Cooking Glossary

This page defines a lot of terminology that's helpful to know around the kitchen.

Baking Powder

Baking Powder is a leavening agent used where fermentation by yeast would create undesirable flavors, and the ingredients do not contain an acid. Baking Powder is approximately 30% Baking Soda plus other acidic salts. A buffering compound such as cornstarch prevents an early reaction between the acid and the Baking Soda. Some Baking Powder is "double-acting" where the first reaction occurs when the wet ingredients are mixed, and a second reaction is triggered later by temperature.

Generally, one teaspoon of Baking Powder is used to raise a mixture of one cup of flour, one cup of liquid, and one egg. However, if the mixture does contain an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk, honey, lemon juice, or yogurt, some of the Baking Powder should be replaced with Baking Soda to absorb that extra acid. For example, one cup of flour, one cup of buttermilk, and one egg can be leavened with 1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder and 1/4 teaspoon of Baking Soda. Check your recipe!

Baking Soda

Baking Soda is the chemical sodium bicarbonate. When this reacts with an acid in a cake or bread batter it produces carbon dioxide gas which expands the batter to create the texture or grain. The typical amount of Baking Soda required is 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour. Check your recipe! Excess Baking Soda (including that from Baking Powder) can leave a bitter, metallic taste—if your batter tastes like this you can add a litte lemon juice to neutralize the Baking Soda.

Bowl - Cereal

Smaller than a Soup Bowl, normal serving contains about 200ml.

Bowl - Soup

Wide bowl typically with a capacity of about 500ml (about 2 cups), and larger than a Cereal Bowl. A normal serving contains about 350ml.

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream, generally from cow's milk. There are three main types:

• Cultured Butter. Made from fermented cream, and sometimes called "European-Style Butter".
• Sweet Cream Butter. Made from pasteurized fresh cream, and the most common type in the US and UK.
• Raw Cream Butter. Made from unpasteurized fresh cream.

Salted Butter contains anywhere from 1.25 to 1.75% by weight salt depending on the maker. This acts as both a flavor enhancer and a preservative. This amount of salt works out to about 4.26 grams (3/4 tsp) of salt per 227 grams (1 cup) of butter, or 2.13 grams (3/8 tsp) per 114 gram (1 stick). You need to account for the amount of salt in recipes that specifically call for salted or unsalted butter.

Butter can be frozen for up to 6 months.

Cake

A form of sweet food usually made from flour, sugar, eggs, butter or oil or margarine, a liquid, and a leavening agent such as baking soda or baking powder. Additional ingredients and flavorings include various forms of fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla. Cakes can be filled with fruit preserves, nuts, or dessert sauces such as pastry cream, and can by topped with with buttercream or other icings. Common cake variations are:

• Angel Food Cake. A spongy, chewy cake made with whipped egg whites and sugar, and contains no oil of any kind. The recipe is reminiscent of meringue but with flour. Angel Food Cake goes well with fruit.
• Biscuit Cake. A variation of Sponge Cake containing both egg whites and yolks, but the whites and yolks are whipped separately and then folded back together. The batter is drier than a Genoise Cake, and the cake is somewhat chewy.
• Butter Cake. A type of cake with creamed butter, sugar, baking powder or baking soda, and often another liquid such as milk. Different recipes call for whole eggs, extra egg yolks to make a yellow cake, or egg whites only to create a white cake. Chocolate is often added to make a chocolate or marble cake
• Carrot Cake. Similar recipe to Butter Cake, but uses shaved carrots and a neutral flavor oil such as Canola.
• Chiffon Cake. A moist and fluffy cake that uses oil and a leavening agent. Egg yolks are beaten with the oil and dry ingredients, and egg whites are whipped separately like mergingue.
• Flourless Cake - Baked. Includes Cheesecakes and chocolate flourless cakes. Usually made in a springform pan for easy removability.
• Flourless Cake - Unbaked. Includes unbaked Cheesecake and Mousse cakes. Typically have some kind of crust or other kind of thin cake as a base. Usually made in a springform pan for easy removabiliity.
• Genoise Cake. The European version of the Sponge Cake that is crumbly, airy, and moist. It uses clarified butter, no leavening agent, and the whole eggs are beaten together. It has a lighter texture than Butter Cake, but not much flavor by itself. It is often served frost by itself or with some kind of syrup topping, rolled up like a jelly cake, or sliced to make for multi-layer cakes filled with some buttercream variation.
• Pound Cake. Related to Butter Cake, the name comes from the easy-to-remember ingredient proportions: one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs, and flour. However, don't use that as a recipe because it would produce a huge cake! Pound Cake is usually lightly flavored and sometimes glazed. They are often used as the base for coffee cakes, sour cream cakes, and fruit crumb cakes
• Red Velvet Cake. Similar recipe to Butter Cake, but uses a neutral flavor oil such as Canola, buttermilk, and contains cocoa powder.
• Sponge Cake. A moist and springy cake that does not use a leavening agent. Some recipes call for the egg to be beaten whole, while in other recipes they are beaten separately. A true Sponge Cake contains no additional fat other than from the egg yolks. Sponge Cakes tend to be drier than other types of cakes, but that is a good trait when you will be adding toppings or fillings.

