Questions for Discussion

Appears in
Professional Cooking
Professional Cooking

By Wayne Gisslen

Published 2014

  • About

  1. Below are ingredients for a white cake. The weight of the flour is given, and the proportions of other ingredients are indicated by percentages. Calculate the weights required for each.

    Cake flour 3 lb or 1500 g (100%)
    Baking powder 4%
    Shortening 50%
    Sugar 100%
    Salt 1%
    Milk 75%
    Egg whites 33%
    Vanilla 2%

  2. Discuss four factors that affect the development of gluten in doughs and batters.
  3. Why do some cakes fall if they are removed from the oven too soon?
  4. Which kind of cake would you expect to have better keeping qualities—a sponge cake, which is low in fat, or a high-ratio cake?
  5. Why is white wheat flour used in rye breads? in whole wheat breads? Some bakeries in Europe produce a kind of pumpernickel bread with 100 percent rye flour. What would you expect its texture to be like?
  6. Describe how to distinguish among bread, pastry, and cake flours by touch and sight.
  7. What is the difference between regular and emulsified shortenings?
  8. Shortbread is a type of cookie made with flour, butter, and sugar, but no liquid. What would you expect its texture to be like? Why?