19 November 2007

Powder v. Soda

I saw a Land o' Lakes baking magazine at Costco today, and I thought I'd pick it up to see if there were any useful recipes or tips. I found one about pie pans (use glass) and one about cookie sheets (use shiny).

But I also learned the difference between baking powder and baking soda. I knew the powder had other ingredients—cream of tartar and cornstarch—but I didn't know when a recipe would call for one over the other.

Use baking soda in anything with sour ingredients. So if the recipe calls for sour cream, vinegar, or buttermilk, use baking soda.

Good thing I'd chosen, by instinct only, to subtitle my book: "A Celebration of Flour, Sugar, Butter, Eggs, Vanilla, Baking Powder, and a Pinch of Salt." Soda would not have worked.

4 comments:

c. said...

How serendipitously apropos. Or better yet, saa-WEET!

Cakespy said...

Yes! I love finding out the rhyme and reason behind baking like this!!

Chibog in Chief said...

just like you..i never understood too when it's powder and when its soda..but eventually (thanks to watching tons of cooking show) i started to understand when ...nice post very useful and informative...glad to discover your blog :-)

Sophie said...

Hey Leslie,

Thanks so much for correcting me! I have no idea why I thought xanthum as opposed to xanthan. Ha! I appreciate knowing the real name now :P. I'll correct it in my next post and give you the credit :).

Btw, cool tips in this entry :).