University of Saint La Salle

Integrated School

TECHNOLOGY AND LIVELIHOOD EDUCATION 9

Second Quarter Handout
Bread and Pastry Production

Baking Ingredients

Wheat flour
 It is milled from wheat kernels after the bran and the germ are removed.
 Wheat flour contains 63 to 73 percent starch and 7 to 15 percent protein.
 It is the source of protein called gluten.

Gluten is a substance made up of proteins present in wheat flour. It gives structure and
strength in baked goods.
In order for gluten to be developed:
- The proteins must first absorb water.
- Once the dough or batter is mixed or kneaded, the gluten forms long, elastic
strands.
- As the dough or batter is leavened, the strands capture the gasses in tiny
pockets or cells (also known as “rising”)

How does the baker control gluten?

 Selection of flour: Wheat flours develop gluten.
- Strong flour comes from hard wheat and has high protein content
- Weak flour comes from soft wheat and has low protein content.
 Shortening: Fat used in baking that shortens gluten strands
 Liquid: The amount of water in gluten protein formula can affect toughness (too
much liquid) or tenderness (little liquid)

Shortening
It refers to the fats and oils used in baking. In addition to contributing their flavors
to cakes and pastries, they tenderize or “shorten” them. When fat is added to flour and
water, the particles of fat are distributed throughout the mixture and prevent the
formation of long elastic strands of gluten. Depending on how much fat is added and on
how well it is added with the flour, the baked product can be tender enough to melt in
the mouth. For instance, the cake batter gives a fine, even crumb when fat is well mixed
in the flour. But in pastry dough, thorough blending of flour and fat is purposely avoided
to be able to produce paper-thin layers of pastry separated by microscopic layers of fat.

Different types of shortening used by bakers:

A. According to Origin
1. Plants – Coconut, palm, sesame, corn, olive
2. Animals – fish, beef tallow, pork lard

B. According to Market Form

1. Butter – This is a product of ripened milk separated from the
buttermilk. It contains 80 percent fat. It is solid at refrigerated
temperature.
2. Butter Compound – This is a butter substitute made by mixing at
least 40 percent milk fat and vegetable oil. It is solid at
refrigerated temperature.

3. Margarine – This is a product made to resemble butter by

Emulsifying fat other than milk fat. It contains 80 percent fat and not more than
16 percent of water. It is solid at room temperature.
 4. Lard – This is pork fat and can be used on its own or with butter. It has relatively
bland taste but is economical and produces a more tender and crumbly result
than butter.

5. Vegetable Oil – These are obtained from coconut, nuts and seeds. It is liquid at
room temperature unless hydrogenated.

Salt
It is more than just a seasoning or flavor enhancer. It strengthens the gluten
structure and makes it more stretchable. It improves the texture of the bread and inhibits
yeast growth.
It is therefore important for controlling fermentation in bread dough and in
preventing the growth of undesirable wild yeasts.

Egg
Eggs are used for leavening, coloring, shortening, flavoring and increasing the
nutritive value of quick breads

Stages of Beaten Egg whites

1. Frothy Stage – large air bubbles of different sizes form
2. Soft Peak Stage – Foam stands in peaks but soft so the tips will bend over.
3. Stiff Peak Stage – foam stands in stiff pointed peaks; has uniformly sized
bubbles and glistens.
4. Dry Stage – foam stands in stiff, sharp peaks; has a dull appearance.

Different Mixing Techniques

 Creaming – This is the process of rubbing softened butter and sugar against the
bowl with the use of a wooden spoon or using an electric mixer to make soft, light
and fluffy mixtures.

 Cutting in – This is mixing fat and flour with the use of a pastry blender or two
knives by slicing through the mixture in a scissor-like manner. This technique
cuts the fat into small pieces, coating flour to form a coarse, granular mixture.

 Beating – a mechanical agitation done to incorporate air in a mixture using

gadgets such as wire whisks or electric beaters.

 Folding – This is working two ingredients gently to retain air in the mixture. A
delicate ingredient such as egg white foam is blended with a batter type mixture
or whipped cream which when handled crudely will not give the desired result.
Folding is most efficiently done by hand using a rubber scraper or spatula. The
batter is poured into a thin stream over the egg white foam and blended with a
cut and fold motion, gliding the rubber scraper across the bottom of the mixing
bowl at each turn.

