Lesson : Cookies & Cakes

One Bowl Method

One Bowl Method:– All the ingredients are mixed in easy stages in the

same bowl, so cleaning up is quicker and easier, too.

Step for making cookies:

1. Cream fat and sugar2. Beat in eggs and vanilla3. Sift dry ingredients4. Stir in dry ingredients5. Stir in nuts, etc6. Form cookies7. Bake until done8. Remove from pan9. Let cool on racks

6 types of bar cookies:

Bar cookies: baked in square pan Drop cookies: made by dropping tsp. of batter onto a

baking sheet Molded cookies: made from stiff dough and shaped by

hand Pressed cookies: made by pushing the dough through a

cookie press onto a baking sheet Rolled cookies: made by rolling out a stiff dough to the

thickness specified Refrigerator cookies: slice from a long roll of chilled dough

and baked on a cookie sheet

Why must the oven be preheated?– The oven is prepared at the right temperature for

the cookies, etc. Allows for the product to bake at the correct temperature, rather than bake at a lower temperature and then gradually baking until the oven is at the right temperature

Why is it best to use shiny pans, rather than black one?– Shiny reflect the heat, rather than absorb it as do

the black ones

Cookie sheet vs. Jelly roll pans– Cookie sheets are shallow and usually do not have

a ridge around the outsides of the sheet– Jelly roll pans are deeper and have a ridge around

the outside of pan.

Why are cookies sheets left ungreased?– Cookies usually have a lot of fat within the cookie

dough, therefore it is not necessary to grease a pan as the grease from the pan will actually end up being absorbed into the cookie causing there to be more fat in the cookie.

Shortening vs. Margarine or Butter– Both contain fat– BUT shortening does not contain salt

Salt will burn on the pan, which is in margarine or butter, therefore use shortening as it doesn’t contain salt and will not burn

Why cook in the middle of the oven?– Allows the the product to cook evenly

Shortening Cakes Method:

1. Grease and flour pans2. Sift dry ingredients3. Cream fat and sugar4. Beat in egg and vanilla5. Add 1/3 dry ingredients6. Add ½ liquid7. Continue to add dry and wet alternately until well blended8. Pour batter into pans9. Bake until done10. Leave cake in pan for 10 mins11. Remove from pan12. Let cool on rack

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Why have ingredients at room temperature?– Blend more easily– Easier to cream to provide better structure to cake and cookies

Why add dry ingredients alternately with liquids?– Easier to mix– Less fat pockets – not as good texture in product– Prevent forming gluten

If you dumped all of the dry ingredients in at once, the batter at that point would be very stiff and may be lumpy.  On the other hand, if you added all of the liquid ingredients first, you wouldn't get the benefit of the fat interfering with gluten formation.  Balance is found in between, by alternating them according to the recipe.

Effects of over mixing batter:– Mixing too much overdevelops the gluten in the flour

which will cause a tough muffin with tunnels and a compact texture.

Muffin should be:– The surface should be bumpy and the volume of the

batter should have almost doubled during baking.  The muffin should feel light for its size and when cut its interior should be moist and tender with no tunnels.

Placement of cake pans:

One pan – center of oven Two pans – top left and bottom right or vice

versa Three pans – top left back, top right front, and

bottom right back

How to tell when cake is done?– Inserting toothpick into the middle– Look at edges of cake – start to pull away from pan– Touch the surface of cake in center – should

bounce back without leaving a finger imprint

Storing Cakes:

Boston cream pie: – store in refrigerator

Chocolate cake: – serve warm; store in pantry, refrigerator, freezer (cover with

foil, plastic wrap or cake container)

Angel food cake with frosting:– invert cake then put on frosting; store in pantry or refrigerator

in a cake container will only keep a couple days

White cake with cooked frosting: – similar to chocolate cake