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 "To
leaven" means to make light; to raise.
Leavening agents are responsible for the
volume in most baked food products. They
are responsible for expanding the air bubbles that have been mixed,
creamed, kneaded or whipped into the batter. This results in a delicious
recipe, with lots of volume--only as long as there are adequate air
bubbles. Leaveners also contribute to a baked goods' taste, coloring and
texture.
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Leavening agent;
leavener:
1. A substance used to leaven a dough or batter; may be natural (ex.
air or steam), chemical (ex. baking powder or baking soda) or
biological (ex. yeast). 2. A type of food additive used to produce
or stimulate production of carbon dioxide in baked goods to impart a
light texture. |
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 NOTE:
Chemical leaveners must be stored in a cool, dry place and
and only dry utensils are used when
measuring from the can. Once moistened, baking soda has been activated and
is no longer good. To Test if still ACTIVE: |
 Baking
Soda Test: Add a couple tablespoons of white
vinegar into a small cup, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda. If it froths, even
a little, it's good. |
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Baking
Powder Test: To check
your baking powder to see if it still causes a leavening reaction, first
stir the contents of the can to see if there is any lumps. This is an
indication that the baking powder has picked up moisture, and started a
reaction in the can.
You can place a teaspoon of baking powder in a glass of
tepid water to see if it fizzes.
Check the code dates on the bottom of the can to make sure
it is still in code. Baking powder has a usual useful life of 24 months from
the date of manufacture. |
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Start your holiday or
any large baking project with fresh boxes of baking soda and baking
powder. I always do. |
Ever wonder why
that soufflé puffs up so high and then falls so fast? Why does your quick-bread
rise? Do you know your baking powder from your baking soda? Simply read on to
learn how to get the best rise out of your baked goods!
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When
refrigerating or freezing batters or dough, the chemical leaveners in them,
such as baking powder, baking soda and yeast will lose their potency in
about 30 minutes! So, it is best not to store them too long.
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The basic leavening gases commonly found in baking
recipes are air (called mechanical) from whipped eggs, or beating, stirring,
creaming and kneading; water vapor or steam from liquids; carbon dioxide from
chemical leaveners, baking soda and baking powder; and yeast, both packaged and
from a starter (sourdough or sponge). In baking recipes, one or more leavening
agents participate in the leavening process.
However, chemical leaveners and yeast usually are
not combined, but there are exceptions. Saltine crackers and pretzels undergo
yeast fermentation, but the primary reason is to generate flavor and dough
conditioning. The subsequent sheeting action removes much of the gas that is
generated, and chemical leaveners are required to provide lift during baking. In
some frozen or refrigerated doughs found in the grocery store, yeast and
chemical leavenings complement each other.
CHEMICAL LEAVENERS:
Baker's Ammonia,
Baking Powder &
Baking Soda. (How
Chemical Leaveners Work).
 QUESTION: If you don't use enough leavener in some
recipes, your cake won't puff. But, if you use too much leavener, the cake
still won't puff up. Why?
ANSWER: Because, says
Shirley Corriher, a cookbook author, food chemist
and advisor to baking911.com, when you use too much leavener the bubbles in the cake batter
will get too big, run into each other, float to the top and pop! Then there
aren't enough bubbles left to hold up the cake.
So, you can see why it's important when you are cooking to
follow the ingredient list and instructions exactly and measure carefully. |
BAKER'S AMMONIA (AMMONIUM
CARBONATE):
Don't confuse this with ordinary household ammonia, which is
poisonous. A type of baking powder, it yields a very light, airy product, but
can impart an ammonia flavor to baked goods. It's best used in cookies, which
are flat enough to allow all of the ammonia odor to dissipate during cooking.
Northern Europeans still use it because it makes their springerle and
gingerbread cookies very light and crisp. Look for it in German or Scandinavian
markets, drug stores, baking supply stores, or a mail order catalogue. It comes
either as lumps or powder. If it isn't powdered, crush it into a very fine
powder with a mortar & pestle or a rolling pin.
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Baking Powder:
fine white powder
sold prepackaged Baking
powder was not available until the 1860s in the United States. |
 | Used in making quick-bread recipes, cakes,
cookies and other related recipes. |
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| Needs heat to be activated |
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| Usually mixed in with the dry ingredients |
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| If too much is used, it will make foods
taste bitter and peppery in taste |
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BAKING POWDER, DOUBLE ACTING:
Baking powder is
basically a blend of acid (most commonly calcium acid phosphate, sodium aluminum
sulfate or cream of tartar) and baking soda (alkali - sodium bicarbonate),
creating carbon dioxide bubbles when both moistened and heated.
