Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as bakers' confectionery. The word "pastries" suggests many kinds of baked products made from ingredients such as flour, sugar, milk, butter, shortening, baking powder, and eggs. Small tarts and other sweet baked products are called pastries as a synecdoche. Common pastry dishes include pies, tarts, quiches, croissants, and pasties.
Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavening agents, as well as ingredients such as fats or flavorings.
A crouton is a piece of toasted or fried bread, normally cubed and seasoned. Croutons are used to add texture and flavor to salads—notably the Caesar salad— as an accompaniment to soups and stews, or eaten as a snack food.
Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the Saturday Evening Post. In 1954, General Mills introduced the red spoon logo with her signature, placing it on Gold Medal flour, Bisquick, and cake-mix packages. A portrait of Betty Crocker, first commissioned in 1936 and revised several times since, appears on printed advertisements and product packaging.
Moussaka is an eggplant- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.
A casserole is a kind of large, deep pan or bowl used for cooking a variety of dishes in the oven; it is also a category of foods cooked in such a vessel. To distinguish the two uses, the pan can be called a "casserole dish" or "casserole pan," whereas the food is simply "a casserole." The same pan is often used both for cooking and for serving.
Cobbler is a dessert consisting of a fruit filling poured into a large baking dish and covered with a batter, biscuit, or dumpling before being baked. Some cobbler recipes, especially in the American South, resemble a thick-crusted, deep-dish pie with both a top and bottom crust. Cobbler is part of the cuisine of the United Kingdom and United States, and should not be confused with a crumble.
Biscotti, known also as cantucci, are Italian almond biscuits that originated in the Tuscan city of Prato. They are twice-baked, oblong-shaped, dry, crunchy, and may be dipped in a drink, traditionally Vin Santo.
Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Croix, The Bahamas, Colombia, Bermuda, Curaçao and Puerto Rico as well as in the United States and Canada.
In the United States and Canada, a biscuit is a variety of baked bread with a firm, dry exterior and a soft, crumbly interior. It is made with baking powder as a leavening agent rather than yeast, and at times is called a baking powder biscuit to differentiate it from other types. Like other forms of bread, a biscuit is often served with butter or other condiments, flavored with other ingredients, or combined with other types of food to make sandwiches or other dishes.
Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Some sponge cakes do not contain egg yolks, like angel food cake, but most of them do. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain. The sponge cake is thought to be one of the first non-yeasted cakes, and the earliest attested sponge cake recipe in English is found in a book by the English poet Gervase Markham, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615). Still, the cake was much more like a cracker: thin and crispy. Sponge cakes became the cake recognised today when bakers started using beaten eggs as a rising agent in the mid-18th century. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 allowed the addition of butter to the traditional sponge recipe, resulting in the creation of the Victoria sponge. Cakes are available in many flavours and have many recipes as well. Sponge cakes have become snack cakes via the Twinkie.
Bean dip is a type of dipping sauce made using beans or refried beans as a primary ingredient. It is typically served with tortilla chips, and can also be served with other foods such as crackers and crudités. Various types of beans are used, and fresh-cooked, canned or flaked beans can be used. Various additional ingredients are used in its preparation, such as onion, garlic, chili peppers and spices, and it is sometimes garnished with some ingredients. Bean dip can be served cold, at room temperature, or hot. Bean dip is sometimes used as an ingredient in the preparation of other dishes such as burritos and quesadillas.
Qurabiya, is a shortbread-type biscuit, usually made with ground almonds. Versions are found in most Arab and Ottoman cuisines, with various different forms and recipes. They are similar to polvorones from Andalusia.
Paximathia, also spelt paximadia (plural), or paximadi/paximathi (singular), is a hard bread of Greek origin, similar to rusk, that is prepared with whole wheat, chick pea or barley flour. It has been referred to as being similar to biscotti or as a type of biscotti. Paximathia is a common food in Greece and many Greek bakeries sell the bread, which is often served as a breakfast food with marmalade or cheese. Paximathia is purveyed also in Greek specialty stores in many areas of the United States.
A baking mix is a mixed formulation of ingredients used for the cooking of baked goods. Baking mixes may be commercially manufactured or homemade. Baking mixes that cater to particular dietary needs, such as vegan, gluten-free, or kosher baking mixes, can be bought in many places.
In the 1950s, commercial cookbooks gained popularity in the United States. These cookbooks frequently suggested the use of packaged food and electric appliances, which had become more available due to the post-war economic boom. Cookbooks reflected these changes. Betty Crocker and Julia Child became popular icons in American culture through their cookbooks and the media during this era. Cookbooks also reflected many cultural trends of the 1950s, especially typical gender roles and racial identities. Many cookbooks were addressed to the white, middle-class housewife who cooked for her family in their suburban home. These cookbooks often excluded African-American, immigrant, and rural women. For them, handwritten cookbooks served as both personal histories and a means to express their views on politics and society. Meanwhile, advertisements promoted the racial stereotype of the “black mammy” that de-feminized African-American cooks in white households. Ethnic immigrants were also debased as European Americans baked their distinct cuisines into generic casseroles.
