European countries began stiffening their linen cloth with wheat starch The word starch dates from the 15th century, and comes from a German root that means “to stiffen, to make rigid,” which is also what starch does to convert bread dough into bread The German in turn came from an Indo-European root meaning “stiff”; related words are stare, stark, stern, and starve (which results in the rigidity of death) Bakers use yeasts or chemical leavenings to fill their products with gas bubbles (p 531) However, these ingredients don’t create new bubbles: their carbon dioxide is released into the water phase of the dough or batter, and diffuses into and enlarges whatever tiny bubbles are already there These primordial bubbles are air bubbles, and are created when the baker first kneads a dough, or creams butter and sugar, or whips eggs The initial aeration of doughs and batters thus strongly influences the final texture of baked goods The more bubbles produced during the preparation of a dough or batter, the finer and tenderer the result Fats: Shortening Since the early 19th century, the term shortening has been used to mean fats or oils that “shorten” a dough, or weaken its structure and thus make the final product more tender or flaky This role is most evident in pie crusts and puff pastry (p 561), where layers of solid fat separate thin layers of dough from each other so that they cook into separate layers of pastry It’s less evident but also important in cakes and enriched breads, where fat and oil molecules bond to parts of the gluten protein coils and prevent the proteins from forming a strong gluten To make a rich bread with a strong gluten (e.g Italian panettone, p 546), the baker mixes the flour ...influences the final texture of baked goods The more bubbles produced during the preparation of a dough or batter, the finer and tenderer the result Fats: Shortening Since the early 19th century, the term... each other so that they cook into separate layers of pastry It’s less evident but also important in cakes and enriched breads, where fat and oil molecules bond to parts of the gluten protein coils and prevent the proteins... that “shorten” a dough, or weaken its structure and thus make the final product more tender or flaky This role is most evident in pie crusts and puff pastry (p 561), where layers of solid fat separate thin layers of dough from each other so that they cook into separate