List of Basic Baking Ingredients

This is my list simplified. No complicated and scientific explanations. Most of these you will find in the grocery aisle and these are what’s basically needed by the starter baker.

FLOUR

Most cake recipes would only ask for either all-purpose or cake flour.

All-Purpose – sometimes labeled as plain flour, is the most common flour you will find in the grocery and is used in most baking recipe.

Sometimes you may stumble a recipe that lists “unbleached” flour. If you are buying flour from the neighborhood supplier or the generic pack in the grocery aisle, they’re bleached. If you truly want unbleached, although you can substitute one for the other, buy the branded one. Gold Medal has unbleached flour.

Cake Flour – is used for delicate cakes and cakes that require lighter texture such as chiffon and angel cake.

If you can’t find or don’t have cake flour, you can make your own from all-purpose flour.

Measure 2 tablespoons of cornstarch (corn flour) and add in all purpose flour to make a cup, level then sift 3-4 times.

Bread Flour – is best for making bread because of its high protein content but there are bread recipes that uses just all-purpose flour.

If your recipe calls for other kinds of flour and not sure what it is, go ask Google.

STORING FLOUR: Since flour easily gets those wiggly friends of ours, they are best kept in airtight containers or in the refrigerator. If you find some, simply sift it. They are nasty but they are not harmful (quoting from baking911.com), however if they are a plenty, throw your flour away and buy a new one.

LEAVENERS

They give volume to your baked goodies.

Baking Powder – is either single acting or double acting. Most sold are double acting. You seldom find a recipe that asks for single acting baking powder anyway.

Baking Soda – is used when there is an acidic ingredient in the recipe. Chocolate is acidic which is why most chocolate cake recipes has baking soda… which is my first ever chocolate cake was a failure because I used baking powder.

Cream of Tartar – in baking this is used to stabilize and give volume to egg whites. Chiffon cake, as well as meringue icings (boiled icing) uses this.

Yeast – a powerful riser for bread that baking soda and baking powder cannot give. Most commonly use is the instant dry yeast.

SUGAR

White Sugar – when a recipe just says “sugar” this is it; also called granulated sugar or regular sugar; the most common sugar we store in our pantry.

Brown Sugar – when choosing brown sugar for baking choose the one that looks damp.

Sugar Substitute – there are several varieties available and they are usually expensive. Splenda is a brand that is commonly used. Isomalt is also starting to gain popularity. When substituting sugar with artificial sweetener, make sure you read the instruction on the correct ratio to be used.

BUTTER, MARGARINE or OIL

They load your cake with calories and fats, whoops! But they are essential ingredients in baking.

Butter – they provide the richness in your baked products. Buy the best kind if you must (they’re probably the most expensive, too) Any brand will actually do if you are not very particular.

One (1) bar of butter (250g) = one cup. Some butter just measures 225g. You may find a recipe that reads “1 stick butter”. That is actually the small stick of butter you will find in the supermarket, usually 113 -125 grams. That’s 1/2 cup of butter already. So you don’t really need to get your cup and squeeze the butter into it to measure. 🙂

Margarine – once upon a time, margarine was thought to be healthier than butter. Now, they still couldn’t agree if it is indeed healthier or otherwise. I do not worry about it. Both butter and margarine contains fat that can increase cholesterol. But if we are talking about baking, I suggest not to replace butter with margarine. It doesn’t give the same texture, richness and flavor that butter can provide. But there are indeed recipes that could use either.

Liquid oil – chiffon and angel cake does not use butter or margarine. It uses vegetable oil. Most vegetable oil are cholesterol free which makes me ask… Is chiffon cake is healthier? Don’t use liquid oil as a substitute for butter in your recipe.

MILK AND EGGS

Enhances your cake’s flavor. Nothing confuses me in baking than choosing the correct type of milk to use.

Some recipes will just say milk, some whole milk and some 2% milk. What on earth are they? The only ones I know and can commonly find in the supermarket are evaporated, condensed or fresh milk. So which is what? To make it worst, there are just a few websites that offer a one-stop explanation on their differences especially in its application to baking. It made me dig deep into cyberspace again to find out what’s proper to use and here is so far what I got and understood. Correct me if I am wrong as I am not a chemist and all I did was researched and conclude base on my own, limited understanding.

Whole Milk – is natural milk, period. Fresh milk, I would guess, is whole milk as it contains 100% cow’s milk. Whole milk is what is mostly used in baking.

Reduced-Fat or 2% Milk – Well, what can I say, it’s milk with 2% fat only compared to 3.5% fat in whole milk

Low-fat Milk – if you read the label of Magnolia Low-Fat milk it says 2% less fat which make it just 1% fat milk.

Evaporated Full Cream Milk – for years I have used evaporated milk in my baking. As I have said, I did not know what whole milk is. Besides, it’s the easiest to find in store and it’s what’s being used by my family in baking. When in fact evaporated milk is concentrated milk with 60% of its water removed.

To make whole milk from evaporated milk, simply use half evap milk and half water. Oh my, I could have saved a lot should I have known this thing from the beginning.

BUTTERMILK -sometimes called sour milk, which is fermented milk and sour in taste as the name suggests. A lot of butter-based cakes use this which makes it a baking essential. The banana cake I made the other day uses sour milk. I will post the recipe later.

Neither in Philippines nor here in Singapore can I find buttermilk but I never worry about it as I can always make a substitute.

To substitute: Put a tablespoon of white vinegar in 1-cup cup and add enough whole milk to make 1 cup of buttermilk or sour milk. Let stand for 15 minutes before using. The milk will slightly curdle.

EGGS – when buying eggs, choose those at the back end of the shelves. Consumable and perishables are in first in, first out order and the ones on the front are those that have the earliest expiry date. Store the eggs in the refrigerator.

For a thorough list of baking ingredients and for technical information, visit Baking911.com