cooking & baking terms

Bake
to cook food by surrounding it with hot air, usually describes the cooking method for baking products.

B.B.Q.
to cook food above hot coals or wood ambers/ashes

Boil
to cook food in a rapidly bubbling liquid, above 100*c/212*f or simmering around 80*c/180*f


Braise
to cook food submerged in a liquid, usually flavoured and then slow cooked in the oven.


Casserole
Cooking food slowly to tenderise meat and vegetables and Stew and to intensify flavour.
Casseroles are cooked in the oven and Stews are cooked on top of the oven on the stove.

Deep-fry
to submerge food in hot oil between 175/190*c/ 345/375*f, depending on the thickness of the food.


Grill
to cook food below a heated element. Usually having to turn while cooking.


Pan fry
cooking food in a frying pan on both sides with or with out a small amount of oil. i.e. - a fatty piece of meat will pan fry in a non-stick pan without oil.


Poach
to submerge food in a hot liquid, usually around 70/80*c or 160/180*f.


Roast
to cook food in a hot oven, surrounding by dry heat.


Sauté
a French term, as for pan-fry but with hot oil and a good amount of movement.


Shallow Fry
to cook food in a layer of hot oil, usually in a frying pan, not submerged- therefore having to turn over the food to cook on both sides.

Steam
cooking food in a holed container above boiling water, but not with the water touching the food as the water produces a steam, which rises up to moistly, cook the food.

Stir-Fry
to cook usually -thin strips of food in a hot pan with hot oil, moving around quickly and cooking rapidly on a high flame.

Toast
to brown lightly on both sides, under a grill or in a toaster.

Wok Fry
same as for stir-fry only using a Chinese wok. Woks cause an intense heat in the centre, so stir frequently on a high flame. Sometimes 1/2 way through the process liquid is added to create a steam to soften and flavour the ingredients.

English to American !

All purpose Flour = Plain flour



Beet = Beetroot


Chips (potato) = Crisps
Cilanthro = Corriander
Cornmeal = Flour-Maize
Cornstarch = Cornflour

Crisco = Vegetable fat

Corn Syrup = Not quite but close to Golden syrup.


Egg Plant = Aubergine


French Fries = Thin chips

Golden raisins = Sultanas
Graham crackers = Digestives
Ground Meat = Mince

Heavy Cream = Double Cream

Jello = Jelly

Light Cream = Single Cream

Molassess = Black Treacle

Peanut oil = Groundnut oil
Pigs foot = Pigs Trotter
Pudding = Dessert

Seeded = Stoned
Superfine Granulated = Caster sugar

Zucchini= Courgette

Cake tins & Oven Temperatures

4in ---------------------= 10cm
7in ---------------------= 18cm
8in ---------------------= 20cm
9in ---------------------= 23cm
12in/1ft ----------------= 30cm




C --------------------°F ---------------Gas mark
95-120 -----------200-250 --------------1 -----------Extremely slow
135-150 ----------275-300 --------------2 -----------Slow
160 -----------------325 -----------------3 -----------Warm
180-190 ----------350-375 --------------4 -----------Medium
200-210 ---------400-425 ---------------5 ------------Medium-Hot
220-230 ---------450-475 --------------7-8 ----------Hot
240-250 ---------500-525 --------------8-9----------Extremely hot

Cooking & Baking Conversions

Metric Imperial Pounds
30g 1 oz
60g 2 oz
125g 4 oz 1/4 lb
250g 8 oz 1/2 lb (227g exact)
315g 10 oz
440g 14 oz
500g 16 oz 1lb (454g exact)
750g 24 oz 1&1/2 lb
1 kilo 32 oz 2lb (908g exact)


1 cup vegetables 1 medium chopped onion, 1 medium carrot etc
1 cup butter 250g / 8oz
1 cup sugar 220g / 7oz
1 cup flour 100g / 3&1/2oz
1 cup cheese 120g / 4oz
1 cup egg 240g/ 8oz / 4 x large
1 cup nuts 120g / 4oz
1 cup dried fruit 150g / 5oz
1 cup honey or syrup 250g / 8oz
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U.S. to Metric

1/5 teaspoon = 1 ml
1 teaspoon = 5 ml
1 tablespoon = 15 ml1 fluid oz. = 30 ml
1/5 cup = 50 ml
1 cup = 240 ml
2 cups (1 pint) = 470 ml
4 cups (1 quart) = .95 liter
4 quarts (1 gal.) = 3.8 liters

Weight
1 oz. = 28 grams
1 pound = 454 grams

ml. to teaspoon
1 militers = 1/5 teaspoon
5 ml = 1 teaspoon
15 ml = 1 tablespoon
30 ml = 1 fluid oz.
100 ml = 3.4 fluid oz.
240 ml = 1 cup
1 liter = 34 fluid oz.
1 liter = 4.2 cups
1 liter = 2.1 pints
1 liter = 1.06 quarts
1 liter = .26 gallon

Weight
1 gram = .035 ounce
100 grams = 3.5 ounces
500 grams = 1.10 pounds
1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds
1 kilogram = 35 oz.

