Baking: Back to Basics
By Sultana Patel
Photograph: Annie Spratt
Ever wondered what makes your cakes rise? Why do they sometimes go flat, or turn out dry? Me too! Having a basic understanding of what's happening behind the scenes while you bake not only enriches your baking experience but can also be a life saver in some instances.
I started my baking journey back home in Mumbai where I would occasionally make very simple cakes for my family. Back then I did not know much about baking rather just a few very basic steps such as creaming sugar and butter. However, I always enjoyed making these simple cakes and wished I could do more. When I moved to Leicester after getting married, I had my first taste of real baking which was a very enlightening experience! I remember being nervous yet at the same time excited as I baked muffins for the very first time.
I was very surprised by how well they turned out for a first attempt! That experience helped me gain some confidence. However, I also realised that the recipe I followed was luckily a good one. With so many recipes out there on the internet, it takes intuition and experience to find a good one. I realised that having a good understanding of the basics of baking will not only help me find the best recipes but also tweak them according to my preference. I then decided to do a little reading about the basic baking ingredients, and how they work to give that perfect finished bake.
Some of the questions that left me most confused and wondering, were why do we use both baking powder and baking soda in some recipes and not in others?
What makes them different from each other? How do they work in a recipe? Why do we use oil in some cakes while butter in others? Knowing the difference between baking powder and baking soda and why certain ingredients are included in some recipes, helped me to improve the taste and texture of my bakes.
Baking soda or powder?
These are both raising ingredients that are easily confused. Fundamentally, they help baked goods to develop a rise by trapping in carbon dioxide air bubbles in small pockets. Although they seem similar there is a very significant difference between them. Baking soda is one of the most commonly used raising agents in baking. A simple chemical compound, also known as sodium bicarbonate, is naturally found in a crystalline form but for cooking it is ground to a fine powder.
Photograph: Sonia Nadales
Baking soda is an alkaline compound which means it reacts with an acid to produce carbon dioxide gas. The small bubbles of gas become trapped in the batter, causing it to inflate, or rise. Common acidic ingredients used to cause this reaction include cream of tartar, vinegar, lemon juice, buttermilk, and yoghurt.
Baking powder on the other hand, is a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar. It also includes a buffering agent like rice or corn flour which absorbs moisture, this helps the powder to stay dry and keeps the two ingredients separate. Adding a liquid activates the baking powder, the acid and alkaline ingredients combine and produce carbon dioxide.
Using these two ingredients interchangeably can affect the outcome of your baked goods. For example, using baking soda in a recipe that calls for baking powder, can result in a metallic taste and poor texture in your bake. Some recipes call for both baking soda and powder because they require both these ingredients to provide a substantial rise. For heavier batters like my blueberry muffins, the amount of leavening achieved by the baking soda or powder individually is not enough to achieve a good rise in the muffins. Having a good balance of baking powder and baking soda can help to give your baked goodies that perfect taste and texture.
How to work around these two ingredients?
What if you run out of either of these? Can you substitute them without causing too much damage to your final product? To make baking powder, combine half a teaspoon of cream of tartar and a quarter teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda. This provides the equivalent of one teaspoon of baking powder.
Baking soda is about four times stronger than baking powder. So you might want to add, say if the recipe has one teaspoon of baking powder, then substitute it with one-fourth teaspoon of baking soda. If you end up putting too much baking soda and not enough acid in such as buttermilk, vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt you might end up with a bad metallic taste, thus it is important to adjust your acid according to the amount of base you are going to use! Confusing right? Well, they do say baking is a science :)
Oil or Butter?
Photograph: Sorin Gheorghita
Fat holds it all together! Fats like oil, butter, and shortening help give our baked goodies that soft, moist texture. When sugar and fat are creamed together, they create air pockets that help to keep the baked goodies soft and fluffy. We can use oil or butter in our recipes depending on what we are looking for in our finished product. Oil gives our cakes that soft and moist texture while cakes made with butter are denser. This is because oil is 100% fats, however, butter has a certain amount of water in it which is absorbed by the flour while baking, due to this the gluten in the flour strengthens making the cake denser in texture. Butter, however, has more flavour, and thus it is preferably used in most baking recipes. A classic Victoria sponge cake would taste better when made with butter while carrot cake would be best made with oil to give it that perfect moist texture and the carrots and other flavourings in it would make up for the missing flavour.
Learning about these few simple things can make a lot of difference. Knowing the reasons for what you are doing, not only gives you confidence, but you also get to experience that exciting feeling whenever your cake, muffins, or bread turns out perfect in both taste and texture and you have some idea of how that magic happened!
Recipe
Makes: 10
Bake at: 190 C
For: 40- 45 mins
Tip: Keep an eye and use a toothpick to check, cooking time might vary based on your oven.
For the Cinnamon Crumbs on top
1/2 cup plain flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Blueberry Muffins
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup plain yoghourt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
Method:
Step 1) For the cinnamon topping combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon and pour melted butter over it, set aside in the fridge.
Tip: Use demerara sugar if you have it for that extra crunch :)
Step 1) Whisk and well Combine all the wet ingredients together such as sugar, egg, yoghurt, oil and milk.
Step 2) Now sift all the dry ingredients together Flour, baking powder and salt.
Step 3) combine the wet and dry ingredients and make sure the batter in not lumpy
Step 4) lastly fold in your fresh or frozen blueberries
Place the mixture in your muffin cases, while making sure you dont over fill them. Lastly, cover the top of your muffins with a generous spoonful of the cinnamon crumb topping.
BAKE AND ENJOY :)
Recipe Credit: Gemma’s Best-Ever Blueberry Muffins | Bigger Bolder Baking
References:
Larsen, L. (n.d.). Learn the Science Behind These Ingredients and Become a Better Baker. Retrieved October 25, 2020, from https://www.thespruceeats.com/baking-ingredient-science-481226
Sevier, J. (2018, September 19). Why We Love to Bake With Oil Instead of Butter (Sometimes). Retrieved October 25, 2020. Available from: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/why-we-love-to-bake-with-oil-instead-of-butter-sometimes-article
About Author: Sultana is a writer and editor for CoL. She recently moved to the UK all the way from Mumbai, India. She has done her bachelors in Biotechnology Engineering, which explains why she loves to write sciency articles. Her special interest lies in food science.