Baking Powder Substitutes – For a cake maker, baking powder is a familiar ingredient because it always needs it in every toast. For those of you who are new to this, this is not a problem, even a good opportunity to learn about the ingredients needed for cooking.
If a baker, baking powder is something that is common. But there are still many who do not know what can replace baking powder. This is important, when you run out of baking powder or are not in stock, you can replace it with other ingredients so you can still make your favorite food.
Before we talk more about baking powder substitutes, we must first know what baking powder is. If you already know, then you will know where to use it and what cooking recipes you should use.
Ok, baking powder is a food ingredient that consists of a mixture of acids such as sodium sulfate, calcium phosphoric acid and tartar cream. In addition, the baking powder also contains alkaline or baking soda.
What are the benefits of baking powder? The use of baking powder in baking dishes is to make food expand and can be formed easily. Well, how can this happen. When we add water in baking powder, a chemical reaction occurs here.
In this chemical reaction there is an air bag in the material to which you add baking powder so that the dough or cake material expands. When the mixture is put into the oven and baked, then the production of additional carbon monoxide will be mixed with carbon dioxide, then there will be evaporation. Then the gas in the dough will expand due to the pressure of the food expansion.
Types of baking powder
before we make the substitutes for baking powder, let see the types of it. Baking powder is divided into three types, Tartrate, Double-acting, and Phosphate. Each type of baking powder has the characteristics and characteristics of each.
The type of baking powder which is very numerous and often used in cake making is double-acting. If you use this type of double-acting, it’s very easy to get it because it is sold in various cake shops.
However, the other two types are usually not sold in all cake shops and only in special places.
Difference between Baking Powder and Baking Soda
There are still many who can not distinguish between baking powder with baking soda and even confused with both.
This is a very important thing to know, baking soda is a base and this is an alkline. So, every time there is mixing with acids such as lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, it will produce bubbles.
While baking powder is a combination of baking soda, dry acids such as tartar, some are mixed with corn flour. Unlike baking soda, baking powder does not produce an instant full chemical reaction. It only reacts when the powder gets wet and when it is heated.
How to Test Baking Powder
Before using baking powder into a cake mixture, you should test your baking powder, is it still good to use or is it too thick.
This is important if you use baking powder left in the kitchen, because often the baking powder left in the kitchen is no longer suitable for use.
Of course you don’t want to waste your time making cakes with bad baking powder. There is a way to test baking powder, this is by doing a water test. See below how to do the test to find out whether baking powder is still good or not.
Pour 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of water, then add 1/3 cup of hot water and try to see what happens.
If the results show that your baking powder is strongly inflated, it means that the baking powder is still good. If it does not bubble strongly, this indicates that the rest of your baking powder is no longer good, discard it so that you are not using it wrong.
Best Baking Powder Substitutes You Can Make
When you run out of stock baking powder in the kitchen and are lazy to go to the store just to buy this material, you can make it yourself at home.
It’s easy to make baking powder substitutes and you don’t need to leave the house anymore just to find baking powder.
Mix 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, with 1/2 teaspoon tartar cream. Well, the result of the mixture of these two ingredients will produce one teaspoon of baking powder. Very easy isn’t it!
But not only tartar cream and baking soda can be used as a mixture to produce baking powder. Below there are several other ingredients that can be used instead of baking powder. Let’s see one by one.
1. Plain Yogurt
Is that yogurt? Yogurt is something that is formed when fresh milk is mixed with good bacteria and thickens. Yogurt has acid and is addictive.
The fermentation process that occurs produces lactic acid. Why not use flavored yogurt, in yogurt the taste of ph content is not enough to make your function like baking powder. Then it’s better to use plain yogurt than you regret it.
To make plain yogurt actually function as baking powder is very easy. Mix the mixture (dry mixture) with one teaspoon of baking soda. Do this in a separate bowl before adding yogurt. Next, just add half a cup of plain yogurt into the mixture.
Once you mix it all together, there will immediately be a reaction in your mixture like the reaction that appears when you add baking powder.
2. Tartar cream
As we have already mentioned that baking powder is one of the best substitutes for baking powder. For those who don’t know what sending tartar is, we explain now.
Tartar cream is one of the results of the wine fermentation process from grapes. In scientific language called “tartaric acid”, this is what is called “cream of tartar”.
Do not be fooled by the name “cream”, this is not in the form of cream but in the form of powder. Regular tartar cream can be found in a pocket shop, usually used when you cook meringue pies. If you want to check the remaining tartar cream left.
You can make a test, tartar cream that is still good can be seen from the appearance and smell. It must be in powder form, the color must be white and sour.
In addition to this method, there are other methods that can be used for testing tartar cream. Try to stir half a teaspoon with 1/2 cup of warm water and add a little baking soda.
If the results form a good foam, then this is still a good sign and you can still use it in making baking powder substitutes.
