Baking Powder
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the super-carbonate soda and tartaric acid thoroughly.
Store the mixture in a tight glass jar.
Use 1 teaspoon of the baking powder for every quart of flour.
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
- Super-carbonate soda
- Provides the carbon dioxide gas that makes baked goods rise when it reacts with the acid.
- Tartaric acid
- Reacts with the soda in the presence of moisture to release gas, giving lift and a slight tang.
The step that matters
Mix the soda and acid thoroughly. If the soda and tartaric acid are unevenly distributed, some portions of dough will rise unevenly or taste bitter or sour. Even blending ensures each dose of powder releases gas consistently when it meets moisture and heat.
“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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