The Different Ingredients

Bakers should learn the different ingredients and their importance in baking.  It's not just following recipes and mixing everything.  Each ingredient has its own role in bread making.  I will be discussing a few important ingredients especially those used in previous recipes posted in this blog.

1. Flour

Flour is one of the major component of a bread and other forms of bakery products. This ingredient provides the shape and structure of a bread with its gluten, or protein.  The combine gluten forms a web that traps air bubbles and sets the shape and size of the bread. Once the bread obtains its complete figure, the starch of the  flour support the structure. Little gluten formation for cakes, biscuits and cookies makes products tough. Shortening and sugar help prevent gluten formation. An all-purpose flour is always a good choice; it has less gluten than bread flour.


2. Shortening

Shortening/Lard/Fat is responsible in  covering gluten molecules so they won't combine easily, thus, contributing to the tenderness of the bread. Shortening contributes to the fluffiness of cakes and muffins. When sugar is creamed with shortening, small packets of air are formed from the sharp edges of the granules interacting with the fat. These packets form a finer grain on cakes. Shortening also provides flavors that adds to a tender mouth-feel.

3. Sugar

Sugar adds sweetness, and responsible to the product's golden brown color when cooked. Sugar tenderizes a cake by preventing the gluten from forming. Sugar also holds moisture in the finished product. Sugar granules cutting into solid fats like butter help form the structure of the product by making small holes which are filled with CO2 when the leavening agents react.

4. Eggs

Eggs serves as a leavening agent.  The egg yolks add fat for a tender and light texture. It also act as an emulsifier for a smooth and even texture of bread. The proteins of an egg contributes to the structure of the bread.

5. Water

Water helps carry flavorings throughout the bread, forms gluten bonds, and reacts with the starch in the protein for a strong but light shape. Water also act as steam during baking, acting as a leavening agent and contributing to the tenderness of the product.

6. Salt

Salt serves as a moderator of bread in contrast with the effect of yeast so that it will not rise too quickly.  It strengthens gluten and enhances flavors.

7. Leavening Agents

Baking soda and baking powder are two ingredients that help breads and other bakery products rise or take its shape.  They form CO2, that is held by fat pockets, gluten and starch. Baking soda and powder are two different ingredients. Too much leavening agent will make the bubbles too big, then they combine and burst, leading to a flat cake or bread. Too little leavening agent will result in a heavy product, with soggy or damp layers.

Monay Putok

Group Ingredients Grams
===================================
1 Bakers Flour 500
Yeast(Instant dried) 5
Baking powder 10
Bread Improver 3
Milk Powder 10
-----------------------------------------------------
2 Eggs(mL) 2
Water-warm(mL) 380
Shortening 50
Salt 15
Sugar 220
-----------------------------------------------------
Total Weight

Procedure:

Blend Group 1 together to disperse ingredients.
Add Group 2 and mix to a fully develop.

FINISHED DOUGH TEMPERATURE: 30centigrade
FLOOR TIME: A recovery period of 15-20 minutes is required after dough development, before scaling off into 100g. Mold and slice halfway from top.
PROVING: 20-30 minutes at 40centigrade
COOKING Temperature: 200 centigrade
COOKING Time: 5 minutes until golden brown.

Yeast-raised Doughnut(Bitso-bitso)

Group Ingredients Grams
===================================
1 Shortening 500
Bakers Flour 5,000
Salt 100
Yeast(Instant dried) 125
Bread Improver 15
Milk Powder 200
Castor Sugar 500
-----------------------------------------------------
2 Eggs(mL) 600
Water-warm(mL) 2,400
-----------------------------------------------------
Total Weight 9,425

Procedure:

Blend Group 1 together to disperse ingredients.
Add Group 2 and mix to a fully develop dough.

FINISHED DOUGH TEMPERATURE: 30centigrade
FLOOR TIME: A recovery period of 15-20 minutes is required after dough development, before scaling off into 35g doughnuts.
PROVING: 20-30 minutes at 40centigrade
CINNAMON SUGAR: Mix 50g cinnamon powder with 2,000g castor sugar.
Frying Temperature: 190 centigrade
Frying Time: 2 minutes(1 minute for each side) until golden brown.

Pandesal

Group Ingredients Grams
===================================
1 Bakers Flour 1,000
Yeast(Instant dried) 10
Bread Improver 3
Milk Powder 10
-----------------------------------------------------
2 Eggs(mL) 1
Water-warm(mL) 400
Shortening 75
Salt 15
Sugar 180
-----------------------------------------------------
3 Bread Crumbs 1,000
-----------------------------------------------------
Total Weight

Procedure:

Blend Group 1 together to disperse ingredients.
Add Group 2 and mix to a fully develop.

FINISHED DOUGH TEMPERATURE: 30centigrade
FLOOR TIME: A recovery period of 15-20 minutes is required after dough development, before scaling off into 35g.
Roll into bread crumbs and place on aluminum tray
PROVING: 20-30 minutes at 40centigrade
COOKING Temperature: 180 centigrade
COOKING Time: 5 minutes until golden brown.

Simple Introduction

I enjoyed eating bread/cake/pastry. I always eat pandesal or bonete in the morning, Monay for merienda and tasty/loaf bread in other times of the day. Basically, bread has been a way of life for me. I can safely say that as a Filipino, my staple food is not rice but bread. I can live the day just by eating bread. I bake and eat my own bread and it has been my reliable source of income ever since, other than being a Systems Administrator in one of the most reputable University in the province of Batangas, Philippines.

I am 38 years old now. It is only now that I realized that I was living my whole life together with flour, sugar, shortening, margarine, and all other ingredients for making bread. Now is the time of feeling fulfillment of what I have done not only for me, but for my fellow Filipinos. People come and go. Even bakeries come and go. But still, I am left here in the province of Batangas and still baking bread. Sometimes I feel exhausted and about to give up-but I didn't. I press on no matter what problems I encounter. There are times that my workers or bakers would decide leaving for higher compensation. Most of the time, workers come to me begging for job. After giving them a job and eventually when they learn the in and outs of baking, majority of them change. They act like they own the bakery. Sometimes, they will not report for work and comes back only if they feel like coming back. Whew! Me, sour graping? Hmmmmm.... Well enough of that.

Well, I decided to create this blog to share my experiences and expertise(pardon if I lift my own bench) in bread making. How? I will be posting bread/cakes/pastries recipe(a lot of them if not all) that are well loved by Filipinos and hopefully soon to be loved by the World. Hopefully, this blog would be helpful to those who will venture into this kind of business in the future. I will start posting my recipe in my next blog. If you like a specific recipe, please don't hesitate to put that in the comments section of this blog. Thanks everyone and happy baking...