What Does Divided Mean In A Baking Recipe? Let’s Find Out!

Divided means that you need to divide the ingredients into two bowls. The first bowl contains all the dry ingredients such as flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. The second bowl contains wet ingredients such as milk, butter, eggs, and vanilla extract.

What does it mean when an ingredient is “divided”?

If you are reading the entire recipe instructions, divided means that you should measure out half of each ingredient list for one bowl and then mix them together before adding them to another bowl with the other half of the ingredient list.

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For example: If I am making cookies, I would have 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of shortening or lard, 3 cups of flour, 4 teaspoons of baking soda, and so on.

Then I would add these ingredients to my mixing bowl and stir until they are mixed well.

Furthermore, if there is more than one type of liquid, we will separate those liquids by using different measuring spoons.

For instance, if I want to make cake batter, I will use a tablespoon of vegetable oil instead of just pouring some oil directly from the bottle onto the mixture.

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This way, I can control how much oil goes into the batter.

What does divide eggs mean?

Eggs are very important because they help create structure in baked goods. They also act like leaveners and thicken up batters. So dividing eggs helps ensure even distribution throughout the dough.

In general, egg yolks contain about 50% protein while whites only contain 10%. Egg white proteins tend to coagulate at higher temperatures, but this doesn’t happen with whole eggs.

Therefore, separating the yolk from the white makes sure both parts get evenly distributed through the dough.

When cooking, it is common practice to cook eggs over medium heat for 15 minutes. After this time has passed, remove the pan from the stovetop and let the eggs sit for five minutes.

Once the eggs cool down completely, peel off their shells and store them in the refrigerator. You can freeze leftover cooked eggs too. Simply place them in a freezer-safe container and label them clearly.

Why do people say to beat egg whites separately?

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This question was asked many years ago, but since then, most bakers agree that beating egg whites separately isn’t necessary anymore.

It used to be done because back then, cooks didn’t have electric standmixers.

Instead, they had to whip the egg whites manually. But nowadays, almost every kitchen comes equipped with a mixer. And although whipping egg whites by hand still works fine, it’s no longer recommended.

But why did people start doing it in the first place? Well, back in the day, egg whites were considered inferior compared to egg yolks.

Because of this, chefs thought that adding extra fat to an already fatty ingredient wouldn’t hurt anything. In fact, it might actually improve things.

But nowadays, everyone knows that egg whites aren’t any better than egg yolks when it comes to nutrition. The reason why they’re called whites is simply because they look lighter than the yellow part. And as far as taste goes, egg whites are slightly sweeter than egg yolks. However, this difference is so small that it hardly matters.

To sum it all up, there really isn’t any good reason to separate egg whites from yolks. If you feel compelled to follow tradition, go ahead and do it. Otherwise, skip it altogether.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Recipe