Certainly not a problem for you to figure out what all the Christmas cake or Christmas cookies prepared. To have your creation with diners greatest success, focus on specific raw materials and say, how to choose them. We all certainly agree that if any food prepared from quality ingredients, tastes us much more than his "cheating" variant of poor quality ingredients. So what to look for when choosing these materials and how to store them?
Butter
The basis of most Christmas recipes and excellent carrier of flavor is good butter. The same is true of cookies or cakes, which adds extra pleasant softness and delicate taste. One of the most important indicators of quality, the proportion of butter fat which should not be less than 82%. In contrast, the water must be represented in butter up to 16%, but it is not a mandatory field, and therefore the packaging usually does.
Flour
How to find out that you bought at the store really good flour? Most flour is sold in packs of 1 kg. Package weight may vary by 0.5%, which arises from the evaporation of the natural moisture of the flour. This should not exceed 15%. This means that its weight should be in the range of 950 g - 1050 g. The dough will preferably rise from flour having a lower type number - is less carved by and contains more gluten (type number is e.g. T-400 or T-1800). Moreover, with this flour will make your cake lighter and nadýchanější. One of the other main rules is that the flour should not be chemically bleached. On the production vánoček used wheat flour, flour best type number T 530, which is baking flour light special 00 Extra.
Yeast
Without yeast dough in preparation for Christmas cake can not do. This is a live yeast, which with the help of sugar can create carbon dioxide, which makes the dough runs beautifully. The shop can therefore check the integrity of the container. Once home yeast expand, should have a creamy color and should easily crumble. Remember that yeast retains its properties only when you store it in the refrigerator for up to 8 ° C. 1 kg of flour will last you 42 g of fresh yeast or 10 g dried.
Egg
Better eggs differ in the way of laying hens, egg weight and nutritional value of food. All this information should be found on the packaging, while directly on the shell, in the form of a stamp, you will find the identification number of poultry farms and country code origin of the eggs. Lists are also code indicating how the hens. If the carton can find the information that it is enriched eggs, this means that the hens were specially nourished that eggs contain e.g. higher amounts of iodine or omega-3 fatty acids. Eggs should not be washed - hinders their protective coating and would be susceptible to absorption of microorganisms. Even though the shell should be clean, free of debris eggs or feathers. Durability eggs is 28 days and should be stored refrigerated (ideally between 5-8 ° C). Storage temperature is between 5-18 ° C. It is very important to keep it in unwavering commitment temperature.
Tip: How to read the code on the shell first part = method of laying hens (0 - biovejce from organic farming, 1 - egg laying hens in free range, 2 - eggs Barn (on litter), 3 - egg laying hens in battery cage). The second part = code of the country of origin of eggs (CR code CZ). The third part - the identification number of farmers (poultry).
Raisins
Someone loves them and the other is a Christmas cake chooses. But pay attention to what the store? Proper raisins should not contain added sugar. Dried fruits should be conserved by drying only, because the addition of sugar is to say the candied fruit. Fears you do not need if you composed encounter oil. It merely helps make raisins sticking together.
Tip: Did you know that raisins are very beneficial to your health? 100 g raisins contains only 3 grams of protein and 1.5 g fat, but but 78 g of glucose and fructose - supplying energy so quickly. For raisins were also measured by the ORAC value, which detects the antioxidant capacity of the food, wherein the recommended daily dose of 5000 units of . 100 g of raisins contains 3406 ORAC, while the same amount of broccoli 3083, oranges are again 2,103 units. The raisins are among other substances also contained inulin, which has a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora. This creates favorable conditions for the work of the colon and indirectly fights his cancer.
Nuts
Nuts are full of vegetable oils, mainly of a series of unsaturated fatty acids that are beneficial for our organism. Unfortunately, these oils are often a cause of spoilage (rancidity) nuts. Make you nuts lasted as long as possible, store them in a dry, colder temperatures and ideally without air access. Some nuts even pots. How to recognize the shop-quality and pure nuts? They should smell pleasant and there must be no visible sign of mold, which occurs when poorly packaged dried product.
Sugar
In stores commonly sell crystal sugar, flour and semolina. You should be labeled with the group to which belong according whiteness (eg. Extra white sugar, semi-white). White sugar is a refining. Digesting purified natural sugars, they are removed therefrom minerals and other ingredients that cause discoloration of sugar. Within this technology do not use chemicals. Most of the sugar on the market is a product of sugar beets. When baking Christmas cakes can be used as white sugar, and brown.
Cream
To cream to cream call it must be manufactured only from milk with a fat content higher than 10%. Whipped can whip cream, which contains more than 30% fat. Smetana before the sale goes through heat treatment, which aims to destroy undesirable microorganisms. This is done through pasteurization or UHT (ultra heat treatment). Pasteurized cream is usually kept in a temperature of from 4 ° C to 8 ° C, while durable cream-treated UHT can be stored up to 24 ° C. Before whipping is, however, necessary Whipped cream pre-cool, preferably at a temperature of 8 ° C for 24 hours. The term "cream" really is not legally protected and are often untraceable abused manufacturers imitation cream.
Cinnamon sugar
Quality cinnamon sugar should only contain sugar and ground cinnamon. Should not there be no artificial flavor. Check the packaging also cinnamon quantity in the package. E.g. cinnamon sugar winning logo KLASA contains 9.9% of cinnamon.
Cocoa
Cocoa is the designation for a powder made from the seeds of the cacao tree. Quality cocoa has a color in shades of brown, rarely slightly red. A typical high-quality cocoa taste is bitter and should be strongly fragrant. Weak aroma and a sour taste may indicate a poor product or poor long-term storage. Cocoa would be in the package should be loose and free of lumps - if it gets into the box moisture will deteriorate the taste, aroma and solubility of cocoa.
Jam
The jam can be made from any fruit. Must contain the bits and min. 35 g from 100 g. Those that are identified by the word "selective" or "extra" must have at least 100 g 45 g fruit. Jams contain sugar, which, among others. Serves as a natural "preservative". They are often preserved in jars, not particular storage. Nevertheless, it is recommended to keep them in a dark and cool. Packaging jam can not be violated, because in contact with air oxidation process begins and the product deteriorates.
How to identify additional high-quality foods and ingredients? Lots of interesting information can be found at akademiekvality.cz .
Source: tz