Ingredients

Have a good supply of the following essential ingredients in your kitchen when baking and decorating cakes.

Eggs

These play an important role in the baking world, adding structure, colour and flavour. It is the balance between eggs and flour that helps to provide the height and texture to cakes.

Dairy products

One of the most widely used categories in baking ingredients is the dairy products. These include butter, milk, yoghurt, thick (double) cream and mascarpone.

Wheat

Wheat-based flour is made by grinding wheat – the most popular grain used in baking – and includes plain (all-purpose) flour and self-raising flour.

POLENTA

Made from ground cornmeal, polenta has a rich yellow colour and adds a lovely flavour.

Sweeteners

A large variety of sugars can be produced by extracting and purifying sugar from sugar cane, including caster (superfine) sugar, light brown sugar, raw (demerara) sugar, icing (confectioners’) sugar and glucose syrup.

Food colours

These come in many forms, such as liquid, powder, paste or gel. The most reliable is the gel because it is more concentrated so will not affect the final results when it is added to a recipe (for example into buttercream). Also, the result will be much brighter and more saturated than the liquid form. (Powdered colours can also come in a sparkly range, as shown at left.)

Piping gel

This is a sweet gel that can be used in many different ways in cake decorating, such as glazing sugarpaste (fondant). It can also be added to buttercream to give elasticity when applying writing to the surface of a cake.

Leavening agent

Baking powder contributes in numerous ways to baking – not only does it leaven certain ingredients (reacting with the liquid to cause the cake to rise), it also tenderises, adds flavour and provides a finer crumb.

Thickening agent

The simplest way to thicken food is to add an ingredient that is itself thickened, such as egg, cream or yoghurt. When this is not possible, a thickening agent can be added, such as powdered gelatine. Its function is to absorb a large quantity of liquid.

Softening agent

Glycerine is a softening agent in the form of a clear, odourless syrup. It has the property to attract moisture and is used in baking to help cakes stay moist.

Flavourings

Chocolate (dark, milk and white), cocoa powder, vanilla (beans and extract), almond extract, coffee, salt and white wine vinegar are all flavourings used in cakes and cookies.

Culinary nuts

These are dry, edible fruits or seeds usually with a high fat content and they are used in a wide variety of roles within baking. Some examples include walnuts, almond meal and pistachios.

Poppy seeds

This is an oilseed harvested from the opium poppy (the tiny, edible black seeds are found in the heads). They have a slightly nutty aroma and taste and are widely used in baking.

Fruits

Various fruits are used to add flavour and decoration to cakes, such as lemons, oranges, blueberries and strawberries.