If you have heard the term dead dough, you may be wondering what this means and what kind of dough this is. This is a commonly asked question, as many bakers do not understand this term.
There are all kinds of specialty goods that professional bakers use in their baked products to make them unique. Dead dough is one of those things, and it’s something that the majority of home bakers are probably not familiar with.
There is a great variety of baking terms that you will need to learn if you want to start baking at home. Especially if you are interested in digging into more intricate and complicated baked goods and designs.
Keep reading to find out what dead dough is and what kind of dead dough recipe you can use in your baked goods.
What Kind of Dough Is Dead Dough?
If you are curious about what dead dough is, this is a dough used by bakers. Dead dough is a kind of dough that does not rise and is not made to actually be eaten, rather it is made for decorative purposes that can be used to make things pretty.
This type of dough is often used in the place of shortcrust to create a variety of designs. You can use it to spell out names and letters as well as create intricate designs that go onto other baked goods.
This type of dough is popular as this gives bakers the option of playing around with an element that is not going to be consumed. This is important as you do not have to worry about how it will taste or about it becoming too tough to enjoy.
If you were to use actual shortcrust instead of dead dough, you’d have to worry about making the crust tough as you shape and need it. While dead dough is not going to be eaten, so it does not matter if it is very tough and flavorless.
Dead dough can be used to create designs on pies, cakes, bread, or as standalone designs. You can use this kind of dough for all kinds of projects to add intrigue and give your baked goods a dramatic flair.
Dead Dough Is Also Called Baker’s Clay
Aside from being called dead dough, this type of dough is also called bakers clay by most people. This is due to the fact that this type of dough is not made to be eaten and can be created, like you would clay objects.
This dough is designed to be easily moldable, so that you can create any kind of decor that you like. All without having to worry about how it tastes or what kind of texture you are creating throughout this process.
This is also a preferred option amongst many bakers as it is technically edible even though you are not meant to eat it. Many people do not like adding non-edible items to their food, so this is the perfect alternative.
This dough is often made of a very simple recipe and can be needed like clay and shaped and molded to create different designs. Giving your baked goods a unique look depending on the occasion and what the baker’s clay will be decorating.
Dead Dough Recipe
If you are interested in making your own dead dough recipe, there are many amazing resources available online. These resources can help you to make the best dough that will be easy to mold and shape according to the design that you have in mind.
These resources are also ideal for finding the best ingredient combinations to create a flexible and sturdy dough. These are very important as you want your design to be easy to create and become very solid once it has been cooked.
Of course, you could go the simple route and simply make a regular all-purpose flour dead with what you have on hand. This will most likely work, but it will not provide perfect results that you may be looking for in your design.
For a tried and tested dead dough recipe that is sure to create wow-worthy designs, use these ingredients:
- 750 grams of white rye flour
- 250 grams of light buckwheat flour
- 640 grams of dough syrup
Dead Dough Is Easy to Make
Now that you understand what dead dough is and what you need to make it, you need to know how to make this kind of dough. The good news is that this is a very simple process that anyone can do.
Unlike other kinds of dough, dead dough allows you to be creative and let your creativity take you away. So you can create whatever you like by following a few basic steps to create this dough.
Combine Ingredients
You will first need to combine your dough ingredients to create a rough dough that is moldable. It should not be too moist or sticky but should be a very firm dough that comes together slowly.
You will need to knead the ingredients together until the dough starts to combine more evenly and there is no dry flour remaining. It will be quite stiff but should become more flexible the more you knead it.
If your dough is just not coming together, no matter how much you knead it, you can add a little bit more dough syrup until you get a better consistency.
Shape and Design
Once your dead dough has been kneaded to perfection and has a smooth feel, you can begin to shape and design it. You can do this immediately, or you can tightly cover your dough and set it aside to use at a later time.
You can use simple kitchen tools like spoons, forks, and knives to create the shapes and designs that you want. You or Joe should be smooth and flexible, allowing you to easily create the shapes that you want.
You can be as creative as you want to be and target simpler or more complicated designs. Many people start small and gradually start to create more complex designs, as they get a feel for this decorative dough.
Bake It
Once you have created a design that you are happy with, you will need to place the design on a baking sheet. If certain designs are supposed to stand up or be a certain shape, you may need to support them with heat-safe objects.
The most common way that people do this is to use tinfoil to rest their designs on. You will need to bake your designs at a very low heat so that they are basically dried out rather than actually being cooked.
The most common temperatures to do this are 140C to 160C for even baking. You do not want the temperature to be too high, as this can create spreading and bubbling, which can ruin the design that you have worked so hard to create.
Final Thoughts
If you are curious about what dead dough is, this is a kind of dough that is meant to be decorative, not something that you eat. It is also called baker’scClay, as you can mold and form this dough into various shapes and designs.
This is a great option that allows you to get creative and to design decorative pieces for your baked goods.
