When Chefsville programs have baking in them, most participants are amazed that there is “Savory Baking”. The thought never occurred to them that not everything needs to be sugar, sugar and more sugar. The exceptions are breads and yeasted loaves. Everyone knows about those savory items.

Many bakers and chefs enjoy “savory baking”. There are so many things that can be made. Here are a few:

• Quick Breads
• Scones
• Pastries
• Pies
• Tarts & Galettes
• Batters that bake well
• Crackers
• Flatbreads
• Rolls
• Breadsticks and more
• Yeasted loaves

For this kind of baking, flavoring opportunities are almost endless. A baker may use herbs and spices, fresh vegetables and fruits, nuts and seeds. Even cheeses and meats are a welcomed blend in savory baking.

While baking savory, one can learn the difference and uses between baking “soda” and baking “powder”. Also, celebration baking comes into play here with incredible scones, loaves of bread, and different uses for pastry doughs like puff pastry and phyllo dough. Many cuisines can be celebrated when savory baking.

Savory baking can also be done using a dutch oven or cast iron skillet.

Depending upon what is being made, learning to make food taste wonderful with a world of techniques is just amazing. At Chefsville, we tell our program goers that cooking is about shapes, sizes, colors, and textures. Certainly, the world of savory baking opens this exploration opportunity up for us.

Other than the actual baking, we can have lots of fun deciding and making things that add to our savory baked items. Such as compound butter. Compound butter is room-temperature butter to which flavors are added. For example, take a stick of butter and add to it 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs, and/or the zest of lemon, lime, or orange.

Did you know that Martha Washington (wife of George Washington) would make orange butter and biscuits? People would come from all over the country to where they lived to purchase her baked goods and the butter she made. More on Washington’s chefs can be learned from our program “Celebrate African American Cooking Greats” which is available to classrooms and assembly programs to schools.

Celebrating the seasons through baking is wonderful for educating, exploring and discovering how to bake especially with family.

With savory baking you can spice things up, use herbs and butters, cheeses, meats, vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits and get saucy with thicker sauces for that oozy, yummy, dipping crave that makes food fun and interactive.

Please let us know what you can come up with and your favorite things that go under “savory baking” topic.