If you are looking for the definition of a word related to cooking or baking, our Kitchen Glossary will help you put your finger on it.

Search By Keyword:

Or, select the first letter of the word you are searching for:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[Browse all Terms]

Below are all the glossary terms we have beginning with P

Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière) - Pastry cream is a cooked mixture made with egg yolks, sugar and milk thickened with flour and/or cornstarch and finished with a little vanilla. Butter is often beaten in at the end to give it a silkier consistency. It is used as a filling or as the creamy layer in a fruit tart.

Pastry Dough - Pie dough or flaky pastry is the standard American dough for pies. It can be made with butter, vegetable shortening or lard, but most often a combination of butter and shortening is used. Whatever fat is used, it is rubbed or cut into the flour and then moistened with water to form the dough. Salt is either dissolved in the water or added to the flour at the start. The more finely the fat is rubbed in, the less flaky and more mealy the baked dough will be.

Phyllo Dough - Phyllo is a tissue-thin pastry dough cut into sheets that is used in Middle Eastern desserts, such as baklava, and is similar to strudel dough. Sheets of phyllo are brushed with melted butter and layered before baking. Phyllo is increasingly available in the freezer section of supermarkets.

Pound Cake - This is the ultimate butter cake. It gets its name (and texture) from the traditional proportions of its ingredients -- one pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour --although over the years cooks have tinkered with the original formula and baking powder is sometimes added to the batter.

Puff Pastry - This is the multi-layered buttery pastry in napoleons and palmiers. The thin, crisp, flaky layers are formed when the dough and butter are rolled together, then folded in thirds like a letter and rolled again in a process called a turn; classic puff pastry is "turned" six times, which creates over 1,000 layers of dough (thus the French term mille-feuille, which means 1,000 leaves). Well-made puff pastry rises to 5 times its original volume during baking. As it bakes, the water in the dough converts to steam, filling the places previously occupied by the butter, which has already melted and been absorbed by the dough. Preparing the dough from scratch is an exacting process and many people prefer to buy the dough ready made. Quick puff pastry is made by tossing large cubes of butter with flour before the water is added to form the dough. The dough is then rolled and folded like puff pastry. Although it does not rise so high as classic puff dough, the quick pastry has the same delicate, flaky texture and can be used for any desserts where the pastry doesn't have to rise as tall.