3. Buttermilk
The next best substitute for baking powder is milk products too, this is buttermilk. Buttermilk is milk that goes through the process of pasteurization with lactic acid. This will provide good acid as a substitute for baking powder.
Indeed, we can make our own buttermilk, but we recommend the buttermilk in the shop especially for baking purposes. The reason: buttermilk that is available in stores is usually sharper, more acidic and thicker. This type is the best ingredient to replace baking soda.
4. Sour milk
Sour milk is another alternative to replace baking powder that you need in making cakes. This is sour milk from fermentation. Few people know that sour milk can be used to make cakes without the need to use bakign powder.
Actually, sour milk is not only useful to replace baking powder, but there are other health benefits. For example, the amino acids in sour milk are good and absorbed by our blood.
Sour milk also contains live lactic acid bacteria, this will reduce the risk of allergies as is common in other milk.
Sour milk is the same as other alternatives, it has a good level of acid to replace baking powder. Well, when sour milk is mixed with baking soda then it will be a very good substitute for baking powder for making your cake.
5. Lemon Juice
Furthermore, an alternative to baking powder is lemon juice.
Why? Let’s look at the explanation.
Lemon is a fruit that is very easy to find, everywhere you can buy lemons or sometimes you always keep lemons in your fridge. Why is lemon good to replace baking powder?
Lemon contains very high citric acid. Lemon juice is very acidic, which is why many people use lemon as a traditional medicine to fade black spots on the face.
The high acid content in lemon is very suitable as baking soda to get the reaction needed for baking powder. Acid content that is too high is suitable for you to use in foods that do not require too much baking powder. If not, then your food or bread will be sour.
How to make a substitute for baking powder with lemon juice is, mix 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. From this mixture, you will get as much as 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
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6. Molasses
Molasses is another ingredient that can be used as a substitute. What are Molasses? This is a natural sweetener that is formed after sugarcane juice is heated, sugar crystals are removed and thick brown syrup is left.
This is usually used in many grilled foods for sweeteners such as breads, cakes, and cookies. Molasses contains many nutrients such as iron, calcium, potassium, selenium, copper and manganese. However, because it is basically sugar, it contains a lot of calorie.
This is different from the previous baking powder substitute. There is no acid here. However, new acids are formed when molasses are mixed with baking soda. Then the reaction of baking soda is made with molasses and this still provides a good acidic effect as a substitute for baking powder.
To get 1 teaspoon of baking powder, combine 1/4 cup of molasses with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. Molasses are liquid ingredients, so don’t forget to reduce other liquid ingredients from baking ingredients. It’s also a good idea to reduce the sugar in your cake because in molasses itself there are already lots of sugar.
7. Whipped Egg Whites
Baking soda is an important ingredient in making various substitutes for baking powder, what if you don’t have baking soda?
Ok, we still have another substitute for baking the cake perfectly.
The baking powder used will usually cause the cake to expand and form air pockets inside. But some recipes don’t need that. Sometimes some recipes only require whipped egg whites.
When the egg whites are beaten then air bubbles will form and this will give food volume and produce lightness. Whipped egg whites like this will be suitable for making pancakes, souffles, meringues, and some types of cakes.
8. Vinegar
Vinegar is a kitchen ingredient that everyone has. Why not just use vinegar instead of baking powder when you don’t have or run out of baking powder at home.
Vinegar is a kitchen ingredient that can have the same effect as baking powder, so you can try it.
However, because vinegar varies, you must choose the right vinegar that can be used as a substitute for baking powder. Usually the vinegar used is white vinegar.
While other types of vinegar such as Balsamic vinegar is a very strong type of vinegar. So, this is only used in certain recipes that really need it.
Vinegar is the same as lemon juice, both can act well against mixed baking soda. The reaction will produce carbon dioxide which makes the cake expand. If you make fluffier meringues you can use this material.
To get one teaspoon of baking powder, mix 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
9. Self-rising Flour
If you don’t have baking powder and baking soda, there are other alternatives you can do to get the same results as baking powder. Just use self-rising flour, this is a common ingredient for baking. What is Self-rising flour? This is a mixture of flour, baking powder and salt.
Maybe for you, this flour is easier to use and gives good results compared to some baking powder substitutes. This is very easy to use and you no longer need to use baking powder and can even reduce the ingredients in making cakes.
10. Club soda
Furthermore, the best substitute for baking powder is club soda or popularly called carbonated water. This material is added to the carbonated water and foam will appear there.
If someone asks, can you drink club soda? The answer is “yes” because this is a sugar-free drink and contains a lot of minerals, so it’s good for the body.
Carbonated drinks contain baking soda, so this can be the best alternative to replace baking powder. But keep in mind, this is only suitable if you are making a cake that only requires a small volume. The reason is that club soda does not contain much sodium carbonate.