Baking and Desserts Quiz
Pavlova, Paris-Brest, Baked Alaska and the Maillard reaction: 15 questions for bakers and dessert lovers.
Which ingredient makes bread dough rise by producing bubbles of carbon dioxide?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Yeast
Yeast is a living fungus that feeds on the sugars in flour and releases carbon dioxide and alcohol. The gas is trapped by the dough's gluten network, so the loaf swells before and during baking.
A packet of dried yeast holds billions of cells, and the alcohol they produce bakes off in the oven, leaving only flavour behind.
Which French dessert is a chilled custard topped with a layer of sugar that is torched to a hard caramel crust?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Crème brûlée
Crème brûlée, literally burnt cream, is a rich vanilla custard baked in a shallow dish, then finished with sugar that is caramelised under a blowtorch or grill to form a glassy shell that cracks under the spoon.
The earliest known printed recipe appeared in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook, though Cambridge's Trinity College also claims a version.
Which classic British cake consists of two sponge layers sandwiched with jam and is named after a monarch?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Victoria sponge
The Victoria sponge, or Victoria sandwich, is named after Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a slice with her afternoon tea. The classic version uses only raspberry jam, with cream a later addition.
Bakers traditionally weigh the eggs first, then use exactly the same weight of flour, butter and sugar to make the batter.
Which protein network in wheat flour gives bread dough its stretch and traps the gas that makes it rise?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Gluten
Gluten forms when two wheat proteins, glutenin and gliadin, link up as flour is mixed with water and kneaded. The elastic web stretches around gas bubbles, giving bread its chewy, open crumb.
Bread flour has more protein than cake flour, which is why it makes a chewier loaf and why cakes use the softer flour for a tender crumb.
Which meringue-based dessert, topped with cream and fruit, is named after a Russian ballerina?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pavlova
The pavlova honours Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Its crisp meringue shell hides a soft marshmallow centre, thanks to a little cornflour and vinegar in the mix.
Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented it, and the argument has been running for the best part of a century.
Which dessert hides ice cream inside a shell of sponge cake and meringue that is browned in a hot oven?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Baked Alaska
Baked Alaska works because meringue is a poor conductor of heat, so a few minutes in a very hot oven browns the outside while the ice cream inside stays frozen. The sponge base adds extra insulation.
The name was supposedly coined at Delmonico's restaurant in New York in 1876 to mark the US purchase of Alaska from Russia.
What is the key difference between baking powder and baking soda?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Baking powder contains its own acid
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and needs an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk or lemon juice to release gas. Baking powder mixes the bicarbonate with a dry acid, so it only needs liquid and heat.
Most baking powder is double acting, releasing some gas when wet and the rest in the oven, which gives a batter more time before baking.
In pastry making, what does it mean to blind bake a pie crust?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Bake it before adding the filling
Blind baking means baking a pastry case partly or fully before the filling goes in, usually lined with paper and weighed down with ceramic beans or rice so the base stays flat and crisp.
The technique is essential for custard tarts and quiches, whose wet fillings would otherwise leave the bottom pale and soggy.
Black Forest gateau is flavoured with which fruit and spirit?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cherries and kirsch
The chocolate sponge layers are soaked with kirsch, a clear cherry brandy, and filled with whipped cream and cherries. Under EU rules, a cake sold as Black Forest gateau must use kirsch from the Black Forest region.
Food historians think the name refers to the region's traditional costume of black dress, white blouse and a hat with red pom-poms.
What does the name of the Italian dessert tiramisu mean?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Pick me up
Tiramisu comes from the Italian tirami su, meaning pick me up or cheer me up, a nod to the espresso and sugar in its coffee-soaked savoiardi biscuits layered with mascarpone cream.
The dessert is surprisingly modern: the Veneto region claims it was created at a Treviso restaurant in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
Ground nuts of which kind form the shells of a classic French macaron?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Almonds
A macaron shell is made from ground almonds, icing sugar and whipped egg whites, baked until it forms a smooth dome with a ruffled foot. Fillings such as ganache or buttercream sandwich the shells together.
The Paris patisserie Ladurée is credited with popularising the filled double macaron in the early twentieth century.