 Stirring – With the use of a wooden spoon, ingredients are combined in a mixing
bowl using a rotating motion. It is important not to over mix mixtures in order not
to spoil the cake.
Pastry Production

Pastry is the name given to various kinds of baked products made from
ingredients such as flour, shortening, liquid, and salt. Pastry refers to the dough from
which such baked products are made. Pastry dough is rolled out thinly and is used as a
base for baked products. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts and quiche.

Types of Pastry

1. Plain or Shortcrust Pastry

Plain or shortcrust or short pastry is the simplest and most common pastry. It is
made of flour, fat, salt and water. This is used mainly in tarts and pies. The pastry
method is used to form the dough. This method starts by cutting the fat into the flour
using a pastry blender or two knives or two forks until the particles resemble coarse
cornmeal. Ice water is sprinkled and blended to the mixture and the number of strokes
should be just enough to gather the mass of soft dough and roll it.

2. Puff Pastry
Puff pastry is made of the same basic ingredients like the plain pastry but the
dough is processed differently. It is well chilled then rolled out and dotted with butter and
usually folded three times and chilled. The process – rolling, folding and chilling is
repeated before the dough is used. Puff pastry has many layers that cause it to expand
or puff when baked.

3. Flaky Pastry
It is also known as blitz pastry or rough puff, is a light and flaky unleavened
pastry that is similar to, but distinct from, puff pastry. Flaky pastry relies on large lumps
of shortening (approximately 1 inch or 2.5 cm. across) mixed into the dough, as
opposed to the large rectangle of shortening in puff pastry. Flaky pastry is then rolled
and folded in a manner similar to puff pastry. Flaky pastry is used to make turnover and
sausage rolls.

4. Choux Pastry
It is a very light pastry that is often filled with cream. The pastry is filled with
various flavors of cream and is often topped with chocolate. Choux pastry can also be
filled with ingredients such as cheese, tuna or chicken to be used as appetizers.

5. Phyllo (Filo) Pastry

It is made with flour, water, and a small amount of oil or white vinegar, though
some dessert recipes also call for egg yolks. Homemade filo takes time and skill,
requiring progressive rolling and stretching to a single thin and very large sheet. A very
big table and a long roller are used, with continual flouring between layers to prevent
tearing.

Key Concepts

1. Pie is composed of sweet or savory fillings in a baked crust. It can be made

without a top crust or more typically with a lattice topping crusts.

2. It is generally made in a round, slope side pan cut into wedges for service.

3. A tart is similar to a pie except that it is made in a shallow, straight-sided pan

often with fluted edges. It can be in almost any shape. Round, square, rectangle
and petal shapes are the most common.

4. It is usually open-faced and derives much of its beauty from an attractive

arrangement of glazed fruits, piped cream or chocolate decorations.
 5. Pies and tarts contain a great deal of fat. Shortening or fat makes the crust
tender, light and flaky.

6. Piecrusts and tart shells can be made of several types of dough or crumbs.
Pie crusts – is flaky, mealy or crusts crumb
Tart shells – is made of sweet dough

7. Blind bake means to bake a piecrust without a filling. There are several
techniques to ensure that the piecrust holds it shape when baked empty. Pie
weights can be placed in the shell to keep it from puffing. The shell can be lined
with a foil and dried beans or peas. Docking the crust with a fork before baking
also helps the crust its shape.

8. Docking – it is pricking small holes with the use of fork in an unbaked dough or
crust to allow steam to escape and prevent the dough from rising when baked.

Temperature
Pie dough should be kept cool during the mixing and make up because the
shortening has the best consistency when it is in a cool place. Also, the gluten develops
more slowly at a cool temperature than of warm temperature.