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For one
teaspoon SINGLE-ACTING baking powder: mix 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar plus 1/4 teaspoon
baking soda. Single-acting means that it will create gas quickly
when moistened, so the batter must be cooked quickly or it will go flat.
For double-acting baking powder, the kind commonly used in recipes and sold
in grocery stores, there isn't any easy substitution. (There is not substitute for baking soda) |
It is known as a double acting
chemical leavener -- it begins release carbon dioxide as soon as it is
moistened, and again when heated in the oven. (There are single acting baking
powders, but are rarely used by home bakers). Always use double acting in
recipes; it is virtually the only type available in grocery stores.
Baking powder does not need an
acidic ingredient to release its leavening power, as baking soda does, because
it contains its own; baking powder contains 30 percent baking soda (alkaline)
and an acid, such as cream of tartar.
There are several different types of
acids used in baking powder, each with a different pattern of producing gas
bubbles, such as slow or fast, immediate or delayed.
Most supermarket brands brands are
double-acting, meaning it releases a portion of its gas in
the cold batter/dough and quickly releases the remainder when heated in baking.
Recipes using typical supermarket baking powder brands should be baked right after mixing because the acids they
contain dissolve quickly. Some slow-release acids are only available to
commercial manufacturers and restaurants, allowing batters to sit much longer
before being baked or cooked without loss of leavening power.
See
discussion.
Some baking powders include sodium
aluminum sulfate or aluminum, but there are aluminum-free ones that work just as
well, which I prefer; powders made with aluminum lend an unpleasant flavor to
delicately-flavored baked goods. (No health risks have ever been directly linked
to its inclusion). Look for a brand like Rumford's at natural food stores and
many supermarkets, which I highly recommend. There is also a low-sodium
baking powder made by Featherweight, but it costs twice as much.
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Baking Soda:
fine granular powder,
sold in prepackaged form
Baking soda was not
available until the early 1800s in the United States. |
| Used in making quick-breads, cakes,
cookies and other related baked foods |
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| Needs an acid to be activated |
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| Usually mixed in with the dry ingredients |
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| The CO2 released from the baking soda
merely expands the air bubbles previously formed in the batter or dough
from whipping, beating or mixing, etc., making the baked good rise. |
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BAKING SODA:
Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), another
chemical leavener, is used when there is an acidic ingredient in the recipe,
such as vinegar, lemon juice, sour milk or buttermilk. The acid might be hidden
such as in honey and molasses.
Acidic ingredients
include:
applesauce, buttermilk, honey, brown sugar, molasses, cream of tartar, lemon
juice or vinegar, chocolate and cocoa powder (only regular cocoa, not
Dutch-process). |
When baking soda comes in contact
with an acidic ingredient and is moistened, the alkali/acid combination creates
carbon dioxide (CO2), water and a neutral salt. It also
renders a neutral, tasteless residue.
If the level of baking soda is too
high in the recipe, it creates soapy off-notes. If the level is too low, it will
allow the acidic flavors to come through. Excess levels also result in
over-browning.
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Air bubbles are not
created by the chemical leavener; they are simply enlarged by them,
formed during creaming, mixing, kneading, beating, etc.
The finer the air bubbles are beaten in,
the finer the resulting baked good's texture will be. But, be careful
-- sometimes too much beating, as in
quick-breads, causes a
tough recipe. |
HOW CHEMICAL LEAVENERS WORK:
Baked goods, leavened with baking soda, baking
powder and the like are known as chemical leaveners (as opposed to yeast,
a natural leavener), purchased from the grocery store. They raise and
aerate batters and doughs by expanding the air bubbles created in them
through mixing, beating, whipping, stirring and kneading. These millions
of bubbles are trapped in the batter by the gluten structure formed and
are enlarged by the leavener, either triggered by moisture and/or heat. In
most cases you want to balance the leavening system to achieve a neutral
pH.
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When I created 125 recipes for my
Healthy Oven Baking Book, getting the right balance of the
leaveners was the hardest task. (For recipes from my book, go to to
Recipes, where my healthy ones are
highlighted in purple). Although there are
rules for how much baking powder or soda you should add per cup of
flour, these rules are really only guidelines. I would call my food
scientist, Carol Lloyd,
who consulted with me, and report: "I don't like the texture of my
chocolate chip reduced-fat cookie or the color of the chocolate cake".
She could often be heard saying: "Try adding 1/4 teaspoon baking soda"
or with cookies, "Take out the baking powder, leave in the baking soda
and see what happens". Creating recipes really takes a lot of trial
and error, the knowledge of leaveners--and baking !! (With my
White Cake Recipe,
I baked it 100 times to get it right!). |
What distinguishes one from the other has
to do with the speed and timing of the leavener. Baking soda begins to
create carbon dioxide gas when moistened. Double-acting baking powder
(which most baking powders are these days) produces an initial set of gas
bubbles when mixed with wet ingredients and then a second set when heated.