Caramelization

Caramelization is the browning of sugar, a process used in cooking to produce a sweet nutty flavor and brown color. For pure Sucrose (common sugar) this occurs at 170°C (338°F). This is a pyrolitic process (thermal decomposition), unlike the Maillard Reaction, which is a chemical process.

• Flour - All-Purpose. All-Purpose, "AP", or Plain Flour, is a mixture of soft and hard wheats that can be used in most baking recipes such as cakes and cookies, although Bread or Italian flour is preferred for breadmaking. It has a medium gluten protein content of anywhere from 9.5 to 12% depending on the source. There is no precise conversion between volume and weight due to blend and manufacturing differences. The range is from 120 to 130 grams/cup, and the USDA uses 125 grams/cup. Before measuring your flour by volume be sure to fluff up the pack, but don't sift unless directed to by the recipe. For All-Purpose Flour I use 1 cup = 125 grams in all of my recipes.
  
  You can make your own AP Flour by combining equal volumes of Cake Flour and Bread Flour.
• Flour - Bread. Bread flour containts a high amount of protein ranging from 11.5 to 14%. This extra protein binds together to trap carbon dioxide released by the yeast fermentation process, resulting in a stronger rise and chewier crumb. Bread flour is usually made with a hard red spring or hard red winter wheat. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flatbread flour may be made from the hardest type, Durham wheat, which is also known as "Pasta Wheat".
• Flour - Buckwheat. Buckwheat or Common Buckwheat is not actually releated to Wheat. It is grown for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. It is used in several countries to make dishes such of gluten-free pancakes, and in Japan to make soba noodles.
• Flour - Cake. Cake flour has the lowest in gluten protein content, with 5 to 8% depending on the source. The lack of gluten produces minimal binding so the cake will crubmle easily. Cake flour is often made with soft wheat, which includes the soft red winter and soft white winter varieties.
• Flour - Italian. Italian Flour is refined to levels 2, 1, 0, and 00, where 00 is the finest and contains the least bran. Doppio Zero ("00") is very fine and has low protein/low gluten, so it is suitable for pasta, pizza, and cakes.
• Flour - Pasty. Pastry flour has the second-lowest gluten protein content, with 7.5 to 9% depending on the source. Is is stronger than Cake Flour, but not as strong as Bread Flour to allow some strength but still be flaky.
• Flour - Self-rising. This is essentially All-purpose Flour premixed with leavening agents for sponge cakes, cookies, scones, and muffins. Each cup of flour (approximately 125 grams) typically contains 1 teaspoon (3 g) of baking powder, and in U.S. recipies about 1/4 teasspoon (1 gram or less) of salt.
• Flour - Semolina. Course ground flour created from small portions known as "middlings" left over from the milling process that do not become ordinary flour. Semolina contains small bits of the bran, germ, and endosperm, and is actually a good source of protein compared to processed flour.
• Flour - Whole Wheat. Whole Wheat, or Wholemeal Flour made from the whole grain of the wheat including the bran and the germ, where is other types of flour are made only with the endosperm. Typical gluten protein content is about 13.8%. In the U.S. it is usually milled from hard spring wheat. You generally cannot substitute Whole Wheat vs other kinds of flour because the liquid absorption is different.

Japanese 薄力粉 ("Hakurikiko") is "weak"" flour for cakes, and 強力粉 ("Kyorikiko") is "strong" flour for bread. There are many specialty flours such as for Tenpura and Okonomiyaki, but I've yet to check out the details. 中力粉 ("Chuuryokuko") is in between, and is equivalent to All Purpose Flour.