Module

Bakery Products
2 Preparation

According to the Jiangsu Boli Products Co., Ltd, bakery products may be
classified according to the way they are leavened. These include the following
categories.
■ Yeast-raised products include breads and sweet doughs leavened by carbon
dioxide from yeast fermentation.

■ Chemically leavened- products include layer cakes, doughnuts, and biscuits

raised by carbon dioxide from baking powders and chemical agents.

■ Air-leavened products include pie crusts, certain crackers, and other items
where no intentional leavening agents are used, yet a slight leavening occurs
from expanding stream and other gases during the oven-baking operation.

The following are the five general categories of baked products that are sold in
the market today.

A. Pies and Pastries

■ Pies are baked goods that have layers of pastry dough that form a crust
and fillings. Some traditional varieties of pies include apple, mango,
strawberry pies, among others.
■ Pastry refers to baked products with a mixture of flour, liquid, and high
amount of fat than regular pie dough. Common pastry dishes include
tarts and quiches.

Types of Pies
1. One crust pie- is a type of pie that does not have a top crust. It only has the
bottom crust that lines the pie plate and holds the filling with a thin layer
of dough. The bottom crust is baked first then the filling is added to the pie
shell for final baking. The pie can be topped with meringue, whipped cream,
nuts and other toppings.
2. Double crust pie- is made of two crusts - the top and the bottom crusts that
seal around the fillings. It keeps the juice of the fruits inside the crust if
you are preparing a fruit pie. In sealing the edges of the crust, you can use
your finger or a fork in order to make a decorative edge of your pie crust.
3. Turnovers – are individual pies formed by folding the crust in half over a
filling (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2013). The open edges are pressed together
to enclose the filling. Turnovers are usually small enough to be held by
hand and maybe baked or fried. Fillings can be sweet or savory (example,
meat fillings).Empanada is an example of turnover.
4. Puff pastry- is a rolled dough formed from layers of fat in between layers of
dough. This produces very thin layers of dough which puffs up when the

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 trapped air expands during baking (Gisslen, 2001). It can be used as pie
crust like the shell used for Chicken a la King in some bakeshops and
restaurants. Because it has a rich flavor due to the amount of fat it contains
it may made like a biscuit and prepared with or without filling. Examples
of these are the otap and the Napoleon’s of Bacolod City,

B. Quick Breads
These are easy to make breads that use chemical leavening agents that
require no fermentation. Thus, once it is mixed, it can be baked in the oven
immediately (Wheat Foods Council). Quick breads are also known as
sweetened loaves. It usually contains more sugar, fats, and eggs than yeast
breads but less than in cakes. In a broad sense quick breads include all types
of baked products that are leavened by baking powder or baking soda.

Here are some examples of quick breads.

■ Loaf Breads – its process does not require kneading or rising or rising
time.

■ Muffins – it is a small, cake-like bread that is made with variety of flours,

fruits, and nuts.

■ Rolled Biscuits – small quick breads is another bread that uses baking
soda or baking powder. These breads have less liquid compared to
dropped cookies and normally with flat tops and straight sides.

■ Dropped Biscuits – are similar with cookies, a flat, sweet baked products
that also uses baking powder and soda. These biscuits have soft texture
compared to rolled cookie because these contain more liquid.

Types of Dough Mixtures for Quick Breads

a. Soft dough is used for making biscuits or cookies. It is characterized by its
softness, and therefore can be rolled out and be easily sliced or carved into
perfect form.

b. Batter is a mixture of flour, milk, and egg. It is classified into two – pour
batter and drop batter. Pour batter is almost in its liquid form that makes
it easily poured, while drop batter is thickly made so that it can be dropped
from a spoon.

C. Cakes
isslen (2001) defines cakes as similar with sweetened loaves and breads but
with enhanced ingredients and considered as the sweetest among all baked
products. Cakes generally have soft, light, and fine texture. These contain
high fat and sugar content that makes it quite difficult for a baker to maintain
the desirable appearance of cakes. Producing cakes require well-balanced
recipes and precision in measuring and mixing. Electric beater is a useful tool
in beating or whipping the egg mixture. There are numerous cake recipes but
bakers group cakes according to ingredients mixing method followed in
producing them. The following are the basic types of cakes.

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 1. Shortened or butter cakes contain fat, such as butter, margarine, vegetable
fats and oil, and baking powder as its leavening agent. If the fat used is
butter, creaming method is used to combine the ingredients. These cakes
are light, velvety, moist, and rich in butter. Examples of these are pound
and butter layer cakes.