The first reaction forms many small gas cells in the batter; the second
reaction expands the bubbles to create a light texture.
In the oven, heat not only assists these
reactions, but also transforms the water in the recipe into steam that
also contributes lift.
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Question:
I know you recommend buttermilk
when making (homemade) cornbread. Is it also preferable to use
buttermilk when using a commercial cornbread mix?
Answer: I like to
use buttermilk in recipe because it gives a nice mouthfeel, but I
always balance the leaveners along with it.
It's best to use whatever the baking
mix calls for. The leaveners in the recipe are formulated to activate
based upon the pH of the ingredients. If the boxed mix said to add
buttermilk, the batter's leaveners are formulated to counteract its
acidity. The baking soda in the mix activates from the acid, provides
carbon dioxide for leavening and at the same time neutralizes the
flavor of the acidity in the batter giving you a nice taste and
texture (too much acid in a batter would give you a craggy and uneven
texture). If you added milk instead, the recipe would taste almost
bitter or salty from the unneutralized baking soda in it unless it had
baking powder instead. |
When carbon dioxide is released by either
baking soda and/or baking powder, it first dissolves in the batter's
liquid. When the liquid becomes saturated, the carbon dioxide begins to
evolve into the air bubbles, causing them to expand. The bubbles continue
to expand as long as the batter is not fully baked. When the batter sets
into a firm structure during baking, the aeration is preserved which you
see as the tiny air holes throughout the recipe. |
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Baking soda is
four times as strong as baking powder. The general rule is to
use 1 to 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder per cup of flour. On the other
hand, baking soda should be added at 1/4 teaspoon per cup of flour.
Note: However, if you have a recipe that
works and the above ratios are not followed, DO NOT adjust the recipe.
If you add an acidic
ingredient (Chocolate, honey, molasses, citrus juice, sour cream,
buttermilk and brown sugar, natural cocoa powder etc.) to a recipe, adjust
the leaveners:
Adding buttermilk (an acid) instead of
milk: if the recipes uses 2 teaspoons baking powder, and you add 1/2 cup
buttermilk, instead use 1 teaspoon baking powder + 1/4 teaspoon baking
soda or 1 teaspoon baking powder = 1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/8
teaspoon baking soda
Note: Many times, other ingredients have to
be changed as well when substituting ingredients, such as sugar, flour,
fat, etc. It is not as simple as it looks. |
THE BAKING POWDER AND BAKING SODA SWITCH-A-ROO:
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QUESTION: Why do some brownie recipes with
Dutch-process cocoa powder use baking soda?
I thought that only baking soda is supposed to be used
in the presence of an
acidic ingredient,
such as natural cocoa powder, buttermilk and brown sugar.
ANSWER:
There is a lot of confusion about baking powder and baking
soda and their use with
Dutch-process or Natural Cocoa Powder and
chocolate. It is a tough
subject to grasp because there are so many opinions. Besides
leavening, baking powder and/or baking soda contribute to texture, color and
taste in a recipe.
Q:
WHY IS HOT WATER USED IN SOME CHOCOLATE CAKES?
A: The use of hot water is
utilized in chocolate cakes in two ways. Sometimes you will see the
cocoa powder dissolved in warm water before it's added to the recipe.
This helps dissolve it better for more cocoa flavor.
Then, there are recipes where the
leavener is added to the hot water at the end of the recipe, ie: add the
baking soda to the hot water, and add to the rest of the batter. That is
done just for color. Baking soda is added not only to a recipe for
leavening, but will also enhance color. When added to water, it expenses
the leavener, but changes the pH of the recipe, enhancing/darkening the
color of the cocoa powder in the recipe. If there is baking powder in
the recipe, as well, that's what in fact, leavens the recipe, plus any
left-over baking soda not expensed. |
I gained a lot of experience concerning
leaveners and their use with cocoa powder and chocolate when I developed
chocolate recipes for my
Healthy Low-fat Baking Book
and 2 mixes for my 12 flavor product-line, Healthy Oven (found
nationwide for 10 years in grocery stores. Healthy Oven no longer being
made--hard to make a profit). Two chocolate mixes, The Chocolate Muffin Mix
and Chocolate Quick-Cake Mix, both made with Dutch process cocoa powder,
were the toughest to create because of the contribution that the baking
powder and baking soda made to the outcome.
Baking Soda:
Using natural cocoa powder (an acid) in a recipe, calls for baking soda (an
alkali).