Standard Characteristics of Pastry

Outside

Shape - Even thinness all over, attractive and neat even edges
Size - Fits pan well
Color - Light, golden brown with darker golden brown edges
Crust - slightly blistered; rough not smooth not leathery looking

Inside

Texture - Delicately crisp, flaky not compact, not soggy

Tenderness - easily cut but not crumbly

Failures in Making Pastry

Tough Pastry - Too much flour in proportion to fat, too much water
- Insufficient cutting of fat into the flour, over mixing, prolonged
standing before baking, too much flour used in rolling

Crumbly Pastry - Use of oil or soft melted fat

- Too little water, too much fat
- Use of cake flour or self-rising flour

Pale Crust - Too little fat or soft, melted fat

- Too much water, over mixing, oven temperature not hot as
directed or not pre-heated

Deformed Crust - Wrong proportion of ingredients

- Over mixing stretching of dough
- Use of old dough
- Uneven thickness when rolled
Cakes
Classification of Cakes
1. Butter Type Cakes
These cakes depend upon eggs, flour and milk for structure and it
contains high amount of fat. Volume is achieved by creaming butter and sugar
and by the use of baking powder. Examples are butter cake and pound cake.

2. Foam Type Cakes

These cakes depend on the aerating property of egg whites for structure
and volume. There two types of foam cakes:

A. Angel Food Cake – The egg is beaten to soft peaks with part of the sugar.
Cream of tartar is added to stabilize and produce finer white foam. The
remaining sugar is sifted with the dry ingredients and folded into the
meringue. The grain of angel food cake should be even, fine, light and
feathery and moist. It is more tender and delicate than the sponge or chiffon
cake.

B. Sponge Cake – Egg whites are beaten to soft peaks while the yolk is beaten
with part of the sugar and combined with the dry ingredients. This mixture is
then folded into the meringue.
Sponge cake has many varieties such as chocolate, mocha and vanilla.

Genoise
It is a simple sponge cake made with eggs, sugar, cake flour and melted
butter along with vanilla extract.
It is made using the foaming method of cake-making, in which the sugar
and eggs are combined and gently warmed, and then beaten with a whisk
until thick and foamy.
The cake is notable for its elastic and somewhat dry texture and is
sometimes soaked with flavored syrups or liqueurs and often served with a
buttercream frosting. The popular tiramisu cake may be made with
ladyfingers.

C. Meringue
Traditionally made from whipped egg whites and sugar, and occasionally an
acidic ingredient such as lemon, vinegar or cream of tartar.
A binding agent such as cornstarch or gelatin may also be added to the
eggs. The key to the formation of a good meringue is the formation of stiff
peaks by denaturing the protein albumin (a protein in egg whites).

3. Chiffon Cake
This is a combination of butter and foam type cakes.
The egg yolk, oil and other ingredients are beaten in a bowl. Liquid ingredients
are added to the dry ingredients to make a batter.
Instead of the traditional cake ingredient butter, vegetable oil is used.
Therefore, chiffon cakes, like angel cakes and other foam cakes, achieve a fluffy
texture by having egg whites beaten until stiff and folded them into the cake
batter before baking. Its aeration properties rely on both the quality of the
meringue and the chemical leaveners. Its oil-based batter is initially blended
before folding into the meringue. The batter is then folded into the foam. Cake
volume depends on the amount of air incorporated into the egg white during
beating.
 Causes of Poor Quality

Outside Appearance
1. Pale Color Under baked; wrong pan size
2. Too Brown Over baked, too hot oven, too much sugar
3. Poor Volume Improper baking temperature, Poor quality of eggs
and insufficient beating of eggs; over folding, wrong
pan size; under baked
4. Sunken Not inverting pan to cool cake, removing cake from
pan before it is cool
Inside Appearance
5. Uneven Grain Over folding flour with egg and sugar; under beaten
egg whites and egg yolks
6. Coarse grain Under folding, under mixing, too much leavening
Texture
7. Dry Over baked; too little liquid
8. Soggy Under baked, under mixed
9. Solid Too much flour or liquid; insufficient beating of egg
10. Tough Over mixed; not enough liquid; over baked
Flavor
11. Flavor Poor quality ingredients, wrong proportion of
ingredients

Frostings/ Icings
- Icings are the sweet coverings or coatings in which sugar is the predominant
ingredient. The materials used and the matter in which they are mixed determine the
type of icing.

- Cakes need to be covered with coatings of sugar and other materials for these
purposes:
 To prevent the quick drying up of cakes
 To improve the flavor of cakes
 To make the cake attractive
 To enhance the texture of the cake

- Icings can be applied with a utensil such as a knife or spatula or it can be applied by
drizzling or dipping or by rolling the icing out and draping it over the cake. The
method of application largely depends on the type and texture of icing being used.

