Bakery products are loved by Thais and foreigners alike because they're delicious, sweet and fragrant, which leaves many people wondering how many types there are. Let's find out in this article.
The word "bakery" comes from "bake". Bakery products are made mainly from wheat flour and baked until cooked. The main types are as follows:
1. Cake
Cakes are sweet bakery products cooked by baking. The main ingredients are flour and sugar, with others such as eggs, batter, vegetables, fruit, butter, cheese, yeast, milk and margarine. Cakes fall into three groups:
- Sponge cake: made mainly from eggs, sugar and flour.
- Butter cake: adds fat, which makes the cake moister.
- Chiffon cake: adapted from the two types above by separating the yolks and whites. It is light, fluffy and soft, but has a short shelf life.
2. Cookies
Cookies are small, flat bakery products made from wheat flour, sharing a similar crumbly, crisp dough.
- Press cookies: light and fluffy, relying on creamed butter.
- Frozen (icebox) cookies: crisp and firm, often with nuts and dried fruit.
- Drop cookies: crisp, sweet and rich.
3. Bread
Bread is the main bakery staple in the West, made from wheat flour mixed with water and yeast or baking powder, with other ingredients added for colour, flavour and aroma. By fat content, it falls into four groups:
- 0–3% fat: e.g. hard rolls and rye bread.
- 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.
4. Pie
Pie is a baked product with savoury or sweet fillings, such as meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, cheese, cream, chocolate, custard, nuts or other sweets.
5. Danish and Croissant
These combine puff pastry and bread.
6. Short Dough
Mostly used together with other bakes, such as a base layer for cakes.
7. 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, and come in many shapes with many kinds of filling.
8. Custard Cream
Used as a filling for all kinds of bakes.
