This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2011)

Baking is a food cooking method using prolonged dry heat acting by convection, and not by thermal radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones.^[1] It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, cookies and crackers. Such items are sometimes referred to as "baked goods," and are sold at a bakery. A person who prepares baked goods as a profession is called a baker. It is also used for the preparation of baked potatoes, baked apples, baked beans, some casseroles and pasta dishes such as lasagna, and various other foods, such as the pretzel.

Many commercial ovens are provided with two heating elements: one for baking, using convection and conduction to heat the food, and one for broiling or grilling, heating mainly by radiation. Meat may also be baked, but this is usually reserved for meatloaf, smaller cuts of whole meats, and whole meats that contain stuffing or coating such as breadcrumbs or buttermilk batter; larger cuts prepared without stuffing or coating are more often roasted, a similar process, using higher temperatures and shorter cooking times. Baking can sometimes be combined with grilling to produce a hybrid barbecue variant, by using both methods simultaneously or one before the other, cooking twice. Baking is connected to barbecuing because the concept of the masonry oven is similar to that of a smoke pit.

The baking process does not require any fat to be used to cook in an oven. Some makers of snacks such as potato chips or crisps have produced baked versions of their snack items as an alternative to the usual cooking method of deep-frying in an attempt to reduce the calorie or fat content of their snack products.Baking has opened up doors to businesses like cake making factories and privatised cake shops but the baking process is done in a more larger mass in bigger and open furnaces.

Overview[link]

Woman baking flat bread in an outdoor clay stove in Iraq

The dry heat of baking changes the form of starches in the food and causes its outer surfaces to brown, giving it an attractive appearance and taste. The browning is caused by caramelization of sugars and the Maillard reaction. However, the moisture is never entirely "sealed in"; over time, an item being baked will become dry. This is often an advantage, especially in situations where drying is the desired outcome, like drying herbs or roasting certain types of vegetables. The most common baked item is bread. Variations in the ovens, ingredients and recipes used in the baking of bread result in the wide variety of breads produced around the world.

Some foods are surrounded with moisture during baking by placing a small amount of liquid (such as water or broth) in the bottom of a closed pan, and letting it steam up around the food, a method commonly known as braising or slow baking.

When baking, consideration must be given to the amount of fat that is contained in the food item. Higher levels of fat such as margarine, butter or vegetable shortening will cause an item to spread out during the baking process.

With the passage of time breads harden; they become stale. This is not primarily due to moisture being lost from the baked products, but more a reorganization of the way in which the water and starch are associated over time. This process is similar to recrystallization, and is promoted by storage at cool temperatures, such as in a domestic refrigerator.

History[link]

Baking bread at the Roscheider Hof Open Air Museum

In ancient history, the first evidence of baking occurred when humans took wild grass grains, soaked them in water, and mixed everything together, mashing it into a kind of broth-like paste. The paste was cooked by pouring it onto a flat, hot rock, resulting in a bread-like substance. Later, this paste was roasted on hot embers, which made bread-making easier, as it could now be made anytime fire was created.

Baking flourished in the Roman Empire. In about 300 BC, the pastry cook became an occupation for Romans (known as the pastillarium). This became a respected profession because pastries were considered decadent, and Romans loved festivity and celebration. Thus, pastries were often cooked especially for large banquets, and any pastry cook who could invent new types of tasty treats was highly prized. Around 1 AD, there were more than three hundred pastry chefs in Rome, and Cato wrote about how they created all sorts of diverse foods, and flourished because of those foods. Cato speaks of an enormous amount of breads; included amongst these are the libum (sacrificial cakes made with flour), placenta (groats and cress), spira (our modern day flour pretzels), scibilata (tortes), savaillum (sweet cake), and globus apherica (fritters). A great selection of these, with many different variations, different ingredients, and varied patterns, were often found at banquets and dining halls. The Romans baked bread in an oven with its own chimney, and had mills to grind grain into flour.

Eventually, because of Rome, the art of baking became known throughout Europe, and eventually spread to the eastern parts of Asia. Bakers often baked goods at home and then sold them in the streets. This scene was so common that Rembrandt illustrated a work that depicted a pastry chef selling pancakes in the streets of Germany, with children clamoring for a sample. In London, pastry chefs sold their goods from handcarts. This developed into a system of delivery of baked goods to households, and demand increased greatly as a result. In Paris, the first open-air café of baked goods was developed, and baking became an established art throughout the entire world.

See also[link]

Food portal

• Barbecue
• Baker percentage
• Bread
• Bread pan
• Convection oven
• Grilling
• High altitude cooking
• Kneading
• Parbaking
• Pastry
• Peel
• Proofing
• Roller docker
• Rolling pin
• Smoking
• Wonder Pot

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Baking

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Baking.

