Breads and CakesFCS 175- Lab # 6Jacki Raivo 10/10/11Introduction: In bread and cake baking it is important to know the types of flours and leavening agents that contribute to the manipulation of different products. The basic ingredients that affect a bread product are the flour, liquid, fat, egg, sugar, salt and leavening agent. In order from the most dense and highest gluten content are as follow: Whole wheat flour, whole white wheat, bread flour, all-purpose flour, pastry flour and lastly cake flour. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, spelt, triticale and barley (Answers.com.) It is what gives bread products elasticity and structure. It is not necessary, however. Fat isone ingredient that adds to the shortening power of a recipe. A desirable biscuit would be very flaky with many layers and buttery, the fat shortens the gluten chains and allows air bubbles to form when the fat is melted. It is important to know the different leavening agents and the most used are baking soda and baking powder. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate that releases carbon dioxide and water when heated. Itcan leave a very icky aftertaste if over added and an acid can neutralize the taste. Thus the creation of baking powder, which is merely baking soda with an added acid that reacts when wet for more leavening. Other leavening agents include biological agents such as yeast and bacteria—like in sourdough—and steam in delicate pastries. A lot of the time in gluten free baking self rising flour is used, especially in premade mixes. Self rising flour is a mix of flour and leavening agents for convenience baking; an easy wet to dry process. Methods and Results: In lab various breads and cakes were made. As a whole our class prepared white Irish soda bread, whole wheat Irish soda bread, and cinnamon streusel cake from scratch and from a box mix. The white Irish soda bread was made my preheating the oven to 325 degrees F and combining flour, baking powder, sugar, salt together in a separate bowl. The eggs, buttermilk were blended and the flour was added in the muffin mixing method (The Balanced Pastry Chef.) This way all the wet and the dry became incorporated evenly allowing for a consistent product. Then the dough was plopped into the greased pan and whisked into the oven, for what seemed like an eternity (60-70 minutes). I suspect our oven was not as hot as it should have been due to its age. When 70 minutes was up, it still wasn’t done all the way but time was not a luxury. The other group that made the same product had much darker bread than we did, most likely because of the oven situation but flavor and texture was similar. Baked Product Sensory EvaluationIrish Soda Bread (white) Light golden brown, spongy, less dense than whole wheat, smooth, corn bread-like, condensed.Irish Soda Bread (wheat) Golden brown, lumpy, crusty, dense, fluffy, nutty, wheaty, cornbread-likeCommercial White Bread Light, fluffy, spongyCommercial Wheat Bread Denser, fluffy, brown, nutty smell, spongyGluten Free Bread Rubbery, spongy, lacking in any discernable flavor. *A very poor representation of gluten free bread.Cinnamon Streusel Cake Moist, dense, golden brown, cinnamon, crumblyBox Cake Smells heavenly, fluffy, golden brown, buttery, cinnamonDiscussion: From what I can gather from the data everything when smoothly and no mishaps were had. The only thing I was severely disappointed on was the gluten free bread. I, myself, have never bought that brand and I’m quite glad I haven’t. It was disgusting. Being gluten free isn’t a bad thing and certainly not a deprived way of life but that particular sad and lonely loafproved otherwise. A high quality gluten free bread tastes just like regular bread. The only differences are in the density and a little in the flavor depending on what flours it’s made from. Typically gluten free breads are denser due to the lack of elastic gluten proteins. It is also more crumbly. That is why many GF recipes call for more eggs and xanthan gum or guar gum to use as a binding and leavening agent to counteract the lack of gluten. Xanthan gum is a sugar derivedfrom corn and mimics the mouth-feel of fat because it’s really slippery when wet (wiseGEEK.) Rice flour typically doesn’t have much taste but it doesn’t taste bad or like a literal sponge like the one in class did. I would assume that brand was so nasty because it was also yeast free. Yeast does add a lot of flavor to baked products. However, gluten free cakes are divine mostly because a good quality cake is made with cake flour and cake flour has little gluten in it, so take out the gluten entirely and the result is moist and mouth-watering. Summary: From this lab I concluded that I have a lot of learning in gluten free baking left to do but I willkeep trying. I will prefect a gluten free cupcake and it shall be a glorious day. As I type I have gluten free herb bread in the oven and hopefully it will turn out. There’s not a whole lot I took away from this lab seeing as gluten is the center focus in baking, however I had always wanted to know the difference between baking soda and baking powder and now I do. Happy