Bake – Cooking food in a heated oven, with dry heat.

Baker – A person who makes baked foods, such as breads, cakes, and cookies.

Bakers Dozen –13 pieces.

Batch – One recipe of yeast, sweet and quick breads, or cookies.

Batter – A pre-baked liquid mixture of ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, eggs, and flavoring.  For example cake batter.

Beat – To vigorously mix ingredients together, either by hand with a wooden spoon or wire whisk, or with an electric mixer.

Blend – Mixing two or more ingredients together so they do not separate.

Bloom -  A white coating that appears on chocolate and is caused by separated cocoa butter.

Boil – To heat liquid ingredients until they reach the boiling point of over 212 degrees F, and bubbles are breaking on the surface.

Caramelize – To heat sugar, usually in a saucepan or skillet, until the sugar turns a golden brown.

Chill – To cool food to less than room temperature. For example place cookie dough in the refrigerator so it becomes cold and firm.

Chop – To cut food into small pieces that are usually between ¼ inch and ½ inch.

Combine – To mix two or more ingredients together.

Cool – To bring hot or warm food to an average normal room temperature, around 68 to 70 degrees F, or until it no longer feels warm to the touch.

Core – Removing the inner seed area of a fruit, such as an apple or pear.

Cream – Vigorously mixing ingredients together, either by hand with a wooden spoon or wire whisk, or with an electric mixer. For example a recipe’s directions may say to beat or cream butter and sugar together to make smooth and fluffy.

Crimp – Pressing pastry edges together so the edges are sealed. Crimping is usually done with your fingers or a fork.

Cube – Cutting food into small square pieces, usually between ½ inch and 1 inch.

Cut-in – To reduce and evenly distribute butter or shortening into small pieces when combining with flour to make pastry. This is usually done with a pastry blender or two knives.

Dash – A very small amount of an ingredient, usually salt or other spices. This is a measurement that does not use a measuring spoon, therefore is not accurate or consistent, and is less than 1/8 teaspoon.  For example, a couple shakes of a salt shaker.

Dice – Cutting food into small pieces, usually between 1/8 inch and ¼ inch pieces.

Dissolve – To combine a solid food with a liquid, until the solid food is absorbed. For example, combine sugar and water.

Dot – Placing small amounts of an ingredient evenly over the top of another food. For example, place small pieces of butter on top of a pie filling before baking.

Double in Size – Refers to yeast dough that has risen to about twice the bulk of the original size.

Dough – A pre-baked soft or firm mixture of ingredients such as butter, sugar, eggs, and flavoring. For example yeast bread dough may be firm and elastic or cookie dough may be soft and lumpy.

Drizzle – Pouring a thin stream of an ingredient on top of other food. For example use a spoon dipped in icing to put thin lines of icing on baked cinnamon rolls.

Dust – Sprinkling a light amount of an ingredient, such as powdered sugar, on top of a cake.  Also, lightly sprinkle flour on a board before rolling out pastry.

Elastic – Dough that is capable of recovering it's original shape after being stretched.

Firmly Packed - When measuring brown sugar, spoon the sugar into a dry measuring cup, pressing down firmly to compact the sugar.

Fluffy – Ingredients that become soft and light because air has been beaten in.

Flute – To press pastry edges together, usually forming a scalloped pattern, so the edges are sealed. Fluting is done with your thumb and fingers.

Fold– To gently blend light ingredients, such as beaten egg whites or whipped cream, with other heavier ingredients, so that the finished product remains light. For example to fold egg whites into cake batter, go down the inside of the bowl with a rubber spatula, across the bottom and gently up through the middle of the batter until the egg white is just barely blended with the batter.

Frost– Covering a baked cake, cookie, or pastry with icing or frosting.

Garnish – Decorating and enhancing the flavor or appearance of food by adding other attractive and complimentary foods to either the food or serving dish.

Glaze – Brushing food with milk, egg, or sugar before baking in order to produce a shiny golden finish. Or to brush a thin coating of icing on top of a baked cake, cookie or bread to give the food a sweet and shiny finish.

Golden Brown – Light brown or caramel looking color.

Grate– Rubbing ingredients over a grater produces small fine pieces. For example chocolate may be grated, and used to decorate cakes and cookies.

Grease – Rubbing butter, shortening, or oil, or spraying with a vegetable oil, on the inside of a baking pan to prevent food from sticking to the pan.

