FLOUR

When you say baking, you will instantly think of flour. There’s no wonder here since flour is the
backbone of baking. From cakes to cookies, almost every baked treat calls for flour. 

While you can bake most treats using the mighty all-purpose-flours, there are instances
in which other types are better used.

All-Purpose Flour
As its name implies, all-purpose flour is a jack-of-all-trades. It can be used to
make carrot cupcakes, brownies, and red velvet cookies, among others. 

Since it can be used to make many baked treats, all-purpose flour is the most common
kind of flour. 

All-purpose flour is usually made from low-gluten soft wheat and high-gluten hard
wheat. It has a fluffy and light texture produced by removing all of the bran and wheat
germ. 

Bread Flour

Bread flour is best used in making crusty loves, rolls, and pizza dough. Hence, it’s worth
keeping it if you bake a lot of bread.

This type of flour contains more protein. Hence, it has more gluten, making it great for
baking chewy yeast bread.

Cake Flour
As its name suggests, cake flour is best used to make desserts like this
chocolate graduation cake. 

Cake flour contains lower gluten and protein than all-purpose flour. In addition, it goes
through chemical treatment and fine grounding, producing a fine texture.

. Dry Sweeteners

Any dessert calls for sweeteners. To better explain baking ingredients and their uses,
we divided sweeteners into two main categories― wet and dry.

Hence, sweeteners are another baking ingredient that you should stock up on. Let’s
start with dry sweeteners.
White Sugar

Most recipes call for white sugar. When a recipe says sugar, it usually requires white
sugar. Made from sugarcane or beets, this sugar has been stripped of molasses to look
white.

Brown Sugar

Unlike white sugar, brown sugar is not stripped of its natural molasses. Sometimes,
molasses are added to it to produce a darker color.

Brown sugar is available in light, medium, and dark colors. 

Powdered Sugar

Also known as confectioners’ sugar, this sugar went through intense grounding. Hence,
it has an extra fine texture. 

Due to its texture, powdered sugar is used to make frosting and icing. It is used to garnish
desserts like bavarian donuts.

Leaveners are substances that cause chemical reactions. They make dough and
batters rise. Hence, if you want to make airy and fluffy desserts, you need leaveners.

There are two types of leaveners― biological and chemical. Here are the most common
leaveners in the market:

Yeast 

Yeast is a biological leavener. It works slower than chemical leaveners, as it takes time
for its cells to metabolize. Due to this, you have to leave your dough for an hour or more
so it properly rises.

In addition, yeast can be stored in your kitchen for months. However, you must test if
they are alive before using them. 
Baking Soda 

Also known as sodium bicarbonate, baking soda is a chemical leavener. It works when
mixed with acidic ingredients like milk, lemon juice, and cream of tartar. 

Baking Powder 
  aking soda is also called bicarbonate of soda or sodium bicarbonate. When
combined with an acid, carbon dioxide gas forms, producing bubbles that make
the dough or batter rise.
 Baking powder is a dry mixture made of a base of carbonate or bicarbonate and
a weak acid. It is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked
goods. 
o Single-acting baking powder reacts when hydrated and does not need
heat to react.
o Double-acting baking powder reacts when hydrated and reacts again
when heat is introduced.

Baking powder is another chemical leavener. It is baking soda mixed with cornstarch
and powdered acid. Hence, you don’t have to add acidic ingredients when using it. 

When you use double-acting baking powder, it will form carbon dioxide twice― when
mixed and heated.

Salt

Salt is used in everyday cooking. So, it’s a relief that it is a basic baking ingredient as
well. In this basic and essential baking ingredient and their uses list, we feature two
kinds of salt. Here they are:

Granulated Salt

Due to its fine texture, granulated salt works well with baked goods. It can also be
measured more accurately. 

In addition, some bakers prefer non-iodized salt. It is because iodized salt produces a
different, often unpleasant flavor.

Sea Salt

Sea salt works well for garnishing because of its grainy texture. It also enhances that
decadent chocolate flavor. 

Crunchy sea salt is often sprinkled on baked goods like chocolate chip cookies.
Remember, sea salt works as a garnishing ingredient, not a measuring one.
Eggs

There are rumors about white and brown eggs. Some claim that brown eggs are better
because they have more nutrients. Others prefer white eggs because they taste better.

However, there is no scientific proof that brown eggs are better than white eggs and
vice versa. No matter what the grade or color of an egg is, it is still an egg.

