Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the powder
Powder all particles of carbonate and acid.
Mix all ingredients well together.
Sift the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve.
Pack and store
Pack the baking powder and keep it away from damp.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cream of tartar
- An acid that reacts with the carbonate to release gas for rising.
- Tartaric acid
- A second acid that reacts with the carbonate to release gas for rising.
- Carbonate of soda
- A base that releases carbon dioxide when it meets the acids, lifting the batter.
- Maize starch
- Absorbs moisture and keeps the acids and carbonate from reacting early.
The step that matters
Pack and keep the baking powder from damp. Moisture lets the acids and carbonate react before baking, releasing gas into the container. The powder then loses leavening power, so it must stay dry.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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