Dough

Dough 

a mixture used in the bread-baking, baranka (Russian national baked goods), confectionery, and macaroni industries, as well as in the preparation of baked goods in the home. Dough is made by mixing flour, water, yeast, salt, sugar, shortening, and other ingredients. It contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, acids, and salts in various states—as expanding colloids, suspensions, and solutions.

In the bread-baking industry, dough is prepared with fermenting agents. In rye-flour dough, ferments are used, and in wheat-flour dough, yeast in liquid, cake, or dry form. The fermenting process, which occurs through the action of alcohol and acid, makes the dough light, gives it necessary physical and chemical characteristics, and provides bread with its pleasant taste and aroma. Wheat-flour dough is made either with or without leavening, whereas rye-flour dough is fermented with a starter or other fermenting agent.

In making rolls and pastries with wheat flour, such ingredients as fat, sugar, eggs, and flavoring are added to the dough, besides yeast and salt. This improves the taste, aroma, and nutritional value of these products.

The dough for most confectionery products is prepared without fermentation but with increased amounts of sugar, fat, eggs, and other ingredients. For many types of confectionery products, such as gingerbread and cookies, the dough is leavened with chemical leavening agents. The paste or dough for macaroni is not fermented, whereas the dough for baranki undergoes fermentation.