When it comes to bakery, most people have heard the word or know it well, since it is the umbrella name for treats many of us love, such as bread, cakes and other baked goods. Today, though, we are going to dig a little deeper into bakery.
First, let's get to know what bakery actually is, and what explanations and history lie behind the name. Put simply, bakery means bread, along with products made from flour and baked until cooked. In even simpler terms, bakery refers to Western-style baked treats that go through many processes, from baking to finishing. There are a great many popular bakery products, including bread, cakes, pies, croissants and other sweets, which is why bakery is famous all over the world. Bread and other bakery goods have been hugely popular both in Thailand and abroad, in the past and today. Every country has its own celebrated bakes and its own way of making them, depending on recipes and ingredients. Some cakes or breads, for example, are made with different recipes in different countries, and each recipe reflects the person and the ideas behind it. Today we introduce how bakery products can be grouped.
How Many Types of Bakery Are There?
Bread
The first type is one everyone knows well: bread. It can be divided into many varieties, but the main breads, which are popular and a staple food in the West, can be grouped into about four categories by fat content: low fat, about 0 to 3%, such as French bread, hard rolls, rye bread and other crusty breads; about 4 to 8% fat, such as sandwich bread, English bread, wholewheat bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns and kha kai (Thai bread sticks); 9 to 15% fat, such as filled breads, open-topped breads and yeast doughnuts; and finally high fat, over 15%, such as sweet breads, raisin, fruit, coconut and butter breads.
Cake
The next bakery type is hugely popular with anyone who loves sweets. Cakes are a popular snack, decorated in colourful styles, and every baker's recipe is different. Cakes can be created however the baker imagines, so there are endless varieties. Cakes can be divided into three groups. Sponge cake has three main ingredients, eggs, sugar and flour, and rises from eggs whipped with air, for example khanom khai (Thai egg cake), roll cakes and butter sponge cake. Butter cake adds fat, which helps make the cake moister. Finally, chiffon cake is adapted from the first two types by separating the yolks and whites, giving a light, fluffy, soft crumb.
Puff Pastry
Even the writer of this article loves this one! Puff pastry is a baked good that rises in layers, formed by layers of butter sandwiched between layers of dough. When baked at a high temperature, steam pressure makes the pastry puff up. The key to puff pastry is pastry margarine, which has a special property called plasticity that allows it to be rolled into thin sheets.
