What is the difference between waffles, scones, cake batter, cookie batter, and puff pastry? And why?

Question

I’m trying to make pasty shell but it keeps coming out w consistently of everything else? Why God, why?

In: 0

Answer 1

theres a lot of things there, so it might get a bit messy explaining.

the difference boils down to hydration and mixing. hydration makes things spring up in the oven. mixing changes texture by affecting gluten formation (a group of proteins).

waffles are high hydration, and the mixing is thorough. the high hydration makes them fluffy (i think, waffles arent really a thing where im from, but i imagined them as like pancakes in texture)

scones are mixed while dry to ensure fat distribution, and then mixed just enough with liquid to ensure uniformity. if you over mix scones the fats start melting and combining with the liquids and solids “wrong” and form too much gluten, so they end up dense.

cake batter is wide ranging with regards to hydration. Sponge cakes can be quite thick batters, or quite runny (like a chiffon cake). they are mixed depending on the thickness. a thick batter is mixed gently or folded, to prevent gluten forming and making it dense. runny batters are more forgiving as the liquid allows the contents to slide past each other easier (more complicated than that, but thats an eli5 explanation)

cookie batter is low hydration, so mixing must be gentle otherwise gluten will form and mess up the texture.

puff pastry is quite low hydration, but high in fat which provides the little water that is present and needed to lift the pastry. theres two types of puff pastry, laminated and…….not laminated (i guess). laminated is made by layering butter between sheets of dough. the butter melts in the oven and water in it evaporated and lifts the pastry. the other type is made bu rubbing butter into the flour to make crumbs and flakes of butter. the butter still provides water to lift it, and the uneven nature of the crumbs and flakes of butter makes the pastry open lots of pockets. in wither case, if you mix it too much, the butter will disperse too much, and wont be in a form fit to make layers form in the pastry as it cooks.

so, in summation, if your pastry is turning out wrong, and youre following a set recipe with a defined amount of liquids, you’re probably mixing it too long or too much. idk for certain though, i cant see the pastry. r/baking is helpful for troubleshooting these things