What do different baking ingredents do?

Answer 1

Baking Powder and Baking Soda: Both baking powder and baking soda are chemical leavening agents that cause batters to rise when baked. The leavener enlarges the bubbles which are already present in the batter produced through creaming of ingredients.

Butter: Butter adds flavor and texture to your baking and helps to keep it fresh. The temperature of the butter is very important in baking. When room temperature butter is used in your recipe this means your butter should be between 65 degrees F (18 degrees C) and 70 degrees F (21 degrees C). This temperature allows the maximum amount of air to be beaten into your batter. This creaming or beating of your butter or butter and sugar creates air bubbles that your leavener (baking powder or baking soda) will enlarge during baking. Most experts recommend 4 to 5 minutes of creaming the butter for maximum aeration. Cold butter is used in some baking (pie crusts). With this method the butter is not absorbed as much by the starch in the flour and layers result when baked creating flakiness.

Eggs: Eggs, as well as flour, are the structural ingredients in baking. Eggs provide leavening; add color, texture, flavor and richness to the batter. They are very important in helping to bind all the other ingredients together. Beaten eggs are a leavening agent as they incorporate air into the batter, which will expand in the oven and cause the cake to rise.

Flour: When used in baking flour contributes body and structure, texture and flavor to baked goods. The type of flour used will ultimately affect the finished product. Flour contains protein and when it comes in contact with water and heat it produces gluten, which gives elasticity and strength to baked goods

Sugar: When using sugar most people think of it only as a sweetener. But when sugar is used in baking its role becomes more complex as it also adds volume, tenderness, texture, color, and acts as a preservative.

Yeast: Baker's yeast, like baking powder and baking soda, is used to leavened baked. The difference between these two leaveners is that baking powder/soda react chemically to produce the carbon dioxide that makes the baked goods rise. Yeast, on the other hand, is a living organism and the carbon dioxide it produces is the result of the yeast feeding on the dough.

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