Essentials
This term describes yeast breads containing a high percentage of fat, eggs, milk, and/or sweeteners.
What is enriched yeast dough (or sweet dough)?
This mixing method is used when the fat and sugar percentages are low enough not to interfere with gluten development.
What is the straight dough method?
A rich braided egg bread flavored with honey, traditionally served for Jewish Sabbath celebrations.
What is Challah?
The recommended frying temperature range for deep-frying yeast-raised doughnuts.
What is 365°F to 385°F?
A classic rich brioche baked in a fluted pan with a topknot or cap of dough.
What is Brioche à Tête?
Fats and sweeteners in enriched doughs interfere with the development of this, resulting in a soft crust and tender crumb.
What is gluten?
In the enriched dough method, fat is added at this point during mixing.
What is after the dough has been fully kneaded (or gluten is developed)?
A sweet German yeast bread studded with dried fruit and marzipan, often folded and coated with powdered sugar.
What is Stollen?
Unlike yeast-raised doughnuts, cake-style doughnuts rely on these to rise.
What are chemical leaveners (baking powder/baking soda)?
Small, individual mushroom-shaped yeast cakes that are baked, then thoroughly soaked in a rum syrup.
What are Babas (or Rum Babas)?
High-heat pasteurized dry milk powder, yogurt, buttermilk, and UHT milk do not require this step because their milk enzymes have already been destroyed.
What is preheating (or scalding)?
To prevent the butter from melting and separating, enriched doughs should be proofed below this temperature.
What is 85°F (or 70°F–80°F)?
Sweet Mexican shell-shaped rolls coated with a brightly colored, cracked sugar paste.
What are Conchas?
This term refers to the length of time it takes a frying medium to return to its cooking temperature after food is submerged.
What is recovery time?
A rich, yeasted cake made from baba dough baked into a round ring mold, often filled with cream and fruit.
What is a Savarin?
Enriched doughs require a longer time for this step because added fat and sugar slow down gluten development.
What is kneading (or mixing)?
This test is used to determine if an enriched dough has been kneaded sufficiently before fat is incorporated.
What is the windowpane test?
A light, buttery yeast cake studded with nuts and raisins, baked in a fluted mold; popular in Germany and Alsace.
What is Kugelhopf?
The temperature at which a frying fat develops off-flavors, foams, and begins to degrade.
What is the smoke point?
When preparing brioche, egg wash must not touch the sides of the pan for this reason.
What is to prevent the wash from coagulating and stopping the dough from rising in the oven?
Commercial bakeries often use this specially formulated yeast to handle high sugar concentrations in sweet doughs.
What is osmotolerant yeast?
Retarding enriched dough in the refrigerator overnight achieves these two major benefits.
What are flavor development and making soft, sticky dough easier to handle?
A sweet Italian Christmas bread filled with raisins, candied fruits, anise seeds, and nuts, traditionally baked in a cylindrical mold.
What is Panettone?
Mexican and Spanish pastries made by deep-frying sticks of cinnamon-flavored éclair paste and coating them in sugar.
What are Churros?
To properly hydrate flour in high-fat brioche formulas, bakers often use this pre-ferment method.
What is the sponge method?