Diary of a mad scientist

Many will say that baking is a science, and many would be true. It's not simply a matter of throwing whatever smells good into the pot and seeing what comes out. Baking is an entirely different beast, one that is far more measured and calculated.

But, nevertheless, this beast too can be tamed. It's all about knowing what you're doing, and knowing what you're putting into that mixing bowl is doing. In order to avoid another way-too-long episode of my ramblings, we'll stick to yeast doughs today.

Basic yeast bread consists of 5 ingredients: Flour, liquid (at its simplest, water), yeast, sugar, and salt.

Flour has proteins, namely the proteins needed to form gluten (you'll be hearing plenty about this). Proteins in general are what give structure to baked goods. Gluten specifically does a number of things, and I really can't stress enough just how important gluten formation (whether you're trying to form it or keep it from forming) is in any given baked good. Before I get into that, though, I'll continue with the rest of the big five.

Liquid, quite obviously you might say, gives moisture to baked goods. It is necessary in the formation of gluten as well.

Yeast is our leavening agent. After consuming sugar yeast releases gases which give bread its lift.

Sugar, as mentioned before, is yeast food. Simple little yeast just loves simple little sugar. It also acts as a tenderizer in baked goods, largely by keeping gluten from forming (so putting too much sugar into something like dough for cinnamon buns can be a very bad thing, because you'll be left with a listless pile of unrisen dough).

Salt follows with it's general use as a flavor agent, but also helps in the formation of gluten. What's more, it keeps yeast in check so you won't have the blob growing on your counter if you leave it alone for too long.

Now more about gluten, and just why it's such a big deal. If you've ever made bread by hand (or any yeast-risen dough for that matter) you'll know what I mean when I say it's elastic. You push it out, it snaps back. You can poke a finger (lightly) into a ball of well-kneaded dough and the little divet you just made will pop right back out. That's the gluten at work. Gluten is a very rubbery, elastic protein that, when kneaded, will form into a network of sheets throughout the dough. This is what gives bread its chew. Also, those sheets are what catch the gases let off by yeast and allow the dough to rise. No rise means a smaller, dense loaf.
The flour you choose will have a big affect on gluten, because different flours have different amounts of protein. First of all, wheat flour is the only flour that has enough glutenin (the protein that forms into gluten) to be worth anything here. All-purpose flour is, as you may have guessed, in the middle of things. Bread flour has higher amounts of protein while cake flour has less. Whole wheat flour has less protein per cup because the rest of the kernel, while having a lot of other benefits, doesn't have the proper stuff to form gluten. In short, when it comes to flour you can get away with all-purpose, but higher protein bread flour is better. If you want to use whole wheat flour or some other grain (such as rye) feel free to do so but I suggest mixing it with some wheat flour (I go half and half when I use whole wheat flour).

Okay, so we've got the basic ingredients plus a nice science lesson about a very special protein. However, there are a few more things that can (and commonly are) done to add a little more to breads.

Fat. Be it a little butter or oil (or in some cases a lot) fat does a lot of things for dough. If you use a flavorful oil, then those flavors are going to come through in the dough. Fat is also a tenderizer. It does this by being its usual slippery self and gets in the way of gluten formation (much in the same manner as with a meringue, enough fat - and it doesn't take much - will keep those delicate bonds from forming and those egg whites just won't whip up). Now, if you want that extra flavor but don't want to keep gluten down, you can try adding the fat in after the dough has been kneaded (allowing the gluten to form up without fat getting in the way).

Eggs. Whites and yolks both do some cool things to baked goods. Egg whites are pretty much our best bet when it comes to drying something out. Yolks will increase the shelf life of bread. Eggs also offer proteins to bind and set bread, so if you have a recipe that keeps coming out too crumbly, maybe adding in an egg is the way to go.

Now that you know what some things do to your dough, let's look at how much should be going in.

The ratio of flour to water (or whatever your liquid of choice) is a bit important. If you're looking to make a pour batter (say you were going for waffles or pancakes) then about a 1:1 ratio would be good. The pie crust that I use is a 5:1 ratio, essentially just enough water to form the flour into a ball. The bread that I am in habit of making is a 3:1 ratio. You can tweak this a bit, obviously more water will give you a wetter dough and more flour a stiffer one. It just depends what you're going for and what you're trying to make.

The book CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher is a great resource, and I mention it here in the middle of things because much (if not all) of the next few bits come more or less directly from me having read it (okay, so I'm not done with it yet - it's on the larger side - but I've already learned a lot from it).

As I said before too much sugar will completely wreck any hopes of getting gluten into your dough. It depends on how much protein is in the flour to begin with, but stay under two tablespoons of sugar per cup of flour and you should be alright.

One pack of yeast (somewhere around 2 1/2 teaspoons) will work on a dough with three cups of flour. In fact, if you give it enough time, it can leaven a dough with up to eight cups of flour in it.

You don't need much salt. About 1/4 teaspoon will be plenty for you for a standard loaf (about 3 cups of flour).

Okay, we've covered the basic ingredients, what they do, and the respective ratios. Now, with a mad cackle and lightning rods flashing, it's time to experiment.

I've been wanting to try out some cinnamon buns, so here goes!

The goods:
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/4 t sea salt
4 T sugar
2 1/2 t yeast
1/2 c water
1/2 c skim milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 t vanilla

The plan:
Mix the flour, half of the sugar, and salt (sea salt has extra proteins that help with gluten, and I have a jar thanks to Christmas presents - standard stuff will work, though) in a bowl.
Beat the egg and mix with the milk and vanilla (I use skim because, again, I have it - take your pick, though).
Proof the yeast in the water and remaining sugar (a lot of yeast doesn't actually require this step. If you're not sure, proof it to make sure it's good. If you're confident in the yeast, you can go ahead and mix it and the rest of the sugar with the dry goods).
Combine wet and dry, and mix to form a ball. Knead to perfection (a solid 10 minutes by hand, 30 seconds or so with a food processor blade, or a few minutes with a dough hook in a stand mixer - for any mechanical method the dough is ready when it sticks to the blade/hook in a ball).
Let rise until doubled in size.
Punch down and let rest for a minute or two.
Roll out, fill (see below), and roll up.
Cut to desired size (I'll be going for about an inch). Unflavored dental floss is great for this.
Place in a pan, let rise again, and bake at 375 F until golden and delicious (I'm guessing 12-15 minutes).
Top with glaze (see further below).

For a filling, I'm going with a simple cinnamon sugar mix. Melt down some butter and spread/brush over the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mix (just mix to your own taste). Maybe some brown sugar. Pecans would be great, but I'm a poor college kid.

For a glaze, take a little powdered sugar and put just a splash of water in - trust me, it doesn't need much - and mix it to form a glaze. Simple and delicious. Start with something like a tablespoon of water per cup of powdered sugar (and no, I don't plan to use a full cup of sugar here). So like I said, very little water.

I'll let you know how they turn out.

So there you have it. A definite science, where too much of the wrong thing can ruin your day and sometimes leave you guessing as to just what went wrong, but when you know what's going on you've got everything you need to make your own recipes (they've got to come from somewhere, right?).