What can you substitute in the cake recipe, where do you have to be careful? And when can you even leave out the baking powder? Asked Franz Neunteufl, patisserie teacher at Gafa Vienna.
This has probably happened to everyone before: a cake is waiting – and there is no baking powder left. Only baking soda, but: Does it actually have the same effect, and: What’s the difference?
In fact, baking powder also contains baking soda, as well as an acid component: “Baking powder is the ready-made mixture that I can add anywhere that contains moisture,” says Franz Neunteufl, patisserie teacher at the Gafa Hospitality School in Vienna. In order for pure baking soda to do its job, it needs acid in the dough: for example from fruit, buttermilk or – if that’s not in the recipe – a splash of lemon juice. Cream of tartar baking powder also contains baking soda, but (in addition to similar release agents) a different acid: cream of tartar instead of the controversial phosphates.
The two propellants cannot be exchanged one-to-one in terms of quantity. “Baking soda is almost three times as strong,” says Neunteufl. If you only have that at home, you should use a little less than the amount of baking powder required. “Often you need less baking powder than the recipe says, or none at all. In baking books for home use, you want to be on the safe side so that the cake doesn’t sit,” he says. However, experts rarely use it at all – and recognize excessive use of baking powder not only by the taste, but also by the appearance: “The cake then has uneven pores, which means larger air holes.”
And when do you need a powder now? If you’re making a heavy batter where you just mix the ingredients together, you should stick with the leavening agent. “As soon as I separate eggs and beat snow for a cake batter, I don’t actually need any baking powder,” says Neunteufl. It is important that the snow is properly stable. This can be achieved by adding at least two thirds of the total amount of sugar to the egg white: Then the snow will hold better and subsequently make the dough sufficiently airy.