Which reaction between amino acids and sugars gives bread crust, roast meat and biscuits their golden brown colour and flavour?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Maillard reaction
The Maillard reaction, named after French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, kicks in above about 140°C (285°F) and creates hundreds of flavour compounds. Caramelisation is different and involves sugar alone.
Brushing a loaf with milk or egg adds extra proteins and sugars to the surface, which is why glazed bread browns more deeply.
The pastel de nata custard tart was created by monks at a monastery in which Lisbon district?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Belém
The tart originated at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, where monks are said to have used leftover egg yolks after starching clothes with the whites. The recipe passed to a nearby bakery that opened in 1837.
That bakery, Pastéis de Belém, still sells its tarts under the Belém name, and the original recipe is kept in a locked room.
Which ring-shaped choux pastry filled with praline cream was created in 1910 to celebrate a long-distance bicycle race?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Paris-Brest
Pastry chef Louis Durand created the Paris-Brest at the request of journalist Pierre Giffard, who founded the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling race. Its wheel shape and flaked almonds echo a bicycle tyre.
The Paris-Brest-Paris ride still runs every four years as a 1,200 km (750 mi) event for amateur long-distance cyclists.
What is the pastry technique of repeatedly folding butter into dough to create the thin layers of croissants and puff pastry called?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lamination
Lamination builds alternating sheets of dough and butter through a series of folds called turns. In the oven, steam from the butter pushes the layers apart, producing the flaky, shattering texture.
Classic puff pastry gets six turns, producing more than 700 layers of butter and dough in a single sheet.
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All Food and Drink quizzes →About the Baking and Desserts Quiz
Baking is chemistry you can eat. Yeast breathes carbon dioxide into bread dough, the Maillard reaction turns a pale crust golden, and a sheet of butter folded into dough hundreds of times becomes the flaky layers of a croissant. Behind the famous desserts are stories too: a meringue named for a Russian ballerina and a choux pastry wheel built to celebrate a bicycle race.
These 15 questions cover the science of rising, browning and setting, the difference between baking soda and baking powder, and the classic cakes and desserts every baker should recognise, from Victoria sponge to pastel de nata. It suits home bakers, pastry students and anyone who never skips dessert.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Medium. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
What is the difference between baking soda and baking powder?
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and needs an acid in the recipe to react, while baking powder already contains its own dry acid and only needs liquid and heat.
What is the Maillard reaction?
It is the browning reaction between amino acids and sugars at high heat that gives bread crust, roast meat and biscuits their colour and flavour; it is different from caramelisation.
Why does my pie have a soggy bottom?
Wet fillings soak into raw pastry; blind baking the crust before filling, using a hot oven and a metal tin all help the base crisp up.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- Which ingredient makes bread dough rise by producing bubbles of carbon dioxide?
Yeast Yeast is a living fungus that feeds on the sugars in flour and releases carbon dioxide and alcohol. The gas is trapped by the dough's gluten network, so the loaf swells before and during baking. A packet of dried yeast holds billions of cells, and the alcohol they produce bakes off in the oven, leaving only flavour behind. - Which French dessert is a chilled custard topped with a layer of sugar that is torched to a hard caramel crust?
Crème brûlée Crème brûlée, literally burnt cream, is a rich vanilla custard baked in a shallow dish, then finished with sugar that is caramelised under a blowtorch or grill to form a glassy shell that cracks under the spoon. The earliest known printed recipe appeared in François Massialot's 1691 cookbook, though Cambridge's Trinity College also claims a version. - Which classic British cake consists of two sponge layers sandwiched with jam and is named after a monarch?
Victoria sponge The Victoria sponge, or Victoria sandwich, is named after Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a slice with her afternoon tea. The classic version uses only raspberry jam, with cream a later addition. Bakers traditionally weigh the eggs first, then use exactly the same weight of flour, butter and sugar to make the batter. - Which protein network in wheat flour gives bread dough its stretch and traps the gas that makes it rise?
Gluten Gluten forms when two wheat proteins, glutenin and gliadin, link up as flour is mixed with water and kneaded. The elastic web stretches around gas bubbles, giving bread its chewy, open crumb. Bread flour has more protein than cake flour, which is why it makes a chewier loaf and why cakes use the softer flour for a tender crumb. - Which meringue-based dessert, topped with cream and fruit, is named after a Russian ballerina?
