Baking: Method and Recipes

Ingredients for baking
Image by Markus Spiske

Baking is a way of cooking sweet or savory items in the dry heat of an oven. Although baking itself is a relatively easy process, it is good to have some knowledge of the role each ingredient plays in creating the final dish.

Different ingredients strengthen, bind, thicken, sweeten, leaven and add moisture. Some ingredients, like milk and sugar, perform multiple roles. And others will only carry out their duties under very specific conditions. For this reason baking is often compared to the science of chemistry.

You shouldn’t be intimidated by baking though. A reasonable knowledge of basic methods and ingredient functions opens up a world of variety and creativity that is the raison de faire cuire au four of the typical pastry chef.

International Baking Recipes

Peach Cobbler 
(American peaches baked with pastry)

Pão de Queijo 
(Brazilian cheese buns)

Pita 
(Mediterranean pocket bread)

Lekach 
(Israeli Jewish honey cake)

Gingerbread Men 
(English spiced Christmas cookies)

Torta Rustica di Mele 
(Italian rustic apple cake)

Coca-Cola Cake 
(American cocoa-cola cake)

Basboosa 
(Egyptian semolina cake)

Empanadas 
(Latin savory stuffed pastries)

Baking Powder Biscuits 
(American breakfast quickbread)

Lavash 
(Southwest Asian thin flatbread)

Pâte Brisée 
(French pastry crust for savory tarts and pies)

New York Cheesecake 
(American Mid-Atlantic cream cheese dessert)

Pizza Napoletana 
(Italian traditional pizza from Naples)

Acharuli Khachapuri 
(Georgian boat-shaped cheesebread with egg and butter)

Papaya Pie 
(Caribbean papaya-filled tart)

Makroud el Louse 
(Makroud el Louse)

Hamantaschen 
(Israeli Jewish filled tricorner Purim pastries)

Panforte 
(Italian Christmas honey fruitcake)

Apfelstrudel 
(Austrian apple strudel pastry)

Barmbrack 
(Irish fruit bread)

Bauernbrot 
(German farmer-style rye bread)

Challah 
(Israeli Jewish braided Sabbath bread)

Focaccia Genovese 
(Italian olive oil bread with sea salt and rosemary)

Pastel de Tres Leches 
(Central American cake of three milks)

Koulourakia 
(Greek Easter butter cookies)

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