Cooking Measurement Equivalents

16 tablespoons = 1 cup
12 tablespoons = 3/4 cup
10 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons = 2/3 cup
8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup
6 tablespoons = 3/8 cup
5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon = 1/3 cup
4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
2 tablespoons = 1/8 cup
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons = 1/6 cup
1 tablespoon = 1/16 cup

2 cups = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
48 teaspoons = 1 cup

Baker's Glossary

Acetic Acid The acid in vinegar that comes from a second fermentation of beer, wine or cider.

Acidulated Water Water to which lemon juice or wine vinegar is added, used to stop peeled vegetables from discolouring.

Agar-Agar A seaweed based vegetarian alternative to gelatine, used as a stabiliser or thickener.

Albumen Egg white.

Arrowroot A fine white powder used for thickening sauces, similar to cornflower. Arrowroot, gives a clear gloss. It is best mixed with a little water before adding to liquids.
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Bain-Marie A shallow hot water bath into which another container is placed to cook. Used to distribute heat evenly and prevent scorching. Also used to keep food warm without boiling or over-cooking.

Baking Powder A raising agent that reacts to produce carbon dioxide which expands during baking to ensure that cakes and breads rise.

Brownie A firm, chewy cake, often made with chocolate and nuts, cut into squares.

Brown Sugar Refined sugar with a thin coating of molasses, not to be confused with raw, unrefined sugar.

Buckwheat A grain sometimes ground as flour.

Buttermilk Cultured pasteurised milk, mildly acidic with a creamy flavour and thick consistency.
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Caramelise Heating sugar to the point where it melts and sets later to a hard glaze. Or, cooking fruit or vegetables until natural sugars are released and it becomes brown.

Cardamom A small pungent seed pod used as a flavouring.

Chantilly Cream Whipped cream sweetened and flavoured with vanilla.

Choux Pastry A light, double-cooked pastry used for cakes and buns.

Cinnamon A sweet spice bark used as a flavouring

Clarified Butter Butter that has been heated and strained and all impurities removed, cooks at a higher temperature without burning.

Custard A thick, sweet milk based sauce, served hot or cold with desserts.

Clotted Cream Thick, baked cream, from Cornwall or Devon.

Cloves A sweet, pungent, spice used as a flavouring.

Coconut The fruit of the coconut palm, used in both sweet and savoury dishes

Cornbread Bread made from cornmeal flour.

Cornflour A starch extract used to thicken sauces.

Corn Syrup Very sweet syrup similar to golden syrup. Crab Apple A small sour wild apple.

Cream of Tartar A potassium salt of tartaric acid, used in baking powder, as well as in self-raising flour, in combination with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda).

Creaming Mixing ingredients together until they become fluffy like whipped cream.

Crème anglaise The French name for custard.

Crème Brûlée An egg custard dessert with a hard caramel topping.

Crème Fraîche A sharp flavoured thick cream made from pasteurised milk.
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Demerara Sugar Pale, mild raw cane sugar.

Desiccated Coconut Sweetened dried coconut shreds.

Double Cream Cream is 48 per cent fat, withstands boiling, whips well and can be frozen. Called heavy cream in America
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Eggwash Beaten egg and milk, used to glaze pastry or bread.

Emulsify To combine fats with vinegar or citric juice into a smooth, stable mixture.

Essence or extract Concentrated aromatic extract from the such as almonds, vanilla, or coffee, used as a flavouring, also available in synthetic form.
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Filo Pastry Very thin sheets of pastry east European and Middle Eastern dishes.

Flaky Pastry A pastry made of layers that become flakier when cooked.

Flan Open pie filled with a sweet or savoury filling.

Fold To mix ingredients whilst retaining air. Often to incorporate flour or sugar with beaten egg whites.

Fondant A soft sweet icing. Sautéed potatoes crisped with a soft centre.

Fool A cold dessert made from whipped cream and fruit purée

Frangipane A almond flavoured sweet pastry cream.
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Gelatine A setting agent, derived from animals, available as a powder or a sheet. Used to make jellies, mousses, etc.

Glaze To brush liquid over food to give it a glossy appearance.

