Leavening agent in the context of Biscuit (bread)

The Eucharist (/ˈjuːkərɪst/ YOO-kər-ist; from Koine Greek: εὐχαριστία, romanized: eucharistía, lit. 'thanksgiving'), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion, giving his disciples bread and wine. Passages in the New Testament state that he commanded them to "do this in memory of me" while referring to the bread as "my body" and the cup of wine as "the blood of my covenant, which is poured out for many". According to the synoptic Gospels, this was at a Passover meal.

The elements of the Eucharist, sacramental bread—either leavened or unleavened—and sacramental wine (among Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox) or non-alcoholic grape juice (among Methodists, Baptists and Plymouth Brethren), are consecrated on an altar or a communion table and consumed thereafter. The consecrated elements are the end product of the Eucharistic Prayer.

Unleavened bread is any of a wide variety of breads which are prepared without using raising agents such as yeast or sodium bicarbonate. The preparation of bread-like non-leavened cooked grain foods appeared in prehistoric times.

Unleavened breads are generally flat breads. Unleavened breads, such as the tortilla and roti, are staple foods in Central America and South Asia, respectively. Unleavened sacramental bread plays a major part in Christian liturgy and Eucharistic theology.

Bread is a baked food product made from water, flour, and often yeast. It is a staple food across the world, particularly in Europe and the Middle East. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diets. It is one of the oldest human-made foods, having been of significance since the dawn of agriculture, and plays an essential role in both religious rituals and secular culture.

Bread may be leavened by naturally occurring microbes (e.g. sourdough), chemicals (e.g. baking soda), industrially produced yeast, or high-pressure aeration, which creates the gas bubbles that fluff up bread. Bread may also be unleavened. In many countries, mass-produced bread often contains additives to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, nutrition, and ease of production.

Ammonium carbonate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula [NH₄]₂CO₃. It is an ammonium salt of carbonic acid. It is composed of ammonium cations [NH₄] and carbonate anions CO2−3. Since ammonium carbonate readily degrades to gaseous ammonia and carbon dioxide upon heating, it is used as a leavening agent and also as smelling salt. It is also known as baker's ammonia and is a predecessor to the more modern leavening agents baking soda and baking powder. It is a component of what was formerly known as sal volatile and salt of hartshorn, and produces a pungent smell when baked. It comes in the form of a white powder or block, with a molar mass of 96.09 g/mol and a density of 1.50 g/cm. It is a strong electrolyte.

Batter is a flour mixture with liquid and other ingredients such as sugar, salt, egg, milk and leavening used for cooking. Batters are a pourable consistency that cannot be kneaded. Batter is most often used for cake, pancakes and as a coating for fried foods. It is also used for a variety of batter breads.

The word batter comes from the French word battre, which means to beat, as many batters require vigorous beating or whisking in their preparation.

Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise (expand and become lighter and softer) by converting the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast is of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and is the same species (but a different strain) as the kind commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's yeast or the deactivated form nutritional yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human body.

The use of steamed or boiled potatoes, water from potato boiling, or sugar in a bread dough provides food for the growth of yeasts; however, too much sugar will dehydrate them. Yeast growth is inhibited by both salt and sugar, but more so by salt than sugar. Some sources say fats, such as butter and eggs, slow down yeast growth; others say the effect of fat on dough remains unclear, presenting evidence that small amounts of fat are beneficial for baked bread volume.

Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries.

It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, known as atta, combined into a dough with added water. Its defining characteristic is that it is unleavened. Naan from the Indian subcontinent, by contrast, is a yeast-leavened bread, as is kulcha. Like breads around the world, roti is a staple accompaniment to other foods.

Cake is a baker's confectionery usually made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate and which share features with desserts such as pastries, meringues, custards, and pies.

The most common ingredients include flour, sugar, eggs, fat (such as butter, oil, or margarine), a liquid, and a leavening agent, such as baking soda or baking powder. Common additional ingredients include dried, candied, or fresh fruit, nuts, cocoa, and extracts such as vanilla, with numerous substitutions for the primary ingredients. Cakes can also be filled with fruit preserves, nuts, or dessert sauces (like custard, jelly, cooked fruit, whipped cream, or syrups), iced with buttercream or other icings, and decorated with marzipan, piped borders, or candied fruit.

