Ingredients in baking powder: baking powder comes as double-acting vs single-acting Think about it: if baking powder were to react as a dry powder in the container it's sold in, by the time you add it to your cake batters and cookie doughs, the baking powder would be spent and there wouldn't be much left behind but salts. This is especially true of double-acting baking powders which first react at room temperature when mixed into cake batters and cookie doughs, but they react a second time when the batter or dough is placed in the oven to bake.Īctually, the ingredients in baking powder are essential for controlling when baking powder reacts. Some baking powders won't react until the mixture is hydrated and heated. It's not until the baking powder comes into contact with the liquids in your cake batters and cookie doughs that the baking powder begins to react.
As a dry powder, baking powder is quite stable and the acid and the sodium bicarbonate don't react. In order for baking powder to react and for your cakes to rise, the baking powder has to first come into contact with water. Easy peasy! This classic vanilla cake with milk chocolate frosting is a great example of a cake made with just baking powder. All you have to do is whisk (or sift) the baking powder with the rest of your dry ingredients. So, while when you add baking soda to a cake recipe, you'll notice that you also have to add an acidic ingredient (like vinegar, sour cream, buttermilk, etc), when you bake with baking powder, the acid is already present in the commercial powder.
Baking powder is an easy way to get your cakes to rise without having to whip egg whites like mad or without worrying about adding an acid to react with baking soda because everything you need to make a cake rise is in baking powder.
#Baking powder vs baking soda how to
Does baking powder expire and how to check if it's still good?īaking powder is a chemical leavening agent that combines sodium bicarbonate ( baking soda) and an acid (or even two acids!) in one single dry, white powder sold in grocery stores and bulk stores.How much baking powder to use in cakes and other recipes: rule of thumb.