The Basic Baking Ingredients for Bakers

Does baking need a lot of expensive ingredients? The simple answer is no, it doesn’t. With four simple types of baking ingredients, you can bake a variety of things, such as cakes, biscuits, and bread. And this is what I will be sharing with you today. 

So, what are these ingredients? 

Flour

Flour is one ingredient that needs to be in all bakers’ cupboards. There are many different types of flour: plain, self-raising, wholemeal, and strong. Plain and self-raising are the ones that you will possibly use the most – I know I do. Plain is great for biscuits and pies, and self-raising is perfect for cakes. From my experience flour is the cheapest of all the ingredients to buy; however, you should look for the best quality. 

Butter / Margarine

Many baking recipes will need the use of fats like butter and margarine. I have used both over the years, but I have to admit I’m now a butter convert. However, I do find that margarine works well in cakes. 

There are two types of butter that you can buy, salted and unsalted. Most recipes I have used want unsalted butter rather than salted. I have found that the taste of the butter depends on the brands and can greatly affect the taste of the final bake. So it's a good idea to try the butter out on smaller bakes first to make sure you like the taste. 

There are also other fats that can be used instead of butter and margarine. You can use subtle-flavoured oils like sunflower, vegetable, corn, and rapeseed. 

Eggs

Eggs are something that all kitchens are likely to have. Baking recipes do suggest using free-range eggs; however, this is something that might not necessarily be in the home. Eggs come in a range of sizes, so when you buy them, make sure you get the right size for the recipe. 

Sugar 

Many bakes will need sugar to be included. There are several different types of sugar: you have caster, granulated, brown, golden caster, demerara, muscovado, and icing sugar. For basic baking, you are more likely to use caster sugar. This sugar works well in cakes, biscuits, meringues, and custards, plus much more.  

So there you have it, the basic baking ingredients for bakers. And with these basic baking ingredients, you’ll be on a baking roll. 

Happy Baking!