adminIt’s easy enough (sometimes!) to pick up a cookery book, buy some ingredients and cook a couple of different dishes, but have you ever stopped to think exactly what you’re putting into those pots and pans?
Why use flour to make bread? Why use eggs to make a meringue? This Learn-It will help you learn the functions of each ingredient – what they actually do . . .
Flour
Wheat flour is the most important ingredient in home baking. There are many different types of flour, such as stone ground, wholemeal and cookie flour.
Flour as an ingredient has many different and important functions?
Provides fibre (especially if wholemeal)
If Self-Raising, makes mixtures rise
Thickens sauces
Forms the bulk of bread, pastry and cake mixes
If wholemeal, provides colour and texture
Gluten in flour produces a stretchy dough
Provides carbohydrate, Vitamin B, calcium and iron
Sugar
Ever tasted a sugar-free cookie? Not nice. Some people may even cringe at the thought of having no sugar to dip their strawberries into!
Well, although it does it well, making things sweet isn’t the only thing that sugar’s good for . . .
Provides sweetness
If brown, provides colour and texture
Large amounts prevent micro-organism growth (for example, jam/marmalade)
Caramelises to produce a brown colour
Retains moisture
Helps to trap air in cake mixtures
Provides carbohydrate
Eggs
From an Egg Mc Muffin, to a lemon meringue pie . . . You can use them for anything!
Hold air when beaten
Coagulate (sets) when heated
Add colour to mixtures
Thickens sauces, custards, etc.
Glaze bread, scones and pastry
Bind ingredients together
Provide protein, fat, iron and Vitamins A, B, and E
Fats/Oils
They may not be that good for you, but fats and oils are definitely essential ingredients in many, many dishes.
Provide flavour
Keep products moist and extend shelf-life
Add colour to foods
Make pastry ‘short’ by coating the flour to stop gluten developing
Hold air when creamed with sugar
Oil forms an emulsion with liquids (for example, mayonnaise)
Provide energy and Vitamins A and D. – www.s-cool.co.uk
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