Today in Advanced Baking I, Chef Mary Helen went over some baking basics with the class. For starters, she had us all collect one cup of flour and put it in a zip lock bag. When we all had our bags of flour, she asked us to weigh each one and write them on the board. My bag of flour weighed 4.41 ounces, and almost everyone else’s weighed much closer to 5 ounces. Chef informed us that this discrepancy in the weight of our bags of flour could affect our baking. For instance, we could all make the same biscuit recipes; however, the people with heavier cups of flour would have denser biscuits while those of us with lighter cups of flour, would have lighter biscuits. Chef Mary Helen informed us that our bags should weigh close to 4.25 ounces. I was pretty happy that my bag of flour was close to this mark. However, I do realize that I should be more careful when collecting my ingredients to make sure that they are the appropriate measurements. Chef went over the following “Bakeshop Basics”; all of which, I found to be very informative and worth documenting for future reference.

The best way to gather flour is to “fluff” up the flour in the container with the scoop. Then scoop up the flour and pour it into the measuring cup. Then the measuring cup should be scraped across the top to remove any excess flour. A more definite way to make sure that the right measurements are being used is to use a scale every time. By using a scale, you can know for certain if the cup of flour is too little or too much!

When a recipe lists an ingredient and then has “divided” written out beside it, that means that the ingredient will be used more than once and the number is the total quantity which will be “divided” into various steps. There is also a difference between “1 cup flour, sifted” and “1 cup sifted flour”. The first means that you measure one cup and then sift it; while the second means you sift the flour and then measure a cup of it.

There are two different thermometers present in the kitchen, candy and meat thermometers, and that they should be collaborated appropriately before using. A thermometer should read 212F in boiling water and 32F in ice water. These should be cleaned by soaking them in warm water and should never be put in the dish washer.

Always test baking soda or baking powder prior to using. Baking powder can be tested in warm water while baking soda can be tested with vinegar. If they bubble up, then they are still good!

Recipes are always written for large eggs! Using medium or small eggs may cause a negative result. Large eggs weigh 2 ounces.

One stick of butter should equal 4 ounces or 113 grams. When cutting up the big 1 pound blocks of butter, it is extremely important to get it right – especially when baking! You don’t want too little or too much butter. The term “plastic” refers to butter that is 65 – 68F which is soft but not too soft that it can’t hold it’s shape.

Fine salt is generally used for baking unless otherwise noted. If using coarse, kosher salt, then twice as much is generally needed, so be careful!

There are several types of vanilla. Imitation, paste, extract, powder, and beans. Vanilla paste and vanilla beans pack a lot more flavor. Vanilla extract will evaporate under heat.

There are a TON of different types of flours: cake flour, pastry flour, all purpose, bread, high-gluten, clear, and whole wheat. They all contain various percentages of protein which can cause a cake to be more or less dense. These various flours are used for SPECIFIC recipes, and are not directly interchangeable. If a substitute is needed, a conversion chart should always be used to determine how much of one flour can be substituted for another – if a substitution is possible at all! Always pay attention to the types of flour. When recipes just say “flour”, it generally refers to all purpose. In addition, there are two types of flour: bleached and unbleached. Bleached flour refers to  flour that is bleached by companies using chlorine gas, chlorine dioxide, benzoyl peroxide, or even potassium bromate – which is considered a carcinogen in many countries. Unbleached flour, on the other hand, is flour that is milled and allowed time to rest and oxidize naturally. It turns a lighter beige color on its own. Unbleached flavor is not as white as bleached flour, so it may produce a slightly different look. However, it has better flavor and is healthier.

I’m sure that all of these notes will come in handy for the remainder of this class. Next week, we are making scones and biscuits!

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