As a home baker, you will read loads of recipes packed with baking jargon. Here is my A-Z list of common baking terms that will assist you through your baking journey.
Aerate – Combining air into ingredients to create a lighter texture or more volume.
Baker’s Dozen – A dozen plus 1 as safeguard.
Blind Bake – Baking a crust of a tart/pie without the filling by pricking the bottom and adding baking beads/rice etc.. and par baking it.
Beat – Mixing ingredients rapidly until they are blended. Can create aeration.
Blend – Mixing substances together until they incorporate together.
Bloom – Blooming gelatine activates the gelatine. Add the gelatine with 5 times the amount of water and let sit.
Coulis – A form of thin sauce made from puréed and strained fruits.
Caramelise – The process of cooking sugar until it turns into caramel brown. Cooking and baking can also caramelise the natural sugars in fruits and vegetables e.g., onions.
Cream – Softening butter or other fats and mixing with other ingredients. E.g., butter and sugar.
Curdle – An ingredient that separates because of overheating or because an acidic ingredient has been added such as lemon juice to a milk.
Deglaze – To add liquid to a pan to thin the mixture.
Dilute – Reducing flavour of a liquid by adding more liquid. Thinning out the mixture.
Dust – Sprinkling a light layer of powdered ingredients. E.g., dusting a cake with icing sugar or dusting the bench with flour.
Egg Wash – To brush a layer of beaten egg mixture over food to add colour to a baked product.
Emulsion – Refers to combining water with fats.
Essence – Baking flavourings that is an artificial substance e.g., vanilla essence.
Extract – Natural substance that comes straight from the source. E.g., Vanilla extract.
Fermentation – A chemical reaction where sugars are broken down into carbon dioxide and alcohol which causes the dough to rise.
Fold – Gentle incorporation of dry and liquid ingredients. Generally used with a spatula. A fold is also a term used when making bread, when you put folds in the dough it allows the gluten to develop and it also traps the gas bubbles giving that holey texture. Another common use of the word ‘fold’ is when making pastries and incorporating the butter into the dough. By continuously putting folds in the dough, you create beautiful, flaky pastry.
Glaze – Using a glossy substance to coat cakes.
Gluten – Proteins found in wheat, rye etc… Gluten gives food their structure and maintains the shape.
Grease – To oil a pan with a fat such as oil or butter to stop food from sticking to the pan.
Infuse – To steep or soak something in liquid to extract the flavours.
Knead – To manipulate dough to activate the gluten.
Laminate – Alternating layers of dough with butter. This allows the dough to puff up creating flaky pastry such as croissants.
Leavening – Agents that allow doughs and batter to rise. E.g., Baking powder
Lukewarm – A liquid slightly warmer than body temperature.
Mise En Place – A French culinary term referring to the preparation of your section in the kitchen. It covers all your equipment and ingredients.
Mould – To give shape to something.
Pipe – Using a piping bag to pipe decorations or to fill pastry products.
Pre-heat – Turning the oven on beforehand to let it come to temperature.
Proof – Allowing bread dough to have its final rise before baking.
Quenelle – is a presentation technique which makes a three-sided oval shape.
Reduce – Reducing the amount of liquid by simmering or boiling which intensifies flavours.
Score – Scoring opens up the skin of the bread dough to allow it to expand.
Sieve – Separate solids from liquids or to reduce lumps from powders.
Scald – Heating the mixture until just before boiling point.
Silicone Baking Mats – A non-stick baking sheet made from silicone and fibreglass.
Simmer – Bringing a mixture below boiling point and allowing it bubble gently.
Soft Peaks – A stage in whipping e.g., cream or meringue, where the mixture is not yet stiff and the peaks of the cream/meringue folds over.
Stiff Peaks – A stage in whipping where the peaks do not collapse
Sponge – Refers to layers in a cake
Temper – Improving the consistency, durability or hardness of a substance by heating and cooling it. E.g., Chocolate.
Whip – Beating an ingredient with a whisk or a whisk attachment to produce volume.
Whisk – A tool used to blend and incorporate air into a mixture.
Yield – The number of baked items you can get from a recipe. Similar to batch.
Zest – Using a grater to grate the outside layer of a citrus fruit.