Sourdough is a type of bread that uses fermentation by naturally occurring yeast and lactobacillus bacteria to raise (leaven) the dough. In addition to leavening the bread, the fermentation process produces lactic acid, which gives the bread its distinctive sour taste and improves its keeping qualities.

Pasta (UK: /ˈpæstə/, US: /ˈpɑːstə/; Italian: [ˈpasta]) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Pasta was originally only made with durum, although the definition has been expanded to include alternatives for a gluten-free diet, such as rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils. Pasta is believed to have developed independently in Italy and is a staple food of Italian cuisine, with evidence of Etruscans making pasta as early as 400 BCE in Italy.

Pastas are divided into two broad categories: dried (Italian: pasta secca) and fresh (Italian: pasta fresca). Most dried pasta is produced commercially via an extrusion process, although it can be produced at home. Fresh pasta is traditionally produced by hand, sometimes with the aid of simple machines. Fresh pastas available in grocery stores are produced commercially by large-scale machines.

A flour tortilla (/tɔːrˈtiːə/, /-jə/) or wheat tortilla is a type of soft, thin flatbread made from finely ground wheat flour. Made with flour- and water-based dough, it is pressed and cooked, similar to corn tortillas. The simplest recipes use only flour, water, fat, and salt, but commercially made flour tortillas generally contain chemical leavening agents such as baking powder, and other ingredients.

Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid. The base and acid are prevented from reacting prematurely by the inclusion of a buffer such as cornstarch. Baking powder is used to increase the volume and lighten the texture of baked goods. It works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid–base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture.

The first single-acting baking powder (meaning that it releases all of its carbon dioxide as soon as it is dampened) was developed by food manufacturer Alfred Bird in England in 1843. The first double-acting baking powder, which releases some carbon dioxide when dampened and later releases more of the gas when heated by baking, was developed by Eben Norton Horsford in the U.S. in the 1860s.

A waffle is a dish made from usually leavened batter or dough that is cooked between two plates that are patterned to give a characteristic size, shape, and surface impression. There are many variations based on the type of waffle iron and recipe used. Waffles are eaten throughout the world, particularly in Belgium, which has over a dozen regional varieties. Waffles may be made fresh or simply heated after having been commercially baked and packaged fresh or frozen.

A scone (/skɒn/ SKON or /skoʊn/ SKOHN) is a traditional British and Irish baked good, popular in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In the US, Scones are a different baked product from the rest of the world, usually sweeter, triangular in shape and served on their own. Scones are usually made of either wheat flour or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans, or fried in a frying pan. A scone can be either lightly sweetened or savoury, and can be occasionally glazed with egg wash. The sweetened scone is a basic component of the cream tea, and the afternoon tea. It differs from teacakes and other types of sweet breads that are made with yeast. Scones were chosen as Ireland's representative for Café Europe during the Austrian presidency of the European Union in 2006.

A doughnut or donut is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty vendors.

Doughnuts are usually deep fried from a flour dough, but other types of batters can also be used. Various toppings and flavors are used for different types, such as sugar, chocolate or maple glazing. Doughnuts may also include water, leavening, eggs, milk, sugar, oil, shortening, and natural or artificial flavors.

In cooking, proofing (also called proving) is a step in the preparation of yeast bread and other baked goods in which the dough is allowed to rest and rise a final time before baking. During this rest period, yeast ferments the dough and produces gases, thereby leavening the dough.

Pizza is an Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.

The term pizza was first recorded in 997 AD, in a Latin manuscript from the southern Italian town of Gaeta, in Lazio, on the border with Campania. Raffaele Esposito is often credited for creating the modern pizza in Naples. In 2009, Neapolitan pizza was registered with the European Union as a traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) dish. In 2017, the art of making Neapolitan pizza was included on UNESCO's list of intangible cultural heritage.