Hence, for the sake of these basic and essential baking ingredients and their uses list,
we’ll talk about eggs. After all, brown and white eggs are equal. 

If there’s one egg-related thing that matters most in baking, it’s the size. Most recipes
require large eggs because they provide structure. In addition, the right balance
between the eggs and flour matters.

Thus, you must store large eggs. Large eggs approximately weigh 57 to 64 grams.

7. Milk

Milk gives dessert recipes the moisture they need. Hence, it qualifies for these basic
and essential baking ingredients and their uses list. 

Given this, you might want to keep at least a liter of milk in the fridge. Keep them
refrigerated all the time. Here are the most common types of milk for baking:

Whole Milk 
Also known as full cream milk, whole milk offers a richer flavor because of the extra fat it
has. In particular, whole milk has more than 3.5% of fat.

Whole milk is best used for desserts that call for a creamy, rich texture. Interestingly,
whole milk also works best for ice cream. In addition, whole milk provides essential
nutrients needed by the body.

Low-Fat Milk

As its name suggests, low-fat milk has less fat. Low-fat milk had its fat content stripped.
Due to this, low-fat milk usually contains 2% of fat.

Buttermilk

Some bakers choose buttermilk over regular milk. It is because buttermilk reacts with
leaveners to produce a fluffy and tender texture. 
Simply put, buttermilk is the liquid left after churning butter. If you want to store
buttermilk for long, opt for its powdered version. 

8. Fats

Fats work in various ways when it comes to baking. 

For one, they tenderize baked goods by coating and weakening gluten bonds. They
also provide the illusion of moisture despite having little. 

In addition, fats help move heat during baking. This sustains the baking process. They
also enable browning. 

Here are the fats usually required by baking recipes:

Oil 

Oil is totally made of fat. It does not have protein or water. It is naturally liquid at room
temperature. Since oil does not have water, it helps the leavening process. It also helps
create moist baked goods. 

The most common oil used in baking is vegetable oil. There are oils such as cake
oil made for specific purposes.
Butter 
Butter has a better flavor than the other fats in these basic and essential baking
ingredients and their uses list. Other fats do not have the rich flavor butter has.

Unsalted butter is the usual choice unless the recipe calls for salted butter. Since butter
has a melting point under body temperature, it melts in the mouth.

Margarine
A common alternative to butter, margarine is another fat used in baking. Due to
the butter or margarine debate, people are often confused about which to choose.

In a nutshell, margarine is processed fat. Experts designed it to taste and look similar to
butter. However, professional bakers can taste the difference.

Margarine is usually made from vegetable oil, making it a healthy substitute for butter. 

Shortening
Shortening is vegetable fat in solid form. Bakers use it to replace butter. Some mix it with
butter to make tender crusts.
It has a higher melting point than butter, so it tends to keep the shape of treats like
cookies better.

As you may well know, basic and essential baking ingredients and their uses list must
include stuff that adds flavor to your treats.

Enter extracts, flavorings, and spices.

Extracts
Extracts are made by extracting the flavor of an ingredient. They come in liquid form.
Due to this, they are usually used in making iced summer desserts. 

Let’s take vanilla as an example. To produce a vanilla extract, all oils from vanilla beans
are pressed out. Then, the product is placed in a liquid base (usually alcohol). Doing
this captures vanilla’s ideal-for-baking flavor.

You can find hundreds of extracts in the market. The most common ones include
vanilla, lemon, coffee, and almond. 

Flavoring

Flavoring takes things a step further. In a gist, flavoring is like extract, but with better
flavor. This is because flavoring usually contains emulsifiers, a blend of two or more
unmixable liquids. 

Due to this, flavoring can be stronger than extracts. They also retain flavor longer. Thus,
in a sense, strawberry flavoring and mango flavoring are better than their extract
counterparts.
In the Philippines, there are two main types of flavoring― flavocol and emulco. Flavocol
stands for flavor and color. Emulco stands for emulsifier and color. 
Spices

Spices come in powder form. Due to their nature, spices are great for dry mixes, rubs,
and other baking applications. They also work well as a garnish. 

When you say spices, bakers usually think of cinnamon. However, there are other
spices you should consider for storage. These include nutmeg, fennel seeds, pumpkin
spice, and sesame seeds.

A cake is essential when it comes to celebrations. It adds more happiness to the occasion,
symbolises success and milestones, and makes a perfect gift to warm the heart of the
celebrant. Nothing can beat the power of cakes to light up the party and make things extra
special.