stocking your pantry for all your baking needs
It is my greatest wish for everyone never to buy another box mix again. Cakes, cornbread, brownies, pancakes, bread, pizza crust, you can do it all with these baking staples. And when you find yourself with overnight company and need to make pancakes for breakfast, need a birthday cake for someone on the dock, or have a craving for brownies, you will be all set.
Below is the ingredient list for a cake and brownies cake mix.
Monoglycerides, artificial, soybean, glycol monodiesters, xanthan gum, cellulose gum, stearoyl lactylate, and the Contains Bioengineered Food Ingredients; this is a description of just a couple of these.
Cellulose gum is generally considered to be a fairly safe food additive, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (9). It doesn’t have any nutritional value or health benefits, but it can be a very useful addition to all kinds of products.
When taken by mouth: Xanthan gum is LIKELY SAFE in the amounts found in foods. It is also LIKELY SAFE when taken as a medicine in doses up to 15 grams per day. It can cause some side effects, such as intestinal gas and bloating. When applied to the skin: Xanthan gum is LIKELY SAFE when used appropriately.
Fairly safe and Likely safe does not make me feel safe, nor does the description for bioengineered food ingredients.
Food that contains genetic material that has been modified through specific laboratory techniques and for which the modification could not be obtained through conventional breeding or found in nature.
Now on a happy note, this is what it takes to make a basic vanilla cake or brownies.
- butter
- flour
- baking powder
- salt
- sugar
- eggs
- vanilla
- milk
- cocoa powder
I have broken it down into two lists, the essential must-haves, and with these basics, you are on the road to cakes, waffles, pancakes, cornbread, cookies, and brownies
The must-have
- all-purpose flour
- cocoa powder
- baking powder
- baking soda
- buttermilk powder
- cornmeal
- vanilla extract
- vegetable oil
- corn starch
- sugar
- confectioners sugar
With the addition of the yea, I have room for its list; you can add pizza crust, bread, decadent chocolate cakes, and better brownies.
You do not need all of these ingredients; for example, if cake making is of interest, add the cake flour; if bread and pizza crust sounds exciting, add the bread and yeast.
the, yea, I have room for it List
- Bread flour
- yeast
- cake flour
- dutch cocoa flour
- espresso powder
- baking chocolate
- chocolate chips
Flour
all-purpose
The name says it all, all-purpose flour is versatile and suitable for all types of baked goods, and if you only have room for one type of flour, then this is the one you want
bread flour
It has a higher protein content, usually 11-13%, and bread needs this added protein to produce lots of gluten for its stretch, elasticity, and chew
cake flour
Cake flour has a lower protein content at 5-8%; because of this lower protein content, it produces less gluten and makes for a light, tender crumb.
Cocoa powder
Cocoa beans are fermented, dried, roasted, and cracked into nips to make cocoa powder, and the nips are then pressed to remove 75% of their cocoa butter, leaving chocolate liquor; the liquor is then dried and ground into unsweetened cocoa powder.
If you only have room for one cocoa powder, you want a natural unsweetened one like Hershey’s. Just like the all-purpose flour, anything chocolate you are creating you can make with this, but Dutch cocoa powder can not be used in cakes or anything containing a leveling agent.
Unsweetened cocoa powder
It is acidic and bitter, with a concentrated and robust chocolate flavor; it is used in recipes calling for baking soda because the two react with each other to allow your baked goods to rise.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Dutch-process beans are washed in an alkaline solution of potassium carbonate. This neutralizes their acidity, and because of this, it does not react with baking soda. Alkalizing cocoa makes it darker in color and has a mellow flavor; it also dissolves easily into liquids
when to use
you can use either type in recipes that do not call for baking soda or baking powder
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Want biscuits, ranch dressing, or making a buttermilk cake, hot chocolate, I highly recommend dried buttermilk and milk; 1/2 gallon jugs of buttermilk take up precious fridge space and often turn bad before you can use it all. This is two must-haves for me.