2. Unshortened or foam cakes do not contain fat and leavening agents. Their
volume is created by whipping egg whites. This type of cake is light and
airy with a spongy texture but has less flavor and moisture. Angel food
cakes and chiffons are classified into this category.

3. Low- or no flour cakes are made with very little flour or no flour at all. These
cakes, which may be baked or unbaked, have creamy or silky texture. These
includes flourless cheesecakes and unbaked mouse cakes.

D. Cookies
Cookies are small, flat, flour-based baked products. In some countries,
biscuits are used to refer cookies. In the Philippines, both cookies and biscuits
are used to refer to cookie products.
Like other baked products, cookies also contain ingredients commonly used
in other baked products. However, only cookies contain small amount of liquid
with much sugar and fats.
The commonly used ingredients in baking cookies are wheat flour, fat, and
sugar. To further enhance taste and structure, other ingredients are also added
such as leavening agent, liquids, egg, milk, and flavoring ingredient such as
chocolate, coconut, nuts, and other spices.
Cookies may be classified as molded, dropped, bar, pressed, and rolled
cookies.
1. Molded cookies contain high fat content and dry in texture, making them
easily to be shaped into figures such as stars, hearts, or animals. Its surface
may also be decorated with icing.

2. Dropped cookies have runny texture that may be shaped by squeezing the
mixture using a pastry bag or depositing small chunks of the dough on the
baking sheet. These cookies may be flattened out or be on round shape with
crispy and crumbly texture.

3. Bar cookies have cake-soft texture. These are prepared by setting the dough
in a cookie pan to level them out. They are baked and quickly cut into
squares while still warm.

4. Pressed cookies are lovely and detectable cookies made from very rich
ingredients that make the dough quite cohesive. These can be flattened
using a roller. Using a cookie press or pastry tube, different shapes like
flowers or animals may be formed.

5. Rolled cookies are crumbly and not too sweet cookies with harder texture
that make them easily rolled out into thin slices. A cookie press or pastry
tube is used to construct their shapes.

E. Yeast Breads
Yeast breads and rolls are popularly known because of its flavor, texture,
and aroma. Yeast bread uses yeasts as its leavening agent. When yeast is

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 combined with water and sugar, fermentation of yeast occurs filling the bread
with tiny air bubbles. Water is also added with the gluten in the flour. This
forms the elastic structure of the dough that traps the air bubbles and makes
the bread rise.

Types of Yeast Doughs

1. Lean dough – one that has low fat and sugar content. Examples of this are
hard crusted breads and rolls like French bread, baguettes and pizza
dough. Other white and whole wheat breads and rolls such as pan de sal
and buns have a higher fat and sugar content that the hard crusted breads.
They may also have eggs and milk, so they are slightly richer and generally
have softer crusts. Locally, lean dough is used for breads that we put
spreads or filling (palaman) on.

3. Rich dough – dough that has higher proportion of fat, sugar, and sometimes eggs.
There are many kinds of sweet breads and rolls available in local bakeries.
Examples of these are ensaymada, Spanish bread, mongo bread, ube bread and
many others. These rich dough breads are popular because they are sweet enough
or have some filling incorporated in the bread that it can be eaten without added
spreads or filling (palaman).

Mixing Factors That Affect Baked Products

The following are factors that can affect the quality of baked products:

■ Physical act of mixing. This can determine the quality of preparation for baked products,
whether it is done as planned or not. Undermixing ingredients can cause lumps in
batters and dough since ingredients are not properly blended together. If this happens,
the final product may look lumpy and streaky and may not rise as desired. Overmixing
can develop too much gluten and cause toughness in a normal tender product.

■ Tools used for mixing. The appropriate tools for mixing are likewise very
important as this can increase or decrease the degree of the desired quality of
the baked goods. For example, if a sponge cake recipe calls for folding in
beaten egg whites into a batter using a rubber spatula but instead the egg
whites are stirred by using spoon, the cake may turn out heavy and dense. It
is important therefore to know the tools and the mixing procedures before
baking a certain recipe.

■ Order of adding ingredients. To ensure the quality of baked products, some

methods of mixing are dependent on the specific order or sequence of adding
different ingredients that need to be mixed or blended. For instance, if a flaky
pie crust is being prepared but water is added to the flour before the fat is cut
into it, a rough, hard-to-roll-out crust would be produced. Gluten is formed
if water is mixed with wheat flour.