Grease and Flour– To first rub butter, shortening, or oil on the inside of a baking pan, then sprinkle a small amount of flour in the pan, tilt the pan to cover the sides and bottom evenly, and shake out any excel flour. This results in a light dusting of flour on the inside of the pan to prevent food, such as cakes, from sticking to the pan.

Ice– Spreading a frosting on top of cakes or cookies.

Ingredients – Food items, such as butter, eggs, flour, spices and flavorings that are used in a recipe.

Jelly Roll– Food, such as a sponge cake, which is spread with a filling, then rolled up in the shape of a log.

Knead – To work soft dough with the heels of your hand, by folding, pressing, and stretching the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Level – When measuring dry ingredients, spoon the ingredient into a cup until overfull, then level the top with a straight edge such as a knife or spatula.

Line– Covering a baking sheet or the inside of a baking dish with parchment paper, waxed paper, or foil to prevent food from sticking.

Marble – To create swirls of another color in a batter. For example a white, vanilla batter may have swirls of chocolate batter.

Measure – Determining a specific amount of an ingredient, usually done with measuring cups and measuring spoons.

Mince– To cut food into very small fine pieces, less than 1/8 inch. For example orange or lemon zest may be minced, or cut into very small pieces.

Mix– To stir two or more ingredients together until blended.

Moisten – To add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients until just slightly wet.

Packed - When measuring brown sugar, spoon the sugar into a dry measuring cup, pressing down firmly to compact the sugar.

Pare – To remove the stem and outer layer of a fruit or vegetable with a paring knife or peeler.

Peel – Cutting away the outer layer of a food. For example the outer skin of an apple, or the hard outer layer of an orange. Also refers to the outer lay of a citrus fruit.

Pinch – A very small amount of an ingredient, usually salt or other spices, held between your thumb and first finger. This is a measurement that does not use a measuring spoon, therefore is not accurate or consistent, and is less than 1/8 teaspoon. For example, adding a pinch of salt.

Pipe – Soft food, such as frosting or whipped cream, that is put in a pastry bag and forced out of the small end to make decorative designs on food. For example, decorate cakes or cookies with frosting.

Plump – Making food soft and round. For example, soaking dried raisins in water until they become softened.

Preheat – Warming an oven to the desired temperature before baking.

Press – Forming dough into a shape. For example forming cookies when the dough is forced through a cookie press, or using your fingers to pat and spread cookie dough in the bottom of a baking pan.

Prick – Putting small holes in pastry with a fork to prevent bubbles from forming when baked. For example prick pie pastry when pre-baking and pie filling will be added after the pastry is baked. Pie pastry is not pricked if the pastry and filling will be baked together at the same time.

Proof – Causing yeast to become active by adding water and sugar.

Punch Down – To use your hand or fist to deflate yeast dough after it has completed the first rising.

Refrigerate – To place food in a refrigerator so it becomes chilled.

Rest – Yeast dough often needs to sit without being handled.

Room Temperature – The average normal room temperature is  68 to 70 degrees F. Some baking ingredients, such as butter, are best used at room temperature.

Scald – To heat liquid to just before the boiling point. Or, dipping food into boiling water.

Score – Making thin lines or slashes in food. For example before baking bread, use a knife to make slashes in the top so steam can escape.

Separate– Removing the yolk from the white of a raw egg.

Sift – to pass ingredients, such as flour, or powdered sugar, through a mesh sieve to break up coarse particles. Sifting also mixes dry ingredients, such as flour and spices, together.

Smooth – Food with no lumps or pieces of solid food, such as a smooth cake batter.

Soft Peaks – The phase when beating egg whites or whipping cream and the beater is lifted out of the mixture, the peaks curl over.

Steep – Soaking food in a hot liquid. For example steep raisins in rum to soften and add flavor.

Stiff Peaks– The phase when beating egg whites or whipping cream and the beater is lifted out of the mixture, the peaks stand straight up.

Stir – To blend ingredients together with either a spoon or spatula, or with an electric mixer on a low speed.

Whip – To make food such as batter or cream stiff and creamy by adding air to it with short quick movements, using a fork, whisk, or electric beater.

Whisk – To whip soft or liquid ingredients together, usually done with a wire whisk.

Zest – Zest from citrus fruit such as oranges and lemons is the coarse outer rind of the fruit. (Only the colored part of the rind, not the bitter inner white portion, contains the flavor.) With a sharp knife, potato peeler, zest tool, or zest grater, remove the outer rind from the fruit. If the pieces are too big, you can chop the zest with a knife or coarsely grind it in a blender or food processor before adding to the recipe.