THE HISTORY OF BAKING

IN THE WORLD
Baking is a process by which food is subjected to dry heat in an enclosed device called
oven. In the early days, baking was linked closely with the bread making.
Baking probably started when a man discovered wild edible grains that grew on his
hunting trail. He later cultivated this grains that grew on his hunting trail. He later cultivated this
grains in his own place and learned how to grind them between stones, thereby producing a
powdery grain called flour which; when mix with water, yielded dough. The mixture was spread
on heated stones to produce bread that was flat, hard on the outside but soft on the inside. This
method of baking, introduced by the Swiss lake dwellers 8,000 years ago, was practiced in
Ancient civilization like Babylonia, Assyria, and Egypt (B.A.E).
The first improvement on this flat bread was a discovery in 3,000 B.C. by a baker in
Royal Egyptian household. He forgot the dough which later soured and expanded. The baker
kneaded it again, baked it, and came up with raised loaf bread. This marked the beginning of
leavened bread.
In the seventeenth century, the leavening process was scientifically studied through a
microscope. The yeast cells were identified to be responsible for the formation of air bubbles in
the dough, causing it to rise. The heat during baking further causes the rising action in the dough.
As the quality of bread improved, so did the milling and baking facilities. Open earthen jars took
the place on the flat stones. They were later replaced by a beehive oven made of adobe or bricks
used by the Greeks in 600 B.C. In 100 B.C. Romans came up with a more sophisticated and
much bigger oven made of thicker adobe or bricks
The milling process, on the other hand, started with the use of hollowed-out stones where
grains is pounded with a round stone. Later the Egyptians shaped this stones where grain is
pounded with a round stone. Later the Egyptians shaped this stones into a bigger mortar and
pestle like structure.
The Greeks in 600 B.C. invented the hourglass, a device composed of a bin or hopper
where grain was poured and two stones moved against each other and ground the grain into
powder. Animals and man provided the power to move it. The Romans in 100 B.C also used the
hourglass but instead of animals and men, they utilized wind and water to move it.
Baking has become a major part of the household activities to supply bread. The Greeks
were the master bakers of antiquity, with more than 70 different recipes for bread. Between 300
and 200 B.C., It turned into a trade when free men in Greece began establishing public bakeries.
The baking industry was later absorbed by the Romans after they conquered Greece. White flour
used then was almost similar to our flour today, and the quality of the bread was comparable to
that of bread today.
Baking, however, became a forgotten occupation with the invasion of the Huns in Northern
Europe which marked the onset of the Dark ages. Later the crusader was able to drive the
Moslems back to Asia, and commerce began to flourish again. Farmers were encouraged to grow
grains and baking became an honored profession. Baker’s guilds were recognized.
The baking industry was brought to America with the Jamestown colonists. Commercial
bakers were already in operation as early as the 1600s. Toward the middle of the nineteenth
century, facilities and baked products saw improvements bigger and more efficient ovens were
built. Products like breads, cakes, pies, biscuits, cookies, and crackers became commercially
available. The import and export of wheat encourage the growth of the industry.
IN THE PHILIPPINES
Wheat was cultivated in the Philippines particularly in the provinces of Batangas,
Laguna, Cavite, and Cagayan as early as the seventeenth century for the purpose of making
Eucharistic wafers during the Spanish era. With coming of the Americans, the importation of
wheat flour in the United States began. When flour mills were established in the late fifties,
importations shifted from flour to wheat grains.
Baking as a trade in the Philippines began to flourish in 1960s. The U.S. Wheat
Associates established its office here in 1962 mainly to disseminate information on baking and to
help Filipinos develop their skills in the trade. Eight flour mills, namely, General Milling
Corporation, Liberty Flour Mills, Philippine Flour Mills, Pillsbury Mindanao Flour Milling
Corporation, Republic Flour Mills, Universal Robina Corporation and Wellington Flour Mills
supply the demand for flour all over the country as bread continues to be a major food on the
Filipino’s table.
BAKING TERMS
• Alternately Add – to add a little of the dry ingredients into the batter first then a little of the
liquid ingredients before beating until smooth. Start and end with the dry ingredients.
• Baine Marie – baking using a hot water bath. A pan filled with batter is placed on a tray half-
filled with water, then baked.
• Bake Blind – to bake a crust without a filling. The crust is weighed down with dry beans to
prevent ballooning and to keep it shape.
• Batter – a mixture of dry and liquid ingredients with a pouring consistency.
• Caramelize – to melt sugar with or without water until it becomes golden brown in color and
develops a characteristic flavor.
• Cream – to mix fat and sugar until smooth at the same time incorporating air into the mixture.
• Cut in – to distribute fat in flour particles until pea-sized crumbs are obtained. They may be
done using a pastry blender, the tines of a fork or 2 knives.
• Dredge – to coat the surface with a dry ingredients like flour.
• Drizzle – to sprinkle a surface with a liquid like syrup.
• Dust - to sprinkle a surface with flour or sugar.
• Egg wash – a combination 1 egg yolk and 2 tbsps. Milk used for brushing pastry and bread
dough to have a shiny, golden baked surface.
• Fold/ Fold in – to mix delicately textured ingredients. Using a spatula cut down through the
mixture; go across the bottom of the bowl and up over close to the surface while turning the bowl
frequently.
• Glaze – to create a shiny and glossy surface on top of baked goods.
• Greased - to brush a surface inside of a pan with butter, margarine shortening or oil to prevent
sticking.
• Grease and Flour – to brush a pan with shortening before dusting it with flour to prevent food
from sticking.
• Grease and Line – to brush a pan with fat/ shortening before it is lined with wax paper or
greaseproof paper. This is done for easy removal of baked products.
• Let rise – to allow the yeast dough to ferment and double its volume.
• Pipe out – to squeeze out a mixture from a pastry bag.
• Pre-bake – to bake a crust without the filling or to half-bake.
• Pre-heat – to light the oven about 10 minutes in advance to allow the oven temperature to
reach a desired degree of heat before the caked is baked.
• Prick – to bore a hole in a cake to test if it is already done. It can also mean to makes holes on
an unbaked pastry using a fork to prevent ballooning.
• Punch down – to deflate risen dough using the fist to break do –
to roll again after the filling has been spread.
• Roll – to shape a rectangle of dough or cake into a cylinder.
• Roll-out – to flatten dough to a desired thickness dropped from a spoon spins a thread.
• Tint - to add color.
• Until done – meaning the cake is already at the center comes out clean; when the top spring’s
baked. Cakes are done when a toothpick inserted cake when lightly touched or when t using a
rolling pin.
• Scald – to heat cream or milk almost to boiling point.
• Sour Milk – milk to which vinegar, lemon or calamansi juice has been added. For every cup of
milk add 1 tablespoon of vinegar, lemon or calamansi juice.
• Thread-like – stage where sugar syrup when dropped from spoon spins a thread.