• Short video of kneading machine in a bakery.
• [www.68-helpful-monthly-tricks.com decorating techniques for beginning to intermediate bakers]

v t e Bread List of breads Types Brown bread White bread Whole wheat Flatbread Quick Rye bread Salt-rising Soda bread Sourdough Unleavened Ingredients Barm Calcium propanoate Flour Flour treatment agent Leavening agent Pre-ferment Improver Equipment Oven Bread machine Bread pan Dough scraper Lame Peel Stand mixer Processes Autolysis Baking Biga Chorleywood bread process Kneading Leavening Maillard reaction Proofing Pre-slicing Steaming Vienna process Uses Breadcrumbs Bread bowl Bread pudding Croutons French toast Stuffing Sandwiches Toast Other Breadmaking Baker percentage Recipes on WikiBooks Category:Breads The Food Portal

Megan and Liz (commonly stylized as Megan & Liz) are American pop girl band composed of fraternal twin sisters, Megan and Liz Mace, from Edwardsburg, Michigan. They are both songwriters, and Megan is their guitarist.

Early life[link]

Megan McKinley Mace and Elizabeth Morgan Mace were born on November 21, 1992 in Edwardsburg, Michigan. Megan is the older twin.^{[citation needed]}

YouTube success[link]

Their first video on YouTube, entitled "This Note", is a song which they wrote aged 15.^[1] Their first cover was of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", originally written by Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson and performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, but better known from Diana Ross's cover in 1970. They have posted 22 original songs on YouTube (as of March 2012).^[2]

Their YouTube channel currently has over 676,000 subscribers and over 139 million video views. They are the 34th most subscribed music channel on YouTube.^[3]

The duo released their first official music video on May 20, 2011 ^[4] of their self-written song "Happy Never After." Since then they have posted 5 original and official videos. Two days later, on May 22, 2011, Megan and Liz performed at the Totally Tube concert in Westbury, New York, alongside fellow YouTubers Kurt Schneider, Tiffany Alvord, Joseph Vincent, Kait Weston, and Jenna Rose.

Since moving to Nashville, Tennessee the duo has been added to Nashville Hootenanny's 'Teen Hoot' roster, where local artists perform for a crowd of teens at Westwood Studios. Megan and Liz have appeared in June 26, 2011 and August 20, 2011 performances and play both covers and original songs for further shows.^[5] In the August 20 show, they performed a duet with "Need Your Poison" co-writers Memphis High.

Their second music video, "Rest of You", was released on June 17, 2011.^[6] The video was shot in their hometown of Edwardsburg with several of their friends. Views of Lake Michigan can be seen in the video. The single was released two days prior to the music video's release on YouTube and Celebuzz.

In the beginning of August 2011, Megan and Liz debuted their new single, "Here I Go", on Celebuzz!. The song was co-written by the girls and Paula Winger.^[7]

In late August 2011, the twins released their next original song, "Run Away", along with a corresponding music video. The girls co-wrote the song with Alexz Johnson and Jimmy Robbins. The video was shot at Edwin Warner Park in Nashville.^[8]

"World's Gunna End", another Megan and Liz original, was released on September 6, 2011. The accompanying music video was released on September 12. Megan and Liz co-wrote the song back in May 2011 with songwriter and music producer Chris Sernel.^[9] The girls, along with their video producer (who had appeared in the "Here I Go" music video), visited over thirty locations in Nashville to shoot the many alternating scenes in the video.^[10] The girls released an acoustic version of the song as a free download on their Facebook fan page on October 3.^[11]

A Twinning Christmas EP (2011)[link]

In early September 2011, Megan revealed on her official Twitter account that they would be releasing a Christmas EP before the release of their debut album.^[12] Their EP, A Twinning Christmas, was released online (digitally on iTunes and Amazon MP3) on November 15, 2011.^[13] Their first original Christmas song, "It's Christmas Time", was released on November 8.

Debut Album and Recent Releases (2011-)[link]

In June 2011, the girls announced that they had officially begun production on their debut album, to be released in the spring of 2012.^[14]

In mid-September 2011, Megan & Liz announced that they were heading to Los Angeles, California to shoot multiple music videos. One of them was for an original song, "Are You Happy Now?" (co-written with Paula Winger), which was directed by Shenae Grimes of 90210. This song was also recorded for the Do Something organization against bullying.^[15] The single was released on October 8, 2011. The music video premiered on Teen.com on October 17, 2011. The website had been promoting Megan & Liz the week prior, including releasing exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the video shoot with Grimes, premiering a video teaser, and hosting a giveaway of some of the props used in the video.^[16][17] As of now, an acoustic version of the song taken from one of their live performances is available as a free download on their Facebook fan page.^[18]