Baking powder:
Baking powder is used when
there aren't any acidic ingredients in the recipe and helps to make its
texture more tender. Dutch-processed cocoa, also known
as alkalized cocoa (nonacidic ingredient), is treated with a mild alkali,
such as baking soda, to neutralize its acidity.
Baking powder is
also found when used with chocolate, such as in the
Thick Chocolate Fudge Brownie
Recipe.
Baking soda would give a harsh taste and would color the tops of the
brownies a very dark brown, not very appealing.
Exceptions:
With
some
recipes that have acidic ingredients, the use of baking powder is preferred
instead of the customary baking soda. It is used in the recipe
because it enhances flavor or retains the "tang" of an acidic ingredient,
such as buttermilk.
Baking
soda is used to produce the rich red color in the
Red Velvet Cake
that calls for Dutch-process cocoa.
Vinegar and buttermilk, both acidic ingredients are added because the baking
soda needs it to react. If the same recipe used baking powder, the cake
would have a brown crumb color and probably taste bitter.
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High altitudes affect the
amount of baking powder needed in a recipe. Atmospheric pressure affects
the reaction of carbon dioxide. Air pressure is lower at higher
altitudes, the carbon dioxide expands more; and thus, less baking powder
is needed. If you do not cut back, the texture will be rougher. |
In my
Reduced-fat Chocolate Chip
Cookie Recipe where it has some brown sugar, an acidic ingredient, I
use baking soda for leavening. But, it also helps the cookie bake faster,
become chewy and moist in the absence of fat. Because it raises the pH in
the recipe, it also brown betters.
Baking
Soda and Baking Powder:
Both baking soda
and baking powder are used alone or in some recipes or you'll see a
combination of the two, such as in
Tami's Classic Chocolate Cake.
Recipes that call for both are probably using the
baking soda to offset extra acidity in the batter (from ingredients like
buttermilk or molasses) and to weaken the proteins in the flour. Omitting
the baking soda from this recipe will alter its color or flavor and make it
less tender. |
CREAM OF TARTAR
EGGS
MECHANICAL: The
mechanical action of the whip, tool, hand, etc. will incorporate tiny air
bubbles into the recipe. These
air cells will expand during the baking process from the leaveners, causing the
recipe to rise. Usually a doubling of volume is desired. The proper whipping of
the product and the proper incorporation of air into the batter are of utmost
importance to the leavening of the final recipe. Mechanical leavening is
achieved by using different mixing techniques.
Examples are:
SOURDOUGH & SPONGE STARTERS
STEAM:
Steam leavened recipes include
pate a choux and
popovers. The crust traps steam
inside, generated from its ingredients. It is this principle, that causes them
to become inflated, hollow and stay puffy if properly baked.
YEAST
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QUESTION:
While baking the other day, my husband asked me a simple, yet direct
question and I had no answer. Can you help me out please? This was all over
a loaf of bread, and why, if baking soda can make "stuff" rise...why use
yeast? My generic, but always convenient excuse..."Because the recipe calls
for one or the other!" Now, can you help me out here?
ANSWER:
Yeasted breads: Natural leaveners,
called sourdough or wild yeasts were in use thousands of year's ago, before
chemical leaveners, such as baking powder or soda were. Bread making
continued on its way through generation after generation, and because of
tradition, still remains the same.
Today, we use packaged yeast and some still make a
sourdough starter as the bread's leavener. But, all yeast works the same -
yeast is a living organism and releases its leavening power over several
hours, which is slower than chemical leaveners. This gives the bread the
attributes that we all love in a homemade loaf: a yeasty smell and taste, a
certain texture and crust.
Breads are usually made with a high-gluten flour, usually
bread flour or all-purpose that is kneaded and a strong structure is formed;
a high gluten flour, when mixed with water or moisture and stirred forms an
inner network, like a net, called gluten strands, that trap air bubbles.
They later expand from the heat and gasses released from the leaveners.
If baking soda or powder were used in bread recipes, it
wouldn't rise at all; baking soda or powder are not strong enough to push
the bread's structure to new heights, called rising.
Chemical leaveners
came about later and recipes were developed to use them, such as for
quick-breads, pancakes, cookies, cakes, etc. They can be mixed more quickly
and then baked immediately, unlike yeasted breads which require several
hours to make. Their texture derives from the leavening and mixing
techniques used, and the taste from added flavorings and ingredients.
If you used yeast in cake, etc recipes, the batter would
bubble and drip all over your oven. The flour used, usually cake or
all-purpose, is lower in gluten than bread flour. The resulting gluten
strands formed during mixing, beating, stirring, etc. with water or
moisture, couldn't trap the air bubbles formed from yeast's strong leavening
powers. But, it can in a recipe leavened with baking powder and soda. |
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