Ingredients
Ingredients
Most home oven dishes rely on just six ingredients. Once you understand how each of them behaves in a dough or a filling, a recipe stops being a magic spell and becomes easy to adapt to whatever you have at home.
Flour, yeast and butter forgive a lot, except haste and heat: give them the right temperature and the dough will do the rest by itself.
Each ingredient is covered from three angles: what to look for when choosing it, where to keep it at home and which dishes it matters most in. No brands or manufacturers here.
The basis of the dough
The things no bread, pizza or pie can do without.
Wheat flour
- How to choose
- For bread and pizza, use strong bread flour or a good plain white flour; for crumbly pastry, ordinary plain flour is fine. The flour should be dry, free of lumps and have no off smells.
- How to store
- In a tightly closed jar or container, in a cool, dry cupboard, away from spices and anything strong-smelling.
- Best used for
- Yeast dough, pastry for pies, dusting the worktop when rolling out, thickening fillings.
Yeast
- How to choose
- Dried yeast is handy for beginners: it keeps well and gives predictable results. Fresh yeast should be pale, springy and smell fresh.
- How to store
- Once opened, a packet of dried yeast should be sealed tightly and kept in the fridge; fresh yeast is stored in the fridge and used up quickly.
- Best used for
- Bread, pizza dough, enriched buns. Yeast works in warm, not hot, liquid, and salt should never be tipped straight onto it.
Baking powder and bicarbonate of soda
- How to choose
- Baking powder already contains an acid and works on its own; bicarbonate of soda needs something acidic — kefir, yoghurt or lemon juice.
- How to store
- In a closed packet in a dry place: moisture makes baking powder clump and lose its strength.
- Best used for
- Cakes, pancakes, quick pies and biscuits. Dough made with baking powder or bicarbonate of soda shouldn't be left to stand but goes straight into a preheated oven.
Flavour and crust
Ingredients that give baking tenderness, colour and aroma.
Butter
- How to choose
- For dough, use plain butter with no added vegetable fats; when cut, it should look smooth and even.
- How to store
- In the fridge in a covered butter dish, or in the freezer if you have a lot.
- Best used for
- Cold for crumbly pastry, soft for cakes, melted for greasing a tin or brushing a finished crust.
Eggs
- How to choose
- The shells should be clean and free of cracks. Room-temperature eggs are easier to bake with: they combine better with butter and flour.
- How to store
- In the fridge, on a shelf rather than in the door. Take out the number you need well before you start baking.
- Best used for
- Binding minced meat and bakes, glazing for a shiny crust, the base of cakes. Wash your hands after handling raw eggs.
Cheese for baking
- How to choose
- For pizza and bakes you need a cheese that melts and stretches well; a hard, mature cheese gives a golden, tangy crust on top.
- How to store
- In the fridge, wrapped in baking paper or in a container, so the cheese doesn't dry out or pick up other smells.
- Best used for
- Pizza, bakes, open vegetable pies, cheese on toast. If grated cheese browns quickly, add it towards the end.
What to use if you're missing something
| Ingredient | Swap | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Dried yeast | Fresh yeast, about three times the weight | The dough rises just as well, but fresh yeast goes off quickly |
| Baking powder | Bicarbonate of soda with kefir or lemon juice | The dough must go into the oven as soon as it's mixed |
| Butter in a filling | Vegetable oil | A plainer flavour and a less golden crust |
| Melting cheese for pizza | A mix of soft and hard cheese | Less stretchy, but browns better |
See also
- Recipes
An open apple pie, herb-roasted vegetables and a simple homemade loaf, with weights and timings.
- Techniques
Oven modes, preheating, rack levels, baking paper and tins, plus three ways to check that food is done.
- Pizza dough (in Russian)
Our yeast dough for two pizzas: how to knead it, how to tell it has risen and what to do with any leftover dough.
- Tips
Short, practical tips on the oven, dough and baking trays, plus our catalogue of articles.
- Questions
Answers to common questions about dough, oven modes, cooking meat through and kitchen safety.
- Home
A guide to cooking from the oven: dough, pizza and pies, bread, meat and vegetables on a tray, for people just starting to bake.
What we draw on
- cookery reference books and home recipes
- the guide's own editorial material
Times and temperatures in our recipes are a guide, not a rule: every oven heats in its own way, and flour and other ingredients behave a little differently each time. Go by the colour of the crust, the smell and the signs of doneness, not just the timer.