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Baking Terms -
G,
H
and I |
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 Below
are important baking terms, plus, a few cooking ones, as well. Select
a letter that begins the word you are looking for, and you will be
brought to a listing of them. For kitchen equipment terms and
descriptions,
click here. |
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Galette: (French) A flat pastry cake
traditionally baked |
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Ganache
(gah nahsh):
A rich mixture made by combining chopped semisweet
chocolate and boiling cream and stirring until smooth. The cream
melts the chocolate and an emulsion is formed as they are stirred together.
The proportions of chocolate to cream can vary, and
the resulting ganache an be used as a cake glaze or beaten until fluffy and
used as a filling or as the base for
truffles
and other chocolate confections. Ganache is
generally whipped and used as a filling, but by altering the proportion of
chocolate to heavy cream, it can also be used as a glaze.
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Garam Masala: (Indian) Spice mixture
usually composed of coriander, cumin, cloves, cinnamon, and black pepper.
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Garde Manger: chef in charge of cold
products |
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Garnishing: Presentation process whereby the appearance, flavor
and texture of a dish is enhanced with edible decorations.
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Gastronomy:
the science and art of fine food and drink
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Gateau
(gah toe): French word for "cake."
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Gaufre
(go fr'):
French word for "waffle." |
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Gelatin:
Transparent protein, made from animal bones and tissue, which melts in hot
liquid and forms a jelly when cold. Used for sweet and savoury dishes.
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Gell: A colloidal dispersion that shows
some rigidity and will, when unmolded, keep the shape of the container in
which it had been placed; a semi-rigid structure at room temperature
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Gelatin: Available as unflavored and
fruit-flavored. They are not interchangeable.
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Gelatinization: The process by which starch granules absorb
water and swell in size. In cakes, the heat of baking
causes starch in flour to absorb liquid and swell. This process is called
gelatinization. As more liquid is absorbed by the starch, the batter goes
from a fluid to a solid state, "setting-" the cake. |
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Gelato:
Italian ice cream |
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Genoiee: (French) A rich sponge cake
consisting of eggs, sugar, flour and melted butter; baked in a flat tin,
then often rolled into another form with cream for fruit sauce.
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Genoise
(zhen
wahz):
Genoise is the classic, fine-crumbed French sponge cake made by beating warm
whole eggs with sugar until the mixture more than triples in volume, then
folding in the flour and sometimes melted butter too.
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Germ: The
plant embryo portion of a grain kernel. |
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Ghee: (Indian) Clarified butter made
from the milk of the water buffalo. |
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Gianduja (zhahn-DOO-yuh): This is a
mixture of chocolate and hazelnut paste. Nutella is a popular brand of a
gianduja spread. |
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Ginger:
(Indian) Plant cultivated for its spicy aromatic rhizomes. Powdered,
preserved, and fresh forms are available. Typically used in Asian cooking
for savory curries, marinades, rice or tea.
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Glace
(glah say):
(French) (1) Glazed; coated with icing. (2) Frozen.
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Glaze:
Glazes are used to give desserts a smooth and/or shiny
finish. Cake glazes can be water icing (confectioners' sugar mixed with
liquid), melted chocolate in combination with cream, butter and/or sugar
syrup, or fondant (a thick shiny opaque icing). Caramel is used to glaze
some cakes and small pastries; and sugar cooked to the hard-crack stage can
be used to give pastries sheen but no color. Tart glazes are made from
sieved jam, preserves or jelly, or a combination of the above. Pastry glazes
(brushed on dough before baking) can be an egg glaze made with whole eggs or
yolks; milk, cream and/or butter glaze (these produce a duller finish);
sugar glaze (sugar sprinkled over milk or cream glaze), or any combinations
of the above. |
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Gliadin: A protein in wheat
flour that combines with another protein, glutenin,
to form gluten. |
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Glucose: A liquid sugar similar to corn
syrup, but is thicker. Used in candy-making
and frostings. Find it in specialty baking stores.
