QUICK BREADS+RAISING AGENTS

Quick Bread Crossword Puzzle

Across
3. Leavening Agents
7. Shortcake
11. Flour mixtures
14. Muffin method
15. Ratio
16. Structure
17. Buttermilk

Down
1. Knead
2. Well
4. Carbon dioxide
5. Baking soda
6. Over mix
8. Gluten
9. Tunnels
10. Drop
12. Pour
13. Waffles
‘How do raising agents work?’ 
  
 Fill in the blanks with the most suitable term from the list below.  
Accurately     gas    fermentation        firm      100 Celcius    expands   CO2   sieving  
trapped     liquid       Swiss-roll   small   aerates      structure    flavour   yeast  
 
 
 The action of moisture, heat or acidity or a combination of all three triggers a reaction with
the raising agent to produce a gas.  The gas then expands when heated.  The gas is trapped as
it bubbles up through the mixture.  The cake sets and the tiny bubbles of gas form a firm,
structure, this is why bread and cakes have a soft sponge-like texture. 
Air:  Air is a mixture of gases and is added into mixtures using mechanical methods such as
sieving or whisking and beating, when making meringues or Swiss-rolls. 
Steam: Water turns to steam when it is heated to 100 Celcius Steam can expand 1600 times
its volume.  Steam only works in mixtures with have a high volume of liquid such as milk in
a Yorkshire pudding. Steam can also be combined with other raising agents such as air and
carbon dioxide. 
Carbon dioxide: gas is added into mixtures through two ways, chemical raising agents or
biological raising agents. 
· Chemical raising agents require liquid and heat to produce carbon dioxide gas.  They must
be accurately measured and are only required in small quantities as they have a strong flavour
Examples include baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. 
· Biological raising agents are living organisms such as yeast which require warmth, liquid,
food and time to release carbon dioxide.  This process is called fermentation and aerates
dough during bread making. 

Picture of quick bread from practical

Reflection
Over the course of this unit we learned about different Quick Breads and how to make them.
A Quick Bread is made from a dough that does not have the living organism of yeast. During
this unit we worked on: pancakes, biscuits, crepes, scones and muffins. Each class we either
came in with a recipe for our group, or were assigned a recipe to make for that particular
period. At the start we made basic recipes, such as pancakes, but as our knowledge and skill
improved we made more complex recipes. The most challenging part of the class was being
able to procure a finished product by the end of the period. Another challenge was
communicating clearly with all the other members in my group. We had to do our part but
when there was some miscommunication it slowed us down, making it harder to finish in
time. During this Quick Breads unit we also learned different techniques, some of which
included: beat, knead, whisk, fold and cut in. In each recipe we used at least one of these
techniques. The techniques that we used most were: whisk, and cut in. These techniques are
used in many recipes that involve dough. To whisk is to simply stir the mixture until it is
combined to a certain point. Cutting in is when you cut the butter into the dry mixture without
totally combining them. Overall, this unit taught us that many doughs do not require yeast,
and it also gave us a good basic understanding of tools and techniques used in baking.