■ Mixing method used. The mixing method used in preparing a recipe can
determine the success of the final product. It should be remembered that the
specific mixing method rely heavily on what is being baked or prepared.

The following are the different mixing techniques used in baking.

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Creaming Method
Creaming method is a method of mixing mixtures in preparing various baked
products, such as cookies and cakes. This is done by beating the sugar with fats
(normally shortening or butter). The process allows creation of tiny air cells in fats
that is vital to improve its volume and tenderness of the final product. Gradual
mixing shall be done. Avoid setting the mixer on a high speed. This can melt fats
and possibly destroy air cell. After properly creaming the sugar and fat, the mixture
will become light in color and airy in consistency.

After the fats and sugar are properly creamed, egg should be added next. Its yolk
has an emulsifier that allows the water to keep and fat together in the mixture. The
egg should be added gradually until it has been absorbed and blended well in the
mixture. If the eggs are added quickly, it will cause the mixture to separate and air
cells will possibly be lost. However, the mixture can still be used only that the
possibility of reducing the product volume especially in cake is high as well as its
tenderness can be affected.

Folding
Cut and fold or popularly known as folding method is done by carefully adding
ingredients together as a mixture so that volume is not lost. It is normally used when
egg yolks or egg whites are whipped into a meringue. After the eggs have been
whipped reaching to a maximum volume, the dry ingredients are carefully and
properly folded into eggs. The process will help prevent the air cells into the eggs
from destruction.
Folding is also done when adding the whipped cream to lighten mousses and
cream such as in chocolate mousse and cream.
Here are some important reminders when doing folding method.
■ Add lighter ingredients to the heavier ingredients gradually.
■ Avoid adding entire lighter components all at once because it will destroy all the
air cells in the lighter component. Thus, it will reduce the volume and
tenderness of the baked product.
■ Fold in the lighter component in three portions and gradually mix them.
■ Avoid over folding to avoid destroying too many air cells resulting in loss of
product volume and will just waste resources.

Blending Method
Blending method is a fast and labor-friendly mixing technique commonly
followed for baking muffins, cakes, and the like. Ingredients are combined in a bowl
and blended using a paddle attachment. Compared to other methods of mixing, the
blending technique involves more liquid.
Blending method can possibly result to curdling (lumps in the mixture). It
usually happens if there is too much liquid added to the mixture that fat cannot hold.
Also, this problem might happen if the batter is under or overmixed. Normally,
mixture should be mixed for a minute on a medium to high speed level. When all
the liquid ingredients are added, it is then mixed on a low speed for another minute.

Whipping Method
Whipping method is popularly used for making sponge cakes and cookies. This
method is time consuming compared to other techniques. It also requires high
amount of eggs such as egg white, egg yolks, or whole egg to be whipped up until it
is fluffy, forming a meringue or pate. The higher the amount of whipped eggs in the

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mixture the more flexible the cake becomes. Then, other dry and liquid ingredients
are folded into whipped eggs.

Combination Method
In mixing, creaming, and whipping method are all incorporated in the
combination method. In this method, the creaming technique follows the usual way
of blending the sugar and fat together while the whipping technique brings soft or
medium peak meringue to the mix. There are varieties of cakes that may be produced
using the combination method namely sponge cake, pound cake, and some
cheesecakes.

Rubbing or Biscuit Method

In making dough for pies and biscuits, rubbing method of mixing is commonly
used. This method is very simple and quick compared to other mixing methods. Dry
ingredients are placed in a mixing bowl with the fat that is placed at room
temperature and broken into cubes.

First, fats are cut into the flour using the rubbing method. It is done by simply
rubbing flour using hands. Though this process, the fats will slightly melt and mix
the flour together. Then rotate the bowl 90° and do it repeatedly. Rotating the bowl
should be done to ensure balance of mixture. Continue rubbing the ingredients until
fats are incorporated with the flour.

Kneading
In making dough for breads, kneading method is done by using the palm of your
hand. Fold the opposite side towards you and push it away gently from you. Repeat
the same process for the proper distribution of the ingredients. After one motion, the
dough is rotated a quarter turn. Kneading is stopped when blisters appear on the
dough when folded. This takes about 10 minutes of kneading by hand. Under
kneading results in a heavy loaf with small volume compact cells and irregular crumb
with uneven breaks along the side of the loaf. Over kneading produces bread with
thick cell walls and small volume and dry crumb (Claudio, 1977).