents such as baking powder.
Some of these products are biscuits, muffins, pancakes,
cake doughnuts, quick coffee cake, and corn bread.
Bread is the most important food produced by the
baker. It is prepared in greater quantities than any other
baked product. High quality and excellent taste should
be maintained regardless of the amount of bread baked.
YEAST-RAISED BREADS
The production of yeast-raised products, especially
bread and sweet doughs, is considerably more involved
than the production of other bakery products. If the
ingredients are of good quality, used in specific
amounts, and are properly mixed, using proper
temperatures, the doughs will yield good quality
products.
Ingredients
The baker must understand the functions of each
basic baking and breadmaking ingredient used in bakery
products. He or she should then use the ingredients
properly (manner of mixing and amount used). The
functions of these ingredients are explained next.
FLOUR.— Flour is a mixture of starch, protein, and
other materials. The kinds of flour used are described
as follows:
8-1
. General-purpose flour is a mixture of hard and
soft wheat flours. It is used to make cakes, cookies,
quick breads, pastries, and pies. It does not have enough
gluten strength to make satisfactory yeast bread and
rolls.
. Bread flour is a blend of hard wheat flours. It
contains more protein than general-purpose flour and
has a slight granular texture. Good quality bread and
other yeast-raised products can be made only with bread
flour.
. Wheat base is prepared from the wheat germ,
bran, and other fragments of wheat kernels. It has a
whole wheat flavor and may be combined with flour to
produce whole wheat bread.
In addition to the protein, flour contains various
food elements such as carbohydrates, water, minerals,
vitamins, enzymes, and fat. The amount of these
elements contained in the flour varies with the type,
grade, and storage period of the flour.
Protein.— The two principal proteins present in
wheat flour (gliadin and glutenin), when combined with
moisture, form gluten that gives structure to batters and
doughs. Gluten also gives the dough expansion
qualities.
Carbohydrates. — Carbohydrates in flour are
usually in the form of starch that absorbs water and helps
give bulk to dough. Flour that is especially made for
cakes and pastries is rich in carbohydrates.
Water.— Wheat flour usually contains from 9- to
15-percent moisture. Flour absorbs or loses moisture in
storage, depending on the atmospheric conditions.
Minerals.— Minerals are contained in the bran coat
and the germ of wheat, and most of the minerals are lost
when wheat is made into white flour. These minerals
are returned to flours that are enriched.
Vitamins.— To replace the food value lost in
milling, vitamins and minerals such as thiamin, niacin,
iron, and riboflavin are frequently added to flour. Flour
treated in this manner is known as enriched flour.
Enzymes.— An enzyme is a very minute substance
produced by a living plant. The mere presence of an
enzyme brings about certain changes in the composition
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