Glucose The natural sugar, found in fruit and other foods, which is easily absorbed by the body.

Gluten The protein in flour which, gives the dough elasticity and strength.

Gram Flour A pale yellow, flour made from ground chickpeas
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Hot Water Crust Pastry A heated pastry that can be can be moulded to produce raised pies.
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Icing Sugar Granulated sugar that has been milled to produce a very fine powder.

Infuse To extract flavours from herbs, spices, tea or coffee using boiling water and allowing to stand or cool.
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Kirsch A liqueur distilled from cherries, used as a flavouring.

Knead To work and stretch dough to make smoother, more elastic, or to add additional ingredients. Leavening An agent that produces gas in dough or batter by fermentation, raising and lightening it. Yeast, baking powder and baking soda are all common forms.
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Lemon A sharp citrus fruit, both it's skin (zest) and juice are used as flavouring.

Lemon balm A green herb with a lemon flavour and odour, used as flavouring.

Lemon Grass A herb with a lemon flavour and odour, used as flavouring.

Lime A small, green citrus fruit, both it's skin (zest) and juice are used as flavouring.

Lingonberry Lingonberries are a dark red soft fruit, traditionally used in Swedish cooking.

Loganberry A cross between the blackberry and raspberry.
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Macadamia A nut that is native to Australia, with a white kernel.

Macaroon A small almond flavoured biscuit or cake.

Madeleine A sweet scallop-shaped cake.

Maldon Salt Sea salt which comes from the Maldon area of Essex.

Mandolin A very sharp slicer with one or blades fixed in a frame that can be supported in a tilted position. Used to slice or juilienne vegetables.

Maple Syrup The sap of the maple tree, popular in the United States and Canada.

Mascarpone A soft and creamy Italian cheese.

Marzipan A thick paste made from ground almonds, sugar and egg whites used as a topping for cakes or as a base for the icing for special cakes.

Meringue Stiffly whipped egg whites and sugar, which when baked hard on the outside but soft inside.

Mille-Feuille A pastry made of thin layers of puff pastry, whipped cream with a sweet or fruit filling. Literally means 'a thousand leaves'.

Mincemeat A sweet and spicy preserved mixture of dried fruits and spices, with rum or brandy, used for mince pies.

Molasses A thick, dark, heavy sweet syrup.

Mousse A cream dish with added beaten egg whites and with a sweet or savoury flavouring
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Petit Four A small fancy biscuit or cake.

Patty Pan A small, circular, courgette with fluted edges.

Patty Tin Baking tin with 6, 9 or 12 shallow round compartments used for making individual pies and tarts.

Pecan A nut related to the walnut.

Pectin A substance in fruit that cause the pulp to set, as when making jams.

Praline A sweet made of almonds and sugar.

Profiterole A choux pastry small bun, usually filled with cream.

Puff Pastry A very light flaky pastry made of many layers which expand when cooked.
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Quiche An open tart or flan with a savoury filling.

Quince A fruit which when ripe is aromatic, often used to made preserves.
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Raised Pie A pie made with hot water crust pastry.

Ricotta An un-ripened soft and creamy Italian ewe’s milk curd.

Rice Flour An alternative to wheat flour also used as a thickening agent.

Rose Water An essence distilled from fragrant rose petals.
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Strudel A fruit sweet made from very thin layers of pastry.

Spelt A cereal grain with a nutty flavour, and can be used by people with wheat allergies.

Soufflé A sweet or savoury dish enriched with egg yolks with whisked egg whites folded in and then baked.

Shortbread A sweet, rich butter biscuit.

Shortcrust Pastry A crumbly pastry that is ideal for pies and pasties.

Scone A small, rounded sweet or savoury cake.
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Tarte Tatin An apple tart that is cooked under a lid of pastry, served upside down .
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Unleavened Bread Bread without leavening or yeast.
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Vanilla Pod The fragrant dried pods of the vanilla orchid, used as a flavouring.

Vegetable Shortening The vegetarian alternative to lard.

Vodka An clear spirit distilled from grain.

Vol-au-vent A puff pastry case with a lid, often filled with a savoury filling after baking.
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Whipping Cream Cream with a fat content over 35 percent.
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Yeast A raising agent. Yeast is a fungus (saccharomyces cerevisae) which ferments sugars to produce carbon dioxide, which leavens flour mixtures.
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Zest The outermost, coloured, glossy film of the rind of an orange, lemon or lime.

For USA baking glossary please click on :

http://www.joyofbaking.com/other/glossaryindex.html

Before you start to bake, it is good to know the difference between all-purpose flour, cake flour, bread flour and self- raising flour. To make it easier you should start this by knowing a little bit about GLUTEN.

