One of the most important things to know when baking from scratch is to use the highest quality ingredients available to you. Quality ingredients will produce a quality product. Some people, who are apparently not avid or quality bakers, argue this point. It is unarguable. Yes, I live in the real world. I understand the economy and the price of certain items. If the price prohibits you from purchasing the highest quality item, get the highest quality ingredients that you are able to.
Some of the ingredients in baking that people scrimp on are:
- Flour
- Sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Butter
- Oil
- Chocolate
High Quality ingredients are readily available at many grocery stores.
The best flour for baking is going to depend on several things. First, what you are baking. If you are baking bread you will need flour with a higher percentage of protein. For baked goods that do not use yeast for leavening, such as cookies, pie crusts and cakes you will need flour with a lower percentage of protein. Most of the flours you will need for everyday baking can be found at your local grocery store. All-purpose flour, which as the name suggests, can be used interchangeably with many recipes from breads to cakes is the most readily available and widely used type of flour. It will change the texture of your baked good without ruining it. If a recipe specifically calls for one type of flour, I recommend using that type of flour. If you are going to be baking a cake for a special event, use cake flour. It has the lowest percentage of protein and will produce a much lighter cake than all-purpose flour. King Arthur brand has flours specifically for breads, pastries, and cakes. There are other brands available that are high quality flours, as well.
It is very important to use vanilla extract in your baking, and not imitation vanilla or vanilla flavoring. They can look very similar, so read the bottle to ensure you are getting pure vanilla extract. There are huge differences in the taste and overall quality.
If a recipe calls for butter, use butter. If a recipe calls for shortening, use shortening. If a recipe calls for margarine, find another recipe...(joke). Obviously, use margarine. Butter, shortening and margarine are not interchangeable. In baking cookies, especially, it is important to remember that butter is preferred. It will give a cookie that is not flattened out. I prefer the way baked goods taste with butter. As with all ingredients, make sure to choose the best quality butter, margarine or shortening. Although I do not use shortening very often, when I do I always use The name brand. The quality of the house brands is not comparable.
With chocolate it is important to use the highest quality available. It is easy to find good quality chocolate to bake with on many grocery store shelves. Quality cocoa powder makes a big difference in the taste of your baked goods. European processed cocoa powder is processed differently and is darker. Ghirardelli makes premium chocolate chips for baking. The difference in quality is noticeable just by sight, not to mention the smell or taste. Other brands of chocolate chips are available at grocery stores, as well. Watch out for imitation chocolate chips or baking chocolate. If something says imitation, it is not the quality that you want to bake with.
Try to remember that quality ingredients will produce the highest quality baked goods. Happy Baking!
