leaven agent
- noun
- /ˈlɛvən ˈeɪdʒənt/
- Specialized
:
agente leudante
- Baking powder is a common leaven agent used in cakes and biscuits.
Examples
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Adding yeast as a leaven agent gives bread its airy texture.
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Many bakers prefer using a natural leaven agent like sourdough.
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Some recipes require both baking soda and cream of tartar as the leaven agent.
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A leaven agent is essential for making bread.
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Adding yeast as a leaven agent gives bread its airy texture.
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Baking powder is a common leaven agent used in cakes and biscuits.
-
Many bakers prefer using a natural leaven agent like sourdough.
Synonyms
1
4.5
An ingredient added to dough or batter to make it rise and become light
1
3.8
An ingredient added to dough or batter to make it rise and become lighter
An ingredient added to dough or batter that makes it light and soft by making small bubbles
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'leaven' denotes the process/ingredient that makes dough rise and 'agent' denotes a thing or substance that causes an effect, so 'leaven agent' straightforwardly means a substance that produces leavening. This noun+noun construction is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a learner who knows both constituents can predict the meaning.
Etymology
The noun leaven agent comes from an old word leaven that meant 'to raise' and from agent meaning 'something that does a job'. Bakers used a bit of yeast or old dough that made bubbles and lifted the bread, so a leaven agent is anything added to make bread 'rise' and become light.