Baking Glossary

Love baking but sometimes get a little stuck on the baking terms? Mixed up your frosting with icing or accidentally used a pinch instead of a dash?  

Help is at hand! In our helpful guide, we’ll look at common baking terms and detail the potential mistakes to avoid. We know that just a little baking knowledge can go a long way to upping your skills in the kitchen at home.  

These are some of the most common baking terms.

Bain-Marie: A water bath placed in the oven to stop desserts curdling or overcooking.  

Batter: A combination of flour, liquid and other ingredients that is thin enough to pour. 

Beat: Using a quick, circular motion to mix ingredients and add in air.  

Blind-baking: Partially or fully baking pastry before adding the filling. Follow our guide on blind baking pastry.  

Biscuit method: When cold fat is blended into flour so that it creates a flaky texture, used in biscuits and scones.  

Buttercream: A type of frosting, made by mixing butter with sugar.  

Caramelisation: Sugar and starches will turn brown when heated in a pan. Follow our guide on how to caramelise sugar.  

Cream(Creaming): Quickly beating butter with sugar. 

Cut in: Using a fork or pastry blender to evenly distribute fat throughout dry ingredients.  

Dash: A measurement that is less than 1/8 of a teaspoon.  

Drizzle: When a thin liquid is poured sparingly on top of something.  

Dust: A light sprinkling of a powdered substance like sugar, cocoa or flour as seen on our Victoria Sponge Cake.   

Fermentation: When yeast produces carbon dioxide and alcohol in bread dough. 

Fold: Gently use a spatula to fold the ingredients at the bottom of the bowl over the top of the mixture – then turn the bowl and repeat. This helps to keep the air in a mixture just like in our Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake. 

Fondant: A type of icing commonly used to sculpt or decorate cakes, cupcakes, or pastries. Try our easy ready-to-roll Fondant Icing. 

Ganache: A type of frosting that is made from melted chocolate and heavy cream. Try it out with our delicious Chocolate Ganache recipe.  

Grease: Rubbing a fat such as oil or butter on a baking sheet to stop any sticking. If you’re unsure of how to line and grease a tin, follow our helpful hints and tips.  

Knead: To create a smooth, elastic dough by pressing down on the dough with your hands, turning, folding and then repeating. Give your arms a workout kneading with our mouth-watering Tiger Bread Recipe. 

Leavening: Using yeast, baking powder or bicarbonate of soda which produces gas, helping bakes to rise.   

Proof or prove: Allowing bread dough to rise before baking. Or to mix yeast with water and leave it to become bubbly, just like in our Wholemeal Loaf recipe.  

Punch down: To gently deflate air pockets formed during the first rise in dough. To do this, make a fist and push it down into the centre of the dough. Then pull the dough edges into the centre and turn the dough over. Let it rise again before forming your loaf shape. 

Royal icing: A hard icing used when decorating cakes and cookies. 
Score: Cutting shallow slashes on the surface of bread before baking. 

Soft peaks: When egg whites or whipping cream is beaten to form soft, rounded peaks.  

Stiff peaks: When egg whites are beaten so that they hold stiff, pointed peaks. Try this out with our Meringue recipe.  

Whip: Using a wire whisk or electric whisk to add air into a mixture. You can see how to do it in our helpful guide on how to whip cream.  

Zest: Zest is the thin, outer skin of a citrus fruit. It can be grated and added to recipes for a citrus flavour just like in our delectable Lemon Drizzle Cake.  

Understanding baking terms is super important to improve your baking skills and avoid any mistakes. But sometimes it’s easy to get things mixed up.  

To make sure your bakes go smoothy, let’s look at some common baking terms that people often confuse. This will be one mistake you don’t make.  

Dough and batter: Dough is thick and firm, easily shaped by hand and mainly used for bread, cookies and pastries. Batter is thinner and can be poured or spooned into pans. It’s used for cakes, pancakes, and muffins. 

Frosting and icing: Frosting and icing differ in texture and use. Frosting is thick, fluffy, and spreadable. It’s used to cover and fill cakes and cupcakes. Icing is thinner and glossier, ideal for glazing or detailing. Frosting often contains butter or cream cheese, while icing is usually made from powdered sugar and liquid. 

Dash and pinch: A dash and a pinch are small measurements in baking. A pinch usually refers to the amount that can be held between the thumb and forefinger, about 1/16 teaspoon. A dash is slightly more, around 1/8 teaspoon. 
Whip and beat: Whipping and beating are techniques used in baking to add air to ingredients. Whipping uses a whisk or mixer at high speed to create a light, fluffy texture, often for cream or egg whites. Beating, done at medium speed, combines ingredients thoroughly, like cake batter or dough. 

Check this helpful list the next time you’re whipping up a bake at home. You’ll never mix up your pinch with your dash again. Plus, you can make a difference to your friends and family members’ baking journeys too, by sharing our helpful guide.  

Don’t forget to check out some of our other baking hints and tips too, including butter substitutes in baking or how to keep your cakes deliciously moist.