Baker’s Percentages

Bakers use a simple but versatile system of percentages for expressing their formulas. Bakers’ percentages express the amount of each ingredient used as a percentage of the amount of flour used.

To put it differently, the percentage of each ingredient is its total weight divided by the weight of the flour and multiplied by 100 percent, or

Thus, flour is always 100 percent. (If two kinds of flour are used, their total is 100 percent.) Any ingredient that weighs the same as the flour is also given as 100 percent. The following ingredients from a cake formula illustrate how these percentages are used. Both U.S. and metric examples are given. (Note that numbers may be rounded off for practical measuring.) Check the figures with the above equation to make sure you understand them.