- Icing may be used between layers in a cake as a filling or it may be used to

completely or partially cover the outside of the cake or other baked product.
- Confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar is highly refined and is primarily used
in the preparation of flat icings and butter cream. A straight method is used in
mixing them. The sugar gives smooth icing without the gritty texture of
coarser sugars.
- Granulated sugar is used for icings that are made into syrup before adding to
the other icing ingredients.

- Hydrogenated fats have better blending ability than butter. They are more economical
and give more luster, volume, and texture to icings. However, butter imparts a
delicious creamy flavor that tastes and smell good. A mixture of hydrogenated fat and
butter should give a maximum volume and luster.
- Creaming incorporates air into the mix. This gives volume and texture to the product.
Temperature of the ingredients and the atmosphere greatly affect the creaming ability
of fat. For best results, always have your ingredients at room temperature about 70 F
and for butter, 75 F.

- If a very smooth effect is desired, the offset spatula used may be dipped in hot water.

Types and Methods of Preparation

Flat Icing or Simple Icing

Sugar, water, corn syrup and flavoring plus a small amount of fat are warmed to a thick
paste about in a double boiler. The use of a double boiler prevents scorching of the mix
and loss of gloss of the icing when it cools.
Water should not be used to cool icing and or to soften it. This makes the mixture runny,
sticky and unmanageable. To soften icings, rewarm in a double boiler.

Uncooked Icing
It is a smooth mixture of liquid and powdered sugar warmed slightly

Creamed Icing
Fat, confectioner’s sugar, milk powder, eggs, water salt, flavoring and stabilizer are
used as in making creamed icing.

Decorator’s Frosting (Royal Icing)

It uses egg whites, shortening and powdered sugar.
It is too thick to be spread on a cake, but can easily be shaped into flowers or numbers

Fondant Icing
It is an edible icing used to decorate or sculpt cakes and pastries. It is made from sugar,
water, gelatin, butter, and glycerol. It does not have the texture of most icings; rolled
fondant is akin to stiff clay, while poured fondant is a thick liquid.
The word, in French, means "melting", coming from the same root as fondue.

Boiled Icing
It is made of beaten egg whites and sugar syrup. The egg whites are beaten to soft
peak stage before the sugar syrup is added to it.

Ganache
It is made of white or dark chocolate. It produces a rich and glossy finish to any cake.
Some bakers use it as cake topping / icing, while others use it as pastry filling. This kind
of icing works well with heavy cake.

Basic Procedure in Frosting Cakes

- Determine the height of the cake.

- Level the layers by removing any high peaks and loose crusts.

- Cut the layers into equal lengths and sizes. Use serrated knife. If cake layers
are thin, it may be necessary to put two layers together. If the layers are high,
they may be cut into 2 or 3 sections and filling placed between them.

- Fill I dents and crevices in the layer with jam, jelly, fudge or the like to make
all gaps even for the icing. Press down cake layer gently after putting fillings
to make them stick. Be sure the layer is even all around before applying the
outer icing.
- Remove all cake crumbs from the top of the layer and the working area as
these may get into the icing and cause lumps.

- Place the layer cake on a thin cardboard liner, slightly smaller or the same
diameter as the cake. Do not over-size liners. Place cake in the exact center
of the turn table, lazy Susan or any surface that can be turned around while
putting on the icing.
- Place sufficient amount of icing on the layer cake to cover the top and sides
about 1/8 to ¼ inches thick. Hold the spatula in an almost flat position with
one side slightly tilted. Place the tip of the spatula at the center of the cake
with icing in the center and rotate cake with the left hand while right holds the
spatula in a steady position. Keep the pressure even. This will spread the
icing evenly on top of the cake.

- Excess icing will fall on the sides. Use this to coat sides thinly, and then apply
additional icing so that the entire side surface is covered with about ¼ inch
thick icing. Spread evenly.

- Place the iced cake on a cake liner with doily. Garnishing may now be
applied. The sides of the cake may be garnished with toasted cake crumbs,
nuts, glaze fruit, sugar flowers, letters and the likes.