Gluten is a special type of protein that is commonly found in wheat, rye and barley. Gluten helps to make bread elastic and provides it with the chewy texture when eaten, but mainly gluten keeps the gases that are realesed during fermentation in the dough so the bread is able to rise before it is baked. Gluten also firms up when it is cooked and with the help of starch, its ensure the bread maintains its proper shape.

In USA :

All-purpose flour comes in two basic forms-bleached and unbleached-that can be used interchangeably. Flour can be bleached either naturally, as it ages, or chemically.

Cake or pastry flour is a fine-textured, soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It makes particularly tender cakes and pastries.

Self-raising flour is an all-purpose flour to which baking powder and salt have been added.

Cornstarch
This is a refined starch that comes from corn. It is mostly used as a clear thickening agent for puddings, fruit sauces and Asian cooking. It is also used in combination with other flours for baking.

The choice of flours for home cooking and baking in UK

Plain Flour - also known as all-purpose. Use for shortcrust pastry, sauces and gravies where a raising agent is not required.
Self-raising - Flour to which a raising agent has been evenly mixed. Use for cakes, scones and puddings.
Soft Flour - a soft white flour which has been milled very finely to give sponges, cake and scones a higher rise and finer texture.
Strong Flour - a flour with a high protein content providing a high volume and open texture. Ideal for bread and all types of yeast cookery, Yorkshire puddings and puff pastry
Wholemeal - 100% extraction, made from the wholewheat grain with nothing added or taken away.
Brown - usually contains about 85% of the original grain. Some bran and germ have been removed.
White - usually 75% of the wheatgrain. Most of the bran and wheatgerm have been removed before milling.
Wheatgerm - white or brown flour with at least 10% added wheatgerm.
Malted wheatgrain - brown or wholemeal flour with added malted grains.
Stoneground - wholemeal flour ground in traditional way, between 2 stones. (This info is taking from "fab" Flour Advisery Bureau)http://www.fabflour.co.uk/content/1/25/types-of-flour.htm

Do you know your chocolate?

Cocoa beans are the fruit of the topical tree called Theobroma Cacao."The traditional way of manufacturing chocolate is to take the beans [from the cacao pod] and ferment them after harvesting to remove the bitterness. They are then thoroughly dried. Next they are roasted to expose the inside, which is called the nib. Various bean nibs are blended together to obtain the flavor desired and then ground up. The resulting paste, called cocoa mass is the heart and soul of chocolate's flavor. The cocoa mass is enhanced with sugar, butter, flavorings and then blended thoroughly. Today some chocolate is made [of inferior quality] where the cocoa butter is replaced with a synthetic substitute, and "conching" replaced with the addition of soy lecithin [for smoothness]. The good news is that by law, a product that is made without cocoa butter, cannot be labeled as chocolate." tells candycraft.com

Milk Chocolates contains dry milk solids or condense milk, addition to containing cocoa solids. They are much sweeter in taste.

Dark chocolates are often distinguished by the percentage of cocoa solids in the bar. It could be anywhere between the %30 to %90.It has a bitter aftertaste and they are chalky in the texture. Great for baking and melting.

White chocolate does not contain any cocoa solids, they are a confection made of milk, cocoa butter and sugar. Hard to work with when it comes to baking, and pay extra attention to not over heating during melting.
Note on storing chocolate : Chocolates can be store for up to a year if the conditions are favorable. this means a dry place with temperature 20C/68C. Place your chocolate inside an airtight container away from strong smelling foods.If your chocolate has white streaks, it means the fat comes to the surface due to higher temperature, it doesn't spoil the flavor but the appearance wont be suitable for use as a decoration.

You should check your kitchen and see what do you have to start with. I thought this list might help. XOXO

1. Cake pans, muffin pans as 12-hole standard, 12-hole mini or silicone ones.


2. Piping bag and tips.


3. Rolling pins, spatulas, brushes and palette knives.


4. Measuring tools in Cups, Tbsp, tsp and heat proof glass liquid measurer.


5. Paper and foil cupcake cases, doilies, parchment paper and zip lock bags.


6. Colorings, in liquid, gel or powder.


7. Mixing bowl & a whisk.


8. Hand blender.


9. Scale, candy thermometer and timer.


10. Cooling rack.


11. Few different size of food saver containers.


12. Cake tins, I do prefer airtight ones.


13. A good bake book, preferably with lots of pictures and step by step instructions.


14. If you going to do sugar paste work, then you might want to get few thing like cutters, leaf vernier, laces, rubber stamps and templates.


15. And of course your imagination and creativity.