BAKING INGREDIENTS LIST GUIDE – PART TWO (WET INGREDIENTS)

BAKING INGREDIENTS LIST GUIDE {PART 2}
This is part two of the series (see part one here (add link)) this post is all about the wet ingredients used in baking.
EGGS: I believe this doesn’t need much explanation. It is one of the staples when it comes to baking (unless you are making either a vegan cake or a mug cake) and it is usually added after creaming your butter and sugar.
MILK: I won’t really categorise this as a staple because some commercial bakers don’t include it. Milk gives the cake a richer taste and any can work – condensed, whole, evaporated, full cream
BUTTERMILK: buttermilk is simply curdled milk. It makes your cake softer, moister and richer. You can either buy from the store or make yours by adding 1 tbsp of either lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for a while.
WATER: some recipes call for water especially if the recipe is to using milk. Water helps lighten your cake batter.
EXTRACT/ESSENCE: this is the flavour added to cakes. Extract has more quality than essence however essence is readily available in the Nigerian market e.g. vanilla essence, vanilla bean extract etc.
ALCOHOL: this is used to preserve the cake, for it to effectively preserve a cake; it has to be at a percentage of 45% and above. Some people fear that their kids might get influenced by the alcohol (lol) that’s not going to happen because the baker isn’t pouring the whole bottle. The most popular is squadron
VINEGAR: this is an acidic liquid used to curdle milk. It is a staple product in velvet cakes
BROWNIE: this is used to give chocolate cakes the rich dark brown colour they are known for. Some bakers use both cocoa powder and brownie to make their chocolate cake, some bakers don’t.
HONEY: ever heard of honey cake? This is the staple product used in baking it. Reduce your sugar if employing honey in your mixture.
COCONUT MILK: process of making coconut milk vary, some blend it with water and sieve, some blend it with the coconut water and sieve while others just get it from the store. It is majorly used in making coconut cakes for a richer flavour.
GOLDEN SYRUP: it is a golden yellow-like syrup mostly used in making vanilla cakes.
BLACK TREACLE: black treacle is a dark syrup commonly used for baking either chocolate cakes or mixed fruit cakes.
CHAMPAGNE: I recently discovered a type of cake – champagne cake and I read the cake wont make you tipsy. The champagne gives the cake a distinct taste and the ones commonly used are ; Andre, Rose, Moet etc.
MASHED BANANAS: this is the most important product for banana cake, this is basically mashing overripe bananas to you next week
PURRED ORANGE: purred orange is blended orange. The orange is blended whole plus the skin.
COLOUR: this is used in making colourful cakes e.g. red velvet cakes