The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking - Donna Diegel [120]
baking powder A dry leavening agent used in baking. It usually contains alkali. Baking powder is sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with the addition of an acidic salt, which causes activation when moistened and heated. Traditionally recipes needed baking soda and an acidic ingredient (like vinegar or molasses) to get the carbon dioxide to erupt.
baking soda Bicarbonate of soda, it must be combined with an acid to activate. Activation results in the gas carbon dioxide, which leavens baked goods.
beat To quickly mix substances.
beet sugar Sugar made from sugar beets and processed much like cane sugar. Unlike cane sugar, it’s never bleached with bone char.
blackstrap molasses A dark, thick, bittersweet syrup that results from the production of sugar. It contains several B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, copper, and manganese. All molasses is a product of sugar refinement.
blend To completely mix something, usually with a blender or food processor, more slowly than beating.
blind-baking Also known as prebaking, blind-baking is the method of partially or fully baking an empty crust specifically for pies and tarts filled with refrigerated fillings and pudding or cream fillings, and for pie crusts that need a little more baking time than the filling needs. Partially blind-baking also helps prevent the crust from becoming soggy when baking custardlike pies.
Bob’s Red Mill All Natural Egg Replacer Unlike Ener-G Egg Replacer, this egg substitute contains wheat gluten, so it’s not suitable for gluten-free diets.
boil To heat a liquid to a point where water is forced to turn into steam, causing the liquid to bubble. To boil something is to insert it into boiling water. A rapid boil (212°F at sea level) produces a lot of bubbles on the surface of the liquid.
breadcrumbs Tiny pieces of crumbled dry bread, often used for topping or coating.
cacao nibs The small, broken pieces of shelled, raw cacao beans used to produce chocolate. They’re dark brown with a slightly bittersweet, coffeelike flavor.
cake flour A high-starch, soft, and fine flour used primarily for cakes. Cake flour has high starch-low protein content, which produces a tender crumb. It can be used instead of pastry flour.
caraway A distinctive spicy seed used for bread, cheese, and cabbage dishes. It’s known to reduce stomach upset, which is why it’s often paired with, for example, sauerkraut.
cardamom An intense, sweet-smelling spice, common to Indian cooking, used in baking and coffee.
carob A tropical tree that produces long pods. The dried, baked, and powdered flesh of the pods (carob powder) is used in baking, and the fresh and dried pods are used for a variety of recipes. The flavor is sweet and reminiscent of chocolate.
chop To cut into pieces, usually qualified by an adverb such as “coarsely chopped,” or by a size measurement such as “chopped into ½-inch pieces.” “Finely chopped” is much closer to minced.
cider vinegar Vinegar produced from apple cider, popular in North America. Cider vinegar mixed with baking soda creates a chemical reaction that helps baked goods rise. This alternative is a good leavening substitute for eggs because it creates the gas carbon dioxide.
cinnamon A rich, aromatic spice from the bark of a tree, commonly used in baking or desserts. It can also be used for delicious and interesting entrées.
clove A sweet, strong, almost wintergreen-flavor spice used in baking.
cornmeal Cornmeal comes in fine, medium, and coarse grind and yellow, white, and blue colors. Steel-cut yellow cornmeal is ground with almost all the husk and germ removed. Stone-ground cornmeal is a bit nuttier. White cornmeal is most often used in Southern cooking for cornbread. Blue cornmeal is a little more rare.
cream of tartar A by-product of winemaking, the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid, a carboxylic acid, it is needed to create carbon dioxide with baking soda to leaven. A white, odorless, acidic powder used for many culinary