The language of baking clarifies what techniques, products and methods are needed for each recipe. Once you learn this language, you’re on your way to mastering any recipe.
- Bake
- To cook in an oven with dry heat. The oven should always be heated for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.
- Batter
- A mixture of flour, liquid, and other ingredients that is thin enough to pour.
- Beat
- To thoroughly combine ingredients and incorporate air with a rapid, circular motion. This may be done with a wooden spoon, wire whisk, rotary eggbeater, electric mixer, or food processor.
- Blanch
- To partially cook food by plunging it into boiling water for a brief period, then into cold water to stop the cooking process.
- Boil
- To heat a liquid until bubbles rise continually to the surface and break.
- Caramelize
- To heat sugar until it is melted and brown. Caramelizing sugar gives it a distinctive flavor.
- Chop
- To cut into small pieces using a sharp knife, appliance, or scissors.
- Coats spoon
- When a thin, even film covers a metal spoon after it has been dipped into a cooked mixture and allowed to drain.
- Combine
- To stir together two or more ingredients until mixed.
- Cool
- To come to room temperature.
- Cream
- To beat one or more ingredients, usually margarine or butter, sugar, and/or eggs, until the mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Crimp
- To seal the edges of two layers of dough with the tines of a fork or your fingertips.
- Cut in
- To distribute solid fat throughout the dry ingredients using a pastry blender, fork, or two knives in a scissors motion.
- Dash
- A measurement less than 1/8 teaspoon.
- Dough
- A soft, thick mixture of flour, liquids, fat, and other ingredients.
- Dot
- To distribute small amounts of margarine or butter evenly over the surface of pie filling or dough.
- Drizzle
- To drip a glaze or icing over food from the tines of a fork or the end of a spoon.
- Dust
- To sprinkle lightly with sugar, flour, or cocoa.
- Flute
- To make or press a decorative pattern into the raised edge of pastry.
- Fold in
- To gently combine a heavier mixture with a more delicate substance, such as beaten egg whites or whipped cream, without causing a loss of air.
- Glaze
- To coat with a liquid, thin icing, or jelly before or after the food is cooked.
- Grate
- To shred with a handheld grater or food processor.
- Grease
- To rub fat on the surface of a pan or dish to prevent sticking.
- Grind
- To produce small particles of food by forcing food through a grinder.
- Knead
- To fold, push and turn dough or other mixture to produce a smooth, elastic texture.
- Lukewarm
- A temperature of about 105°F, which feels neither hot nor cold.
- Mix
- To stir together two or more ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.
- Mix until just moistened
- To combine dry ingredients with liquid ingredients until the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened but the mixture is still slightly lumpy.
- Partially set
- To refrigerate a gelatin mixture until it thickens to the consistency of unbeaten egg whites.
- Peel
- To remove the skin of a fruit or vegetable by hand or with a knife or peeler. This also refers to the skin or outer covering of a fruit or vegetable.
- Proof
- To allow yeast dough to rise before baking. Or to dissolve yeast in a warm liquid and set it in a warm place for 5 to 10 minutes until it expands and becomes bubbly.
- Refrigerate
- To chill in the refrigerator until a mixture is cool or until dough is firm.
- Rind
- The skin or outer coating of such foods as citrus fruit or cheese.
- Rolling boil
- To cook a mixture until the surface billows rather than bubbles.
- Rounded teaspoon
- When dough is slightly mounded, not level.
- Scald
- To heat a mixture or liquid to just below the boiling point.
- Score
- To cut slits in food with a knife, cutting partway through the outer surface.
- Softened
- Margarine, butter, ice cream, or cream cheese that is in a state soft enough for easy blending, but not melted.
- Shred
- To cut food into narrow strips using a sharp knife, grater, or food processor fitted with a shredding disk.
- Soft peaks
- Egg whites or whipping cream beaten to the stage where the mixture forms soft, rounded peaks when the beaters are removed.
- Steam
- To cook food on a rack or in a wire basket over boiling water.
- Stiff peaks
- Egg whites beaten to the stage where the mixture will hold stiff, pointed peaks when the beaters are removed.
- Stir
- To combine ingredients with a spoon or whisk using a circular motion.
- Toss
- To mix lightly with a lifting motion, using two forks or spoons.
- Whip
- To beat rapidly with a wire whisk or electric mixer to incorporate air into a mixture in order to lighten and increase the volume of the mixture.
- Zest
- The colored outer peel of citrus fruit, which is used to add flavor. The zest is often referred to as “grated peel” in recipes. To create zest, choose the diagonal-hole side of a box grater (it will zest more cleanly than if you use the nail-hole side) and rub lightly to avoid getting the white pith, which is bitter. For broader strips of zest, use a swivel-blade peeler or a sharp knife to cut away the peel.
