Best Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Measure 4 parts tartaric acid and 5 parts bicarbonate of soda by weight.
Ensure all ingredients, including 9 parts dry flour, are completely dry and pulverized.
Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
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
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with bicarbonate of soda to release carbon dioxide, which makes baked goods rise.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Supplies the alkaline base that reacts with the acid to produce gas for rising.
- Dry flour
- Acts as a dry carrier that keeps the acid and base separated until use and adds structure when baked.
The step that matters
Ensure all ingredients are completely dry. Moisture can start the acid and base reacting early inside the container, so the mix loses leavening power before it is used. Thorough drying and fine grinding also help the powder mix evenly so the gas is released uniformly.
“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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