Home-made Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Procure ingredients from a reliable source.
Mix bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch thoroughly.
Sift the mixture three times.
Store
Store in small tins.
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
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Alkaline base that releases carbon dioxide gas when it reacts with the acid, making dough or batter rise.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to produce the gas and give a tangy edge.
- Cornstarch
- Dry filler that keeps the acid and base apart so they do not react before use.
The step that matters
Mix bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch thoroughly.. The leavening powders must be evenly distributed. Pockets of concentrated base can leave bitter or soapy spots, and pockets of acid can cause uneven rising in the finished bake.
“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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