Cooking notes
Glossary and/or translations
- baking powder
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levadura química, impulsor químico. Made with baking soda and an acid.
- baking soda
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bicarbonato (de sodio)
- batter
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masa, mezcla, rebozado (!). Thin mixture that can be poured.
- buttermilk
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suero de mantequilla
- griddle
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plancha, parrilla
- leaven (leavener)
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leudar (agente leudante). To make a dough raise.
- sourdough
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masa madre
- skillet
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frying pan, sartén. Flat-bottomed pan for frying, searing, browning…
Basics
Baking powder vs baking soda
Baking soda is just the base, while baking powder contains an acid mixed in with a buffer (e.g. a starch) to prevent both ingredients to react. Both are used as a leavening agent. Sometimes baking soda is enough, because it’s mixed with something acidic enough.
Just mixing the baking soda with an acid like cream of tartar produces a humble, difficult to use product: it will create bubbles right away, which will probably pop too quick, and won’t raise it in the oven, so it won’t leaven as much as more complex ones. This ones are called single acting.
Research in finding a cheaper and better acid to add to baking soda led to double acting baking powders, which use a different acid, containing phosporus. This one reacts both when it gets added to the batter at room temperature, but also when it reaches about 60 Celsius, which is a good moment because the cake is liquid enough to expand, but tough enough to withstand the shape.
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Note
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Adam mentions the use of phosphoric acid, but also the ones using alum. Then the problems with the lawsuit, etc., and how Royal lost. Then he goes to the taste issue that some people claim problematic in double acting baking powders which use alum, and how those people substitute it with a homemade solution with tartaric acid. He suggests a brand which uses only monocalcium phosphate (Rumford). Some brands contain both, for each phase of the lift, and is cheaper than the ones without alum. |
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Tip
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The issue with the pancakes (the buttermilk ones, which are more acidic) was to use the old style "baking soda + acidic product" method. He suggests to add instead a bit baking soda to neutralize the acidity, then add baking powder. |
Instead of cream of tartar, modern Royal baking powder contains a mixture of Hulman’s sodium aluminum sulfate and Horsford’s monocalcium phosphate
Baking powder page
"Levadura Royal"
- Ingredientes
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Gasificantes (bicarbonato de sodio E 500 (ii), difosfato disódico E 450 (i)), harina de arroz, estabilizante (fosfato mococálcico E 341 (i)).
- Modo de empleo
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10 g = 1 cucharada sopera rasa. El contenido de cada sobre es para 400 g de harina. Forma de uso: Mezcle uniformemente la levadura con la harina antes de añadir el resto de los ingredientes. En tortillas, bata los huevos con la levadura y luego agregue el complemento de su elección.