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Gluten: The wheat's endosperm
contains two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, that will, when mixed with a
liquid, produce a substance called gluten. It gives structure and strength
to baked goods. Gluten will stretch much like rubber bands. This is
what allows the bread dough to capture, expand, and contain the carbon
dioxide bubbles produced by yeast as it grows and divides. Wheat is the only
grain that contains significant amounts of these proteins, meaning that
dough made from it are the only ones that can truly be leavened.
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Glutenin: See
Gliadin. |
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Gold leaf: Used to decorate both
cakes and
chocolate confections. Indians use these ultra-thin sheets of gold
leaf to decorate dishes. Look for it in Indian groceries and cake
decorating stores. |
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Gram: The basic unit of weight in the
metric system; equal to about one-thirtieth of an ounce.
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Grand Marnier:
(French) Orange flavored, cognac based liqueur produced in France.
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Granita (grab
nee tay):
A coarse, crystalline frozen dessert made of water, sugar, and fruit juice
or another flavoring. |
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Graniti:
(French) Sorbet, grained and flavored ice.
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Granulated Sugar:
Regular processed sugar prepare from cane sugar.
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Grate: To rub food against a rough,
perforated utensil reducing the foods to slivers, chunks, curls, etc.
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Gratin: Any sweet or savory dish baked or
broiled so its topping forms a golden crust.
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Grecque,
a la: (French) 1. In the Greek style; Example - cooked in stock
with olive oil. 2. Dishes garnished with savoury rice and dressed with oil
and vinegar. |
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Griddle:
Flat metal plate used to bake breads and cakes on the top of the
stove or as a separate cooking component. |
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Grill:
To broil by direct heat usually on an open grating.
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Grind:
To cut, crush or force through a chopper so as to produce small bits.
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Grissini: (Italian) Breadsticks.
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Groats:
De-husked grain. Usually refers to oats, sometimes milled.
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Gugelhupf: (German) Sweetened yeast cake with dried
fruit, baked in a fluted ring mould. |
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Guiche:
(French) Alsatian open tart with savory filling on top of cream and eggs.
Equivalent to quiche. |
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Gum Paste:
A type of pliable sugar paste or
pastillage made with vegetable gum, called tragacanth. It dries very
hard and will last indefinitely, making it a perfect medium for rolling very
thin to make boxes, decorative flowers, and other fancy "sculptures". It's
strength comes from gum tragacanth which is collected from the stem of a
plant in the Middle East. When mixed with water, it will solidify the liquid
like gelatin. However, gum tragacanth is very costly compared to gelatin Gum
paste is considered "technically" edible. If eaten, it will not harm you,
but it is not palatable. |
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Hard Sauce: Sweet butter sauce flavored
with brandy, rum or whisky, which is chilled until hard and melts when
served on hot puddings. |
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Hard Wheat: Wheat high in
protein. |
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Healthy Baking 101
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Hearth Bread: A bread that is baked
directly on the bottom of the oven, not in a pan.
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Heat Conduction: (as opposed to electrical
conduction) is the flow of internal energy from a region of higher
temperature to one of lower temperature by the interaction of the adjacent
particles (atoms, molecules, ions, electrons, etc.) in the intervening
space. Conductivities vary for material being greatest for metals, lower for
nonmetals, even lower for liquids, and exceptionally low for gases. The best
ordinary metallic conductors are (in decreasing order) silver, copper, gold,
aluminum, beryllium, and tungsten. Diamond beats them all, and graphite
beats diamond only if the heat can be forced to conduct in a direction
parallel to the crystal layers. The material with the greatest thermal
conductivity is a super cold form of liquid helium called helium II. A
copper core can be found in most cooking pots to conduct heat from the
stove. It is found sandwiched between the stainless steel bottom and sides
because copper alone it hard to clean. |
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Heavy Pack: A type of canned fruit or
vegetable with very little added water or juice.
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Herbaceous: A term used in describing
the aroma of herbs in the following Sauvignon Blanc, Cabarnet Sauvignons,
and Merlots. |
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Herbs: Culinary herbs, which are
available in fresh or dried include basil, bay leaf, chervil, marjoram,
mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, tarragon and thyme. Used for
their aromatic properties, flavor and texture.
