The Science Of Baking

Sep 4, 2014 By Nandini, 10
mukundnandini's picture

Baking is a both a science and an art. This article explains the science behind it.

In any baking recipe every ingredient has a purpose. For example, in a cake flour gives the structure, eggs bind the ingredients, baking powder and baking soda make it rise, fats like butter and oil make it less chewy, and sugar sweetens and keeps it moist.

Function of each ingredient

Baking soda and powder make baked goods rise. How does it do that? When mixed in batter, it makes carbon dioxide bubbles that help the cake to rise. As the cake bakes, the gas bubbles get trapped in the batter, which makes the cake light and fluffy.

Eggs help bind ingredients together. When it’s heated, the protein in the egg opens up and helps bind by making the batter into a semi-solid state. It also prevents crumbling and gives a smooth creamy texture.

Fats make our treats less chewy. They are awesome tenderizers. They coat the proteins in the flour, which prevents them from mixing with water and forming gluten.

Sugar adds sweetness and moistens our treats.

Flour gives the base and structure. There are 2 types of protein in flour called glutenin and gliadin. When water is added to the flour, the proteins come together and form a new protein called gluten. Later, inside the oven, the proteins and starches in the flour turn into a sturdy structure.

Every ingredient also needs to follow a certain proportion. For example if you put too much baking powder, the cake can crack. And if you put too little, it will be chewy and dense. Infact, once I put too much eggs in my cake batter and the cake became hard and heavy :(

Any system can function only if all it's parts do their job. The same principle applies to baking. Like with everything else, practice makes perfect. Most people follow a recipe when baking. As they get familiar with it, they tweak it to get better and better results. But to decide what to tweak, you need to first understand the science of baking!

Comments

josephines's picture
josephines October 16, 2014 - 12:28pm

I LOVE to bake.I have always wondered why you have to add eggs to cake!PLEASE REPLY.See ya!
P.S, I really like cupcakes.:)! Bye!

shreyav2's picture
shreyav2 October 29, 2014 - 6:04pm

I also love to bake, it is so fun!

kristopherl's picture
kristopherl October 16, 2014 - 12:17pm

I never knew there was science in baking

avipsac's picture
avipsac October 15, 2014 - 4:09pm

I never knew baking could be considered Science!
I also never knew that every ingredient did something!

shreyav2's picture
shreyav2 October 29, 2014 - 6:05pm

me either

isabellac3's picture
isabellac3 October 16, 2014 - 6:01pm

I know! it is really interesting when you think about it

edwardy2's picture
edwardy2 October 14, 2014 - 6:08pm

I love it how all the different ingredients make it a food that's good but it's not that healthy.

nancyc's picture
nancyc October 14, 2014 - 7:35am
This article was interesting. I want to try it.
hellokutey's picture
hellokutey October 10, 2014 - 10:06pm
Orange Juice: Did you know that orange juice is not the healthiest thing for you? It gives you back all of the bad stuff back!
braniyaa's picture
braniyaa November 14, 2016 - 9:48am

HI HELLOKITTY

garettc's picture
garettc October 10, 2014 - 1:45pm

cool

nathanh2's picture
nathanh2 October 10, 2014 - 12:20pm

i like baking

evanv's picture
evanv October 10, 2014 - 10:30am

on mothers day we always bake for my mom. its a family tradition of mine

basimm's picture
basimm October 8, 2014 - 12:03pm

#everyday breakfast

Neonwolf641's picture
Neonwolf641 October 8, 2014 - 10:37am

I think baking is pretty fun i made a cake with my mom on my birthday I had alot of fun doing it.

BookLover15's picture
BookLover15 April 24, 2015 - 3:28pm

I like to bake too

dannyg2's picture
dannyg2 October 7, 2014 - 1:24pm

Thats a good article.I bake lots of times.How much do you bake?Can you bake peanut butter cookies?

karlas's picture
karlas October 7, 2014 - 1:15pm

I think this might be fun to try to bake.They look yummy and so tasty .I wonder when I could bake one of those treats.When I bake I feel like a grand chef.Thats why I love baking.

aaronh3's picture
aaronh3 October 6, 2014 - 12:59pm

Wow Baking is science and art at the same time.It's weird that the baking soda makes it get all puffy.And that the eggs make get it's tasty texture.

samiyap's picture
samiyap September 30, 2014 - 7:35pm

I will read this soon omg this is so good I willlove to eat this now just because it is such good food

Lily Lotus's picture
Lily Lotus September 30, 2014 - 4:05pm

awesome! GO SUGAR! ;)

evenstar13's picture
evenstar13 September 29, 2014 - 7:02pm

my physics teacher calls the wonderful scent of baking bread 'ozone'. i think that ruins my appetite

cca's picture
cca September 29, 2014 - 10:34am

i love sweet thing

heidim's picture
heidim September 28, 2014 - 9:48pm

This is cool how they make it. I never knew they needed that much ingredients. my stomach is growling, im so hungry.

Sammye56's picture
Sammye56 September 27, 2014 - 5:10pm

My stomach is gurgling now

joshc2's picture
joshc2 September 26, 2014 - 6:55am

that makes me hungry

calebf3's picture
calebf3 October 3, 2014 - 6:17am

me too

calebf3's picture
calebf3 September 26, 2014 - 6:34am

I want to eat that.

laureng4's picture
laureng4 September 25, 2014 - 7:06pm

This is about baking and all the ingredients

Jayden4113's picture
Jayden4113 September 25, 2014 - 7:22am

I never knew BladeNinja could bake!

demarcus1's picture
demarcus1 September 25, 2014 - 7:20am

baking is fun! :]

sofiam2's picture
sofiam2 September 22, 2014 - 6:51pm

That s cool I love to bake cakes and cupcakes with my mom and I am a little good at it. At least I think so.

camerond's picture
camerond September 22, 2014 - 4:24pm

I love how you explained ingredients in the beginning, i like how you said what happens if you put too much of something in the body of the text, and how you compared baking to machines at the end! Very good work!

Tryn28's picture
Tryn28 September 22, 2014 - 1:21pm

nice. i've never thought about it that way

madasonl's picture
madasonl September 20, 2014 - 7:15pm

That is so cool. How did you learn that some ingrdents help baked goods rise?

DKmoon's picture
DKmoon September 20, 2014 - 12:36am

I love to bake! :)

ramirezc's picture
ramirezc September 19, 2014 - 4:16pm

That looks good

PacMan512's picture
PacMan512 September 19, 2014 - 6:33am

Cool. I bake quite a bit.

Neonwolf641's picture
Neonwolf641 October 8, 2014 - 10:38am

me too infact i love to bake

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