Baking: Method and Recipes

Ingredients for baking
Image by Markus Spiske

Baking is a way of cooking sweet or savory items in the dry heat of an oven. Although baking itself is a relatively easy process, it is good to have some knowledge of the role each ingredient plays in creating the final dish.

Different ingredients strengthen, bind, thicken, sweeten, leaven and add moisture. Some ingredients, like milk and sugar, perform multiple roles. And others will only carry out their duties under very specific conditions. For this reason baking is often compared to the science of chemistry.

You shouldn’t be intimidated by baking though. A reasonable knowledge of basic methods and ingredient functions opens up a world of variety and creativity that is the raison de faire cuire au four of the typical pastry chef.

International Baking Recipes

Barmbrack 
(Irish fruit bread)

Pastel de Tres Leches 
(Central American cake of three milks)

Strawberry Shortcake 
(American strawberries with a sweet biscuit)

Gingerbread Men 
(English spiced Christmas cookies)

Pie Crust 
(American dessert pastry crust)

Lavash 
(Southwest Asian thin flatbread)

Pâte Brisée 
(French pastry crust for savory tarts and pies)

Challah 
(Israeli Jewish braided Sabbath bread)

Pizza Napoletana 
(Italian traditional pizza from Naples)

Hamantaschen 
(Israeli Jewish filled tricorner Purim pastries)

Pan de Jamón 
(Venezuelan ham, raisin and olive bread)

Tarte Tatin 
(French caramelized apple tart)

Bibingka Especial 
(Filipino sweet coconut and rice flour cake)

Tah Chin 
(Persian layered rice and chicken dish)

Pflaumenkuchen 
(German plum tart)

Semita de Piña 
(Salvadoran jam-filled pastry)

Focaccia Genovese 
(Italian olive oil bread with sea salt and rosemary)

Linzertorte 
(Austrian jam tart)

Naan 
(Indian, Pakistani tandoor-baked bread)

Torta Pasqualina 
(Italian Easter spinach, ricotta and egg torte)

Makroud el Louse 
(Makroud el Louse)

Snickerdoodles 
(American cinnamon-scented sugar cookies)

Lekach 
(Israeli Jewish honey cake)

Bauernbrot 
(German farmer-style rye bread)

Apple Cake 
(American tender cake with apples)

Blueberry Pie 
(American blueberry-filled double-crust tart)

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