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High-Altitude
Baking: Altitude does not begin to
affect baking until above 2,500 feet. Higher than that, the altitude will
dry out ingredients, make doughs and batters rise faster, and make liquids
boil faster. Generally speaking, pans should be greased more heavily, oven
temperatures increased slightly, leaveners and sugar reduced and liquid
increased. The actual adjustments needed will depend on the altitude.
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High
Ratio: (1) Term referring to
cakes and cake formulas mixed by a special method and containing more sugar
than flour. (2) The mixing method used for these cakes. (3) Term referring
to certain specially formulated ingredients used in these cakes, such as
shortening. |
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High-Ratio Cakes:
Contain higher levels of sugar and total liquids (water, egg, milk) to the
weight of flour. Special flour and shortening are used. The flour (very
fine particle size) can either be chlorinated or heat treated and the
shortening will contain emulsifiers (high ratio shortening). The advantages
to the baked cake, from containing extra sugar and liquid, is that it will
be very moist and tender and will stay fresher eating for longer compared to
standard (low ratio) cakes. A disadvantage will be that if the cake is
wrapped it will mold sooner than the standard (low ratio) cakes unless other
modifications to the recipe are made to retard its growth. High ratio cakes
are very popular in the UK and USA. Mainland Europe tend to prefer the less
sweet and more firmer low ratio cakes. |
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High-Ratio Method: See
Two-Stage Method.
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Hollandaise: emulsified sauce made from egg
yolks, butter, and lemon juice |
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Hors d' Oeuvres: light food eaten as
appetizers, before main meal |
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Hot Cross Bun: A traditional yeast-raised
bun usually containing raisins, currants or chopped dried fruit, made for
Good Friday. It is slashed with a cross and confectioners sugar icing is put
over the cross after baking. |
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Homogenized Milk: Milk that has been
processed so that the cream does not separate out.
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How Baking Works 101
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Hulling: Removing green calyx from
strawberries and raspberries, etc. |
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Humectant: A substance that can absorb
moisture easily such as sugar, especially liquid sugar; a substance that
retains moisture. |
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Hydration Capacity: Is the ability of a
substance such as flour to absorb water. Flour absorbs water differently by
type and the influence of the weather. That's why when baking bread, the
recommended amount of flour can vary. |
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Hydrogenation: A process that converts
liquid oils to solid fats (shortenings) by chemically bonding hydrogen to
the fat molecules. |
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Ice Carving: sculptures carved from ice
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Icing: Sweet coating for cakes and pasties
most often sugar-based and flavored; Is it icing or
frosting ? It is both. Icing is a
more professional term used when talking about frosting that is stiffer and
pipes well. Frosting is considered homespun or creamier and softer.
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Icing Comb:
A plastic triangle with toothed or serrated edges; used for
texturing icings.
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Icing Sugar:
A fine powdered sugar. |
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Infusing: Steeping herbs, tea leaves or coffee in water or other
liquid to extract the favour. |
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Interfering Agents:
Are used in candy-making. Commonly used
ingredients are butter, egg, cold gelatin and milk or cream.
The process may be accelerated by adding acid from cream of
tartar, fruit, brown sugar, molasses, honey or chocolate.
Invert sugars
are used as interfering ingredients. Invert sugar is the result of the
breakdown, or the inversion, of the sucrose into fructose and glucose.
Examples are honey, glucose, corn syrup, and trimoline (for
commercial use). You can't substitute on for the other, as they each have
distinctive properties. |
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Inversion: A chemical process in which a
double sugar splits into two simple sugars.
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Invert Sugar: A mixture of two
simple sugars, dextrose and glucose, resulting from the breakdown of
sucrose. |
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Irish Coffee: Coffee flavored with Irish
whiskey and topped with thick cream. |
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Italian Bread: A simple bread similar to
French bread but typically shorter and plumper. It is typically made from
four, salt, water and yeast. |
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Italian Meringue: A meringue
made by whipping a boiling syrup into egg whites.
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