Random memory

[pne]

When I was a little boy, I was baking a cake with my mother. She had me preheat the oven while she was collecting the ingredients and mixing the dough.

When the little light on the oven went out, I thought it was done, and turned off the temperature. By the time the dough was ready, the oven was nearly cold again.

At which point my mother told me that I should have left on the oven even after it had reached the pre-set temperature if we were going to bake a cake in it…

Comments

Random comment.

[kake]

Interesting that you use the word "dough" for uncooked cake. I'd use "batter" or even just "cake mixture". A dough to me is something to be worked hard to develop the gluten in the flour - something you don't want to happen in a cake.

batter vs dough

[pne.livejournal.com]

I had "batter" first but then changed it since I thought that word was used only for pancakes.

German has "Teig" for all of those; I imagine that was the source of my confusion. You can differentiate with compounds (e.g. Rührteig "stirred dough" for most cakes, Hefeteig "yeast dough" for some other cakes and for many breads, Knetteig "kneaded dough" for bread, Mürbeteig "brittle dough" for shortbread-type dough, Blätterteig "leaf dough" for phylla pastry, etc.).

Re: batter vs dough

[robnorth.livejournal.com]

Just guessing from my own experience, but I use the word "batter" for anything you can pour. I use "dough" for anything that isn't particularly pourable.

Things like banana bread get close to the boundary, as banana bread mix is not particularly pourable, but you can't pick it up as a lump out of the bowl the way you can bread dough. I think it falls just barely on the "batter" side of the line.

So if you can pick it up like a ball, however soft it may be, it's dough. If you can't, it's batter.

Is that universal, or is that just another Canadianism?

Re: batter vs dough

[tungol.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on the distinction, but then I'm also Canadian.

Re: batter vs dough

[bacskocky.livejournal.com]

I agree... and I'm NOT Canadian :P

[node-ue.livejournal.com]

...and of course this all took place in the Klingon language.

And then you discovered the oven's horrifying secret...

[fridoline.livejournal.com]

I use the following terms:

Batter for Rührteig, Bisquitteig and Pfannkuchenteig

Pastry for Mürbeteig,

Puff pastry for Blätterteig,

Dough for Hefeteig, Brotteig.

But that's just how I do it.