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

C = Cup ℃ = Degrees Centigrade

t, tsp = Teaspoon ℉ = Degrees Fahrenheit
APF = All Purpose Flour g = gram
Oz. = Ounce qt. = Quart
Lb. = Pound gal. = Gallon
L = Liter hr. = Hour
Cc = Cubic centimeter min. = Minute
K = Kilo sec. = Second
Kg. = Kilogram pt. = Pint

KEEPING THE LABORATORY CLEAN

• Do not chew, eat, smoke or expectorate in the laboratory.

• Do not comb hair or make yourself up in the laboratory.
• Always return tools and implements in their proper places.
• Keep cabinet doors closed to prevent accidents and rodents from entering the cabinet.
• Keep on hand a regular size notebook for notes and diagrams.
• Keep personal belongings out of the working area
• Do not lean or sit on equipment and work tables.
• Keep the dishwashing and storage areas clean.
• After dishes, pans, etc., are washed, scrub sides of the sink, the drain boards, and tables with
water to which a detergent and sanitizer has been added.
• Do not stand dish racks on the floor.
• Floors should be swept after each laboratory session. Keep food, papers, and clutter off the
floor.
• Mop floors once a day.
• Provide waste container in convenient places.
• Leave the room clean for the next user. Storage facilities for cleaning tools may be racks,
cabinets or shelves. They must be placed strategically in the laboratory so that the necessary
cleaning tools for one area are readily available. It is preferable that the cleaning tools and racks
for the students be different from those of the janitors, so they are easily available and can be
neatly placed when not in use.

TECHNIQUES IN BAKING

1. Preparation of Baking Ingredients

a. Measuring Dry Ingredients – Fill the measuring spoon or cup with ingredients to heaping
full, then level with edge of a knife or spatula.
b. Measuring Liquid Ingredients – For smaller amounts, use individual measuring cups. To use
a graduated cup, pour liquid to desired measurement, reading the corresponding figure at eye
level.
c. Sifting – Pass dry ingredients through a sieve with your hand to facilitate sifting.
d. Separating Eggs – Crack the eggs with handle of the spoon or the side of the bowl. Pass the
egg yolk from one half of the shell to the other, allowing the egg white to drop into the bowl.
Place the egg yolk in a separate container.

e. Creaming – Rub one or more ingredients together against the sides of a bowl with a wooden
spoon or mixer to make a soft, fluffy mixture. Creaming generally applies when mixing
shortening and eggs.

f. Beating – A fork, wire whip, wooden spoon or mixer can be used to make a mixture smooth,
or to introduce air by a brisk, regular motion that lifts the mixture over and over.

g. Cutting In – Cut shortening into cubes and put them into the bowl with the flour using a
pastry blender. If the pastry blender is not available, use two knives as substitute, making a rapid
crisscross motion into the shortening will be cut about the size of peas, coated with flour.
h. Folding – This involves delicately mixing two ingredients, as beaten egg whites and flour,
using a wooden spoon or mixer, or by hand.

i. Kneading – Work and press the dough with the palms and heels of the hands. This involves
the gluten and makes the dough smooth and elastic.

j. Whipping – Introduce air into eggs or cream to make them thick and fluffy by using a wire
whip or mixer.

k. Cutting and Folding – Combine ingredients by using two motions: cutting vertically through
the mixture and turning over by sliding the wooden spoon or rubber scraper across the bottom of
the bowl with each turn, e.g. combining cake batter with whipped egg whites.

l. Blending and Combining – Mix the roughly two or more ingredients, e.g. blending eggs with
the creamed butter and sugar.

m. Dissolving – This means combining a dry and liquid ingredients, such as in dissolving ¼ cup
of sugar and ½ cup of water.

n. Caramelizing – Slowly heat sugar until it becomes brown in color. The darker the color, the
stronger the flavor.

2. Preparation of Baking Pans

a. Greasing Pans – With a pastry bush, apply a layer of shortening or oil at the inner sides and
bottom of the pan.

b. Sprinkling Pans with Flour – Put about 1 tbsp. flour into the greased pan. Lift the tin and
swirl the flour around until the inside of the pan is well-coated. Tip of excess flour.

c. Lining Loaf and Rectangular Pans – Lay a piece of grease proof paper large enough to
cover the base and side of the pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with shortening and
then press the paper on the sides and the bottom, neatly overlapping the flaps.

d. Lining Circular Pans – Place the pan on a piece of grease-proof paper. Press the pan firmly
on the paper with one hand and draw its outline with your free hand. Remove the pan and cut the
paper just inside the outline to produce a shape that is slightly smaller than the pan.