Their original song, "Old School Love",^[19] was released early on December 21, 2011, with the re-release slated for January 3, 2012. The filming of the video was completed on October 1, 2011.^[20] It was written by Megan and Liz, along with Alexz Johnson and Jimmy Robbins.^[21] The video was released on January 16, 2012.^[22]

The duo performed their unreleased song, titled "Switch Hearts", at a show at Michigan State University in late October. A new unreleased song, "Just Friends", can be heard in the girls' tour vlog released in early December.^[23][24] They have also performed their original, "Better Than Me," in November 2011. In late December 2011, it was revealed that the duo would be collaborating with Zach Porter from the boy band Allstar Weekend, on a song called "Telescope."^[25] Megan confirmed that this song will be featured on their debut album, along with "Switch Hearts."^[26] They filmed a music video for another unreleased song, "Long Distance," in middle of March.^[27] A demo version of the song was made available for download on April 9, 2012 when fans received ten clicks on their "share" links through a Facebook app.^[28]

On December 2, 2011, the girls performed at the annual 107.5 The River's Acoustic Christmas 2011 concert in Nashville, alongside Demi Lovato, Hot Chelle Rae, Colbie Caillat, Andy Grammer, and Cobra Starship.^[29] On December 9, the girls were invited to perform at Z100 Jingle Ball 2011 Pre-Show in New York City.^[30][31]

In January 2012, the girls travelled to L.A. to film a music video for another original song, "A Girl's Life."^[32] The video was released a short while later on January 30, 2012.^[33]

In May 2012, they performed on the Village stage at the annual Wango Tango concert event.^[34] In that same week, Megan & Liz won the Macy's iHeart Radio Rising Star contest, which means that they will be the opening act at the iHeart Radio Musical Festival, held in Las Vegas, Nevada in the September of 2012.^[35]

This Time EP (2012)[link]

Megan & Liz's fourth EP, This Time, will be sold in physical form for a limited time in F.y.e. stores nationwide. It was released on February 28, 2012.^[36] This EP contains seven original songs, six of which had previously been released as singles. The other original song is called "Princess Charming."^[37] The EP was also released on iTunes on February 20th.^[38]

Personal life[link]

Both of the girls attended Edwardsburg High School in Michigan, where they were both cheerleaders. After their relocation to Tennessee, they returned to Michigan to graduate with their class in June 2011.

Liz can play a little bit of piano and is currently attempting to learn the guitar in her spare time.^[39] Liz is also a vegetarian, while Megan is a pescatarian.

The twins have met and collaborated with several other fellow YouTube artists, such as Memphis High, Emily Harder, Boyce Avenue, and Tiffany Alvord. They have also listed YouTube artist Christina Grimmie as one of their inspirations.

Other inspirations of the Mace twins include Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Demi Lovato, Katy Perry and Aly & AJ.

They teamed up with Friskies to raise $1,000 for the Friends for Dearborn Animal Shelter during the 2010 holiday season. The donation was awarded when their holiday jingle video surpassed 100,000 views after 18 days.^[40]

As of May 2011, the sisters have relocated to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue more music opportunities.^[41][42] They now release their singles through Collective Sounds.^[43]

The duo also have a beauty channel on YouTube where they post videos that focus on hair, makeup, and style, as well as aspects of inner beauty.^[44]

Discography[link]

Megan & Liz have released two EPs. Their first EP is available for online download through Amazon.com and iTunes. It contained all original songs. Their self-titled second EP was only available to purchase on tour in February 2011. This EP contained three covers, as well as two original songs. Their cover "Your Guardian Angel" on the EP was previously unreleased and has not been released online. Their Christmas EP was released in November 2011, which contained two original songs and three covers of popular holiday songs.

Singles[link]

Tour[link]

In mid-January, the Mace twins announced they would be special guests along with Tiffany Alvord on tour with the band Boyce Avenue. They will be on tour from February 11 to February 27. On March 1 they announced that they will open for Boyce Avenue in two more shows at the end of the month. The dates are below:^[49]

In late August, Megan & Liz announced that they will be opening for Action Item on their upcoming, "The Stronger The Love" tour, along with Burnham, Hollywood Ending, and The After Party. They will appear in eight shows.^[50]

The girls joined Allstar Weekend along with Hollywood Ending, Before You Exit, and The After Party on select dates during the winter portion of their 2011-2012 tour.

In February 2012, Megan & Liz began their F.Y.E./radio tour, where they will travel to radio stations across the Mid-Western part of the United States. They will also be performing in various F.Y.E. stores while promoting their EP, "This Time". More dates are to be announced.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Megan and Liz official website
• Megan and Liz at Last.fm
• Megan and Liz YouTube band page