
Batter is a flour mixture with liquid and other ingredients like sugar, salt and leavening.
Batter is most often used for
pancakes, light
cakes, and as a coating for fried foods. The word ''batter'' comes from the French word ''battre'' which means ''to beat'',
as many batters require vigorous beating or
whisking in their preparation.
Methods
Many batters are made by combining dry
flours with
liquids such as
water,
milk or
eggs. Batters can also be made by soaking grains in water and grinding them wet. Often a
leavening agent such as
baking powder is included to
aerate and fluff up the batter as it cooks, or the mixture may be naturally
fermented for this purpose as well as to add flavour.
Carbonated water or another carbonated liquid such as
beer may instead be used to aerate the batter in some recipes. Other substitutes for water are wine, or flavored liquors like
curacao,
brandy, and
maraschino.
The
viscosity of batter may range from very "heavy" (adhering to an upturned spoon) to "thin" (similar to
single cream, enough to pour or drop from a spoon and sometimes called "drop batter"). Heat is applied to the batter, usually by
frying,
baking or
steaming, in order to cook the ingredients and to "set" the batter into a solid form. Batters may be sweet or
savoury, often with either sugar or salt being added (sometimes both). Many other flavourings such as
herbs,
spices,
fruits or
vegetables may be added to the mixture.
File:Crepesteig 040.jpg|Crêpe batter
File:Batter spatula.jpg|Batter with a batter spoon
File:Angel food cake batter 1.jpg|Close-up view of angel food cake batter
Beer batter

Beer is a popular ingredient in batters used to coat foods before frying. One reason is that a basic batter can be made from merely flour, beer, and some salt. The purpose of using beer is so the bubbles in the beer will add body and lightness to the batter. Depending on the type and quality of the beer, beer may also add colour or some flavour to the batter. The practice of beer battering is popular in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Britain, Ireland, Germany, Iceland and Russia. Some foods that are commonly beer battered and fried are fish,
chips, and
onion rings.
Cuisine and batters
Batters are used in many cuisines under many names.
Tempura in Japan,
pakoda and
dosa in India,
spoonbread in the US, and many other examples are all types of batters. All batters work by forming a crisp shell around the food, preventing scorching and retaining flavor and juices. The ideal batter for fried foods is to be thick enough to adhere to the food, but not so thick as to become heavy.
Batters made with wheat flour thicken with every second that passes after mixing because of the development of
gluten. Strategies to reduce this effect include the use of ice water when mixing, alcohol (which does not mix with the flour to produce gluten), and making it at the last possible moment before use.
[The Science of Good Cooking, America's Test Kitchen, 2012]
References
External links
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Category:Food ingredients
Category:Pancakes
Category:Fritters