Rest Time
Yeast dough benefits from brief intermission of handling. Always cover resting dough so a "skin" doesn't form. Turn a bowl over it or cover with plastic wrap.

Rugelach
A cookie or pastry of cream-cheese dough spread with filling, such as jam or nuts, and then rolled up.

Scald
To heat liquid to just before the boiling point to dip food into boiling water or pour boiling water over the food.

Scone
Believed to have originated in Scotland, this small cake, similar to a biscuit, has a crisp golden crust with a soft white interior.

Score
To lightly mark or make shallow cuts into the top surface of pastries (pies and shortbreads) or breads with a sharp knife or prongs of a fork. Do not cut all the way through the pastry or bread. Scoring is done both for decorative purposes and as a way for gases to escape during baking.

Sear
To brown the surface of a food very quickly with high heat.

Sift
To sift flour and dry ingredients through a sieve. Flour will pack from its own weight, sifting incorporates air into the flour and insures accurate measuring.

Simmer
To cook in liquid that is barely at boiling point.

Sponge Cake
Sponge cakes are leavened by beating air into whole eggs and sugar or by beating the sugar with the yolks and whites separately. The cakes tend to be fairly lean, even when they contain butter, and are often split into layers, moistened with a flavored sugar syrup and filled.