The baked goods we eat today come in many types, from bread to cookies to pies. But bakery products are more varied than you might think, and they are clearly classified. Let's look at the bakery products you should know.
What Is Bakery?
Bakery means snacks or products made from flour and then baked. Put simply, "bakery" refers to Western-style treats that go through a baking process. There are many well-known, popular bakery products, such as bread, cake, pie and croissants, which are famous all over the world.
The History of Bakery
Baking began in the Stone Age, when the Swiss started crushing wheat grains, mixing them with water and cooking them on fire-heated stones. The result was a flat food that was sticky inside, considered the world's first bread. Later, the Egyptians developed dense bread into a light, airy loaf. This came about when they fermented a piece of dough, forgot about it, and then mixed it with freshly made dough, which made the bread rise. The Egyptians also used clay to make vessels for baking instead of stones, considered the world's first ovens. These ovens had two levels: the lower level for the fire and the upper level for baking.
The Greeks developed bread making further, shaping oval loaves weighing 1 pound each and changing the oven to a beehive shape, still fuelled by wood. Later, the Romans advanced bread-making technology by building mixers made of a stone basin and wooden paddles. Development continued until, in the 13th century, the French recorded advances in baking equipment and types of bread. From the mid-20th century onwards, the bakery industry emerged and has continued to develop.
In Thailand, evidence from 1687 (B.E. 2230) comes from the records of a French priest, who reported buying wheat flour to make bread during the reign of King Narai the Great.
In 1856 (B.E. 2399), a report by Townsend Harris noted that wheat flour was brought from Hong Kong to make bread for banquets at the palace during the reign of King Mongkut.
How Many Types of Bakery Products Are There?
In summary, there are six types:
1. Bread
Bread is the main bakery product and a staple food in the West. By fat content, it falls into four groups:
- Low fat, 0–3%: e.g. French bread, hard rolls, rye bread and other crusty breads.
- 4–8% fat: e.g. sandwich bread, English bread, wholewheat bread, hamburger buns, hot dog buns and khanom kha kai (Thai breadsticks).
- 9–15% fat: e.g. filled breads, open-topped breads and yeast donuts.
- High fat, over 15%: e.g. sweet breads, raisin bread, fruit bread, coconut bread and butter bread.
There are three production methods:
- Single-step (no-time dough): fermentation using an accelerator.
- Two-step (sponge and dough): fermented for 2–3 hours, or as an overnight sponge.
- Continuous process: for large-scale industry.
2. Cake
The second group is popular as a snack, with countless decorations, colours and types, depending on the baker's creativity. Cakes fall into three groups:
- Sponge cake: made from three main ingredients, eggs, sugar and flour. The cake rises from eggs whipped to trap air, e.g. khanom khai (Thai egg cakes), roll cakes and butter sponge cake.
- Butter cake: adds fat, which makes the cake moister. There are several methods: the creaming method, the two-stage (flour batter) method, the blending method, the all-in method and the butter sponge method.
- Chiffon cake: adapted from the first two types by separating the yolks and whites. It is light, fluffy and soft, but has a short shelf life.
These cakes can be named in many ways according to their ingredients, such as butter cake in various flavours (butter, coffee, chocolate, pandan, mocha), khanom khai, jam roll, cream roll, chiffon cake, custard cake, upside-down cake, fancy cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake, brownies, banana cake, coconut cake, foi thong cake (topped with golden egg-yolk threads), toffee cake, taro cake, mamon (Thai-style sponge cake) and melon seed cake.
3. Puff Pastry
A baked good that rises in layers created by butter sandwiched between layers of dough. When baked at 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.
Puff pastry can have savoury or sweet fillings and can be shaped in many ways, such as chicken pie, beef pie, sausage pie, red pork pie, pineapple pie and coconut pie.
4. Danish and Croissant
These bakes combine bread and puff pastry. They rise with yeast and have layers of butter inside, like a honeycomb. They can be made in many shapes with different fillings.
5. Short Dough, Cookies, Pies and Tarts
This group shares a similar crumbly, crisp dough.
- Short dough is mostly used together with other bakes, such as a base layer for cakes.
- Cookies fall into three main groups:
- Press cookies: light and fluffy, relying on creamed butter and sugar, e.g. butter, coffee and pandan cookies.
- Frozen (icebox) cookies: crisp and firm, often with nuts and dried fruit, e.g. nut cookies, fruit cookies and fancy cookies.
- Drop cookies: flat, crisp and sweet, e.g. cheese cookies and almond cookies.
- Short-crust pies and tarts can be open or closed. Pies are usually large, while tarts are small with sweet fillings.
6. Choux Pastry and Eclairs
Baked goods with a hollow interior created by steam pressure during baking. They are made from flour, fat, water and eggs, with the dough cooked before baking. They come in many shapes with many kinds of filling.
