Dessert Baking Terms

Beat: Mixing ingredients forcefully with a spoon, fork, wire whisk, hand beater or electric mixer until the ingredients are smooth and uniform.

Blend: Mixing ingredients with a spoon, wire whisk or rubber scraper until very smooth and uniform. Depending on the job, you may use a blender or food processor.

Boil: heating a liquid until bubbles rise continuously and break on the surface and steam is given off. For a rolling boil, the bubbles form rapidly and will not stop forming even when you stir the liquid.

Fold: Combining ingredients lightly while preventing loss of air by using two motions: Using a rubber spatula, first cut down vertically through the mixture. Next, slide the spatula across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, turning the mixture over. Repeat these motions after rotating the bowl one-fourth turn with each series of strokes.

Grease: Rubbing the inside surface of a pan with solid shortening, using a pastry brush, wax paper or paper towels, to prevent food from sticking during baking. Nonstick cooking spray may also be used. Do not use butter or margarine (especially in a baked recipe) because sticking may occur.

Grease and Flour: To rub the inside surface of a pan with solid shortening before dusting it with flour. This prevents food from sticking during baking. After flouring the pan, turn it upside down, tapping the bottom to remove excess flour. If the batter to be added to the pan is chocolate, cocoa may be used in place of flour to add a rich brown coating to the final product.

Mix: Combining ingredients in any way that distributes them evenly. You can do this by using a hand utensil or an electric mixer.

Preheat the Oven: Turning the oven controls to the desired temperature, allowing the oven to heat thoroughly before adding food. Heating takes about 10 minutes.

Soften: Allowing cold food, such as butter, margarine or cream cheese, to stand at room temperature until no longer hard. Generally, this will take 30 to 60 minutes.

Stir: Combining ingredients with a circular or “figure 8” motion until they are of a uniform consistency.

Whip: Beat ingredients with a wire whisk, hand rotary beater or electric mixer to add air and increase volume until ingredients are light and fluffy, such as with whipping cream or egg whites.