Foods and home making

How should toast be served? Toast should always be served hot. In order to keep it hot, it is a good plan to put the hot toast on a hot plate and then cover the slices with a clean napkin. While the bread is toasting, a serving plate may be heated in the warming oven, in the lower part of the broiling oven, or other suitable place. The plate should not be put in a very hot place or it may crack or break. Some people like to spread butter on toast as soon as it comes from the oven. The butter melts and soaks into the toast. Such toast is called buttered toast. What makes muffins light ? Have you ever noticed that muf- fins, cakes, and many other foods containing flour are full of little holes? We say that because such foods are full of holes they are light. Muffins or cakes which are heavy are not so appetizing or so wholesome as light or porous foods. What is it that makes muffins and cakes porous? There are several materials which Toast and Other Breakfast Breads 79 may be used to do this. One material that is very commonly used is baking powder. Baking powder is a white powdered substance. Although it looks somewhat like flour, it is very different from flour. Let us learn what we can about baking powder : Experiment 7: To discover why baking powder makes muffins and cakes light. ( a ) In a tumbler or glass measuring cup put \ teaspoon of baking powder. Add i tablespoon of hot water. Stir. What is forming and rising to the top ? (b) Let the mixture stand a few minutes. Does the surface of the mixture look the same as it did when the hot water was first added to the baking powder? (c) In making muffins why should the mixture be placed in the oven as soon as possible after mixing the moisture with the baking powder ? The bubbles which appeared when hot water was added to the baking powder were caused by a gas forming. When baking powder is moistened and heated, a gas, whose name you may have heard, is formed. This gas is called carbon dioxide. When muffins are made, baking powder is usually added to the flour. The mixture of flour and baking powder is moistened with milk or other liquid materials. Next the mixture is put into the oven. The heat of the oven then heats the muffin mixture. The baking powder in the muffin mixture is thus moistened and heated. You have learned that when baking powder is moistened and heated a gas is formed. Hence from the baking powder in the muffin mixture, a gas is formed. This gas rises through the muffin mixture. As it rises it lifts the particles of flour and other materials and makes the muffins porous and light. The heat of the oven then dries the mixture, hardens the egg, and makes other changes in it so that when baked, the muffins are firm but light. What kind of flour shall we use for muffins ? At the market or grocery store, we find different kinds of flour. One kind of 8o Breakfast flour is suitable for making bread to which yeast is added. This is called bread flour. Another kind is suitable for making muf- fins, cakes, and other baked foods in which baking powder is used. This is called pastry flour. Let us see what we can learn about these two kinds of flour : Experiment 8 : To learn to tell the difference between bread flour and pastry flour.