3 Chapter 3-Categories of Leavening
Learning Objectives
Categories of leavening
There are three categories of leavening in baked goods.
- Physical Leavening (air/steam)
- Biological Leavening (yeast/fermentation)
- Chemical Leavening (baking soda/baking powder)
While almost all baked products will have an amount of physical leavening (air/steam), most breads will use yeast/fermentation (biological leavening) and most pastries (cookies, cakes, quick breads) will use chemical leavening to increase volume. Some pastries only use physical leavening to increase volume (pate a choux, puff pastry, angel food cake).
Click on the image below to read an article by “The Spruce” devoted to the 3 types of leavening:
You may also watch this video (until minute 5:45) which explains the different types of leavening categories.
A chemical reaction in a yeast-raised dough brought about by carbon dioxide gas.