Pavlova The pavlova honours Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in the 1920s. Its crisp meringue shell hides a soft marshmallow centre, thanks to a little cornflour and vinegar in the mix. Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented it, and the argument has been running for the best part of a century. - Which dessert hides ice cream inside a shell of sponge cake and meringue that is browned in a hot oven?
Baked Alaska Baked Alaska works because meringue is a poor conductor of heat, so a few minutes in a very hot oven browns the outside while the ice cream inside stays frozen. The sponge base adds extra insulation. The name was supposedly coined at Delmonico's restaurant in New York in 1876 to mark the US purchase of Alaska from Russia. - What is the key difference between baking powder and baking soda?
Baking powder contains its own acid Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate and needs an acidic ingredient such as buttermilk or lemon juice to release gas. Baking powder mixes the bicarbonate with a dry acid, so it only needs liquid and heat. Most baking powder is double acting, releasing some gas when wet and the rest in the oven, which gives a batter more time before baking. - In pastry making, what does it mean to blind bake a pie crust?
Bake it before adding the filling Blind baking means baking a pastry case partly or fully before the filling goes in, usually lined with paper and weighed down with ceramic beans or rice so the base stays flat and crisp. The technique is essential for custard tarts and quiches, whose wet fillings would otherwise leave the bottom pale and soggy. - Black Forest gateau is flavoured with which fruit and spirit?
Cherries and kirsch The chocolate sponge layers are soaked with kirsch, a clear cherry brandy, and filled with whipped cream and cherries. Under EU rules, a cake sold as Black Forest gateau must use kirsch from the Black Forest region. Food historians think the name refers to the region's traditional costume of black dress, white blouse and a hat with red pom-poms. - What does the name of the Italian dessert tiramisu mean?
Pick me up Tiramisu comes from the Italian tirami su, meaning pick me up or cheer me up, a nod to the espresso and sugar in its coffee-soaked savoiardi biscuits layered with mascarpone cream. The dessert is surprisingly modern: the Veneto region claims it was created at a Treviso restaurant in the late 1960s or early 1970s. - Ground nuts of which kind form the shells of a classic French macaron?
Almonds A macaron shell is made from ground almonds, icing sugar and whipped egg whites, baked until it forms a smooth dome with a ruffled foot. Fillings such as ganache or buttercream sandwich the shells together. The Paris patisserie Ladurée is credited with popularising the filled double macaron in the early twentieth century. - Which reaction between amino acids and sugars gives bread crust, roast meat and biscuits their golden brown colour and flavour?
The Maillard reaction The Maillard reaction, named after French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, kicks in above about 140°C (285°F) and creates hundreds of flavour compounds. Caramelisation is different and involves sugar alone. Brushing a loaf with milk or egg adds extra proteins and sugars to the surface, which is why glazed bread browns more deeply. - The pastel de nata custard tart was created by monks at a monastery in which Lisbon district?
Belém The tart originated at the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém, where monks are said to have used leftover egg yolks after starching clothes with the whites. The recipe passed to a nearby bakery that opened in 1837. That bakery, Pastéis de Belém, still sells its tarts under the Belém name, and the original recipe is kept in a locked room. - Which ring-shaped choux pastry filled with praline cream was created in 1910 to celebrate a long-distance bicycle race?
Paris-Brest Pastry chef Louis Durand created the Paris-Brest at the request of journalist Pierre Giffard, who founded the Paris-Brest-Paris cycling race. Its wheel shape and flaked almonds echo a bicycle tyre. The Paris-Brest-Paris ride still runs every four years as a 1,200 km (750 mi) event for amateur long-distance cyclists. - What is the pastry technique of repeatedly folding butter into dough to create the thin layers of croissants and puff pastry called?
Lamination Lamination builds alternating sheets of dough and butter through a series of folds called turns. In the oven, steam from the butter pushes the layers apart, producing the flaky, shattering texture. Classic puff pastry gets six turns, producing more than 700 layers of butter and dough in a single sheet.
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