Skill 10: Dough (AQA GCSE Food Preparation & Nutrition)

Skill 10: Dough

Making a dough

• A dough is made by mixing dry ingredients with a liquid

  • E.g. mixing flour and water

• Examples of different types of dough include:

  • bread

  • pasta

  • pastry

• The characteristics of a dough depend on the ingredients and the production process

  • Shortening

    • Shortening is used to make pastry

    • Fat is crumbled into flour before the addition of liquid

    • The use of shortening gives dough a crumbly texture, e.g. shortcrust pastry

  • Gluten formation

    • Gluten is a protein that forms when water is added to some types of flour

    • Kneading dough increases gluten formation

    • Pasta, pizza and bread doughs make use of gluten formation

  • Fermentation

    • During bread making dough is left to prove, allowing yeast to ferment; the fermenting yeast cells release carbon dioxide gas which causes the dough to rise

    • During the baking the yeast is killed and the gas expands further, resulting in soft, fluffy bread

Shaping and finishing

• Doughs can be shaped and finished in a variety of ways:

  • Pastry can be:

    • rolled

    • piped, e.g. choux pastry

    • used to line a tin

    • made into layers, e.g. palmiers and puff pastry

    • glazed with liquids, e.g. egg, before baking

  • Pasta can be:

    • rolled through a pasta machine

    • shaped into a variety of shapes, e.g. ravioli, tortellini and farfalle

  • Bread can be:

    • proved and rested to create different rises

    • made into bread rolls, flat-breads, pinwheels, pizza and calzone

    • glazed with liquids, e.g. milk, before baking