2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
Tired of buying tasteless yeast dough from the store? Want to cook it yourself in your kitchen?
Often kneading a nice dough is a really difficult task for many housewives. You can be the perfect cook, but the task of baking cakes, pizzas, pies from home-made yeast dough still remains unsolvable: the dough is either quite firm, or sometimes too sticky, or does not want to swell and rise. Although there are many recipes for dough preparation of any kind, in general it remains a problem.
Let's try to understand how to make the perfect dough, how to do it right and share a universal recipe.
How to make a perfect dough to get the perfect end product?
The dough is called an intermediate product used in baking sweet and savory products at home. It is prepared from flour with the addition of additional ingredients such as water, yeast, sugar, salt, eggs, butter, spices and more. The dough contains proteins, fats, carbohydrates, salts, acids and other substances. When knead the dough, these substances can be in it in different physical states.
The most important and basic ingredient in the dough is flour. It is usually wheat. It is recommended to use flour of the highest class, without external odors, not to be infected with bug larvae. Before kneading the dough, the flour must be sifted: this way it will be enriched with oxygen and in addition it will be cleaned of accidental impurities. For muffins it is better to use low-gluten flour, but strudel, bread or puff pastry are better with flour than the so-called durum wheat.
In the process of kneading the dough, sugar is added to the flour, which is necessary to improve the taste of future cookies, as well as to stimulate the vital activity of yeast cells. The sugar must be placed carefully, strictly in accordance with the recipe, otherwise with its excess the dough will become heavy and hard.
Depending on the recipe, different dairy products can be added to the dough: fresh milk and yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese and more. Dairy products create lactic acid fermentation and contribute to better "relaxation" of the dough.
In order to obtain a plastic dough, fats are added to the flour - vegetable oils and animal fats. If you do not overdo it, the cakes will become tender, fragrant and will not darken for a long time. Excess fat, however, will limit the protein's ability to swell and interfere with the vital activity of yeast cells so that the dough does not loosen and the pastry becomes dry and tasteless.
The eggs that are added to the dough should be fresh and not too big. They will give our sweets crumbliness and tenderness, will strengthen the crust of the product, will improve its color and taste.
Dough yeast can be both fresh and dry. Before use, it is dissolved in either warm water or warm milk. Care must be taken that the liquid is not too hot, otherwise the yeast cells will die. The cold liquid slows down the vital activity of the yeast cells and the dough will rise more slowly.
You always have a choice between fresh and dry yeast. It is advisable to use fresh yeast. Today, it can be purchased at almost any grocery store. If you bake often, make sure you always have yeast available and always pay attention to the expiration date. Fresh yeast is definitely better than stagnant yeast.
Other: The baking powder in the dough includes baking soda and ammonium carbonate. In stores you can buy ready-made packets of the mixture. For 400 g of flour we usually add 10 g of baking powder. Some housewives use vinegar to the baking powder, as soda can sometimes spoil the taste of baking.
The dough should rise at room temperature. Sudden changes in temperature complicate the process of rising the dough and can confuse all your plans for delicious cakes and pastries.
Milk and butter should also be at room temperature. Remember to take this into account when preparing the dough. Otherwise all your yeast will die and the dough will not rise. If you pre-melt the butter, then do so, but then be sure to cool the product to room temperature.
Salt should be added to absolutely any dough. And it doesn't matter what dish you want to get in the end: meat pies, bread or sweet rolls. A pinch of salt does not hurt, but only decorates the taste of your dough.
Knead the dough well.
To be improve the taste of the dough, you can add to it lemon peel, salt, vanilla, cinnamon and other favorite spices, depending on the final product we want to get - sweet or salty.
Recommended:
How To Make The Perfect Sponge Dough
Sponge dough, also known as biscuit dough, is probably the most popular dough used to make various cakes, pastries, rolls, petit fours, biscuits and more. It is spread all over the world and is made from eggs, flour and sugar, and in some cases milk is added.
Here's How To Make The Perfect Pastry And Baklava Dough Yourself
The main products for the preparation of pies and strudels are: flour, water and salt, and additional - vegetable oil, white wine, lemon juice and in exceptional cases a little vinegar. A real housewife in our country should at least once try to make homemade dough for pie and baklava.
Quick Workshop: Homemade Dumplings
The tradition of the preparation of homemade dumplings is firmly rooted in Russian cuisine. Made from high quality products according to a proven recipe, they replaced the products from the store and became a favorite dish in many families.
Quick Workshop: Preparation Of Dried Tomatoes
Do you like tomatoes? Ripe, juicy, fresh or canned, in salads, soups, appetizers… We suggest you try another option for cooking this vegetable - dried tomatoes. The best recipes for such tomatoes can be found in Italian cuisine. In this warm country, the harvest is stored in the simplest and most durable way - with the help of the sun.
Add These Two Ingredients To The Dough And You Will Make The Perfect Pancakes
A group of American chemists have found that by adding only two ingredients to the standard pancake batter you will get the perfect breakfast. In addition to flour, milk and eggs you need to add lemon juice and butter. Scientists also claim that the most common mistake of the hosts is to knead the dough for too long, because that way it becomes tough and the pancakes are not so appetizing.
