Despite the fact that almost all the ingredients for making a tasty dough can be purchased everywhere, the hostess often encounters the situation that everything is ready for baking, but the baking powder was not at hand. Do not rush to run to the store - in our article we will tell you what can be used instead of a baking powder for dough.
Why do I need a baking powder?
Any pastries, whether it be biscuits, muffins or pies with yeast, the tastier, the more lush and airy the dough turned out. Therefore, when kneading, various ingredients are used that make the dough more loose, light and convenient for baking. One of them is the culinary baking powder, which we will talk about.
This baking additive provides uniform saturation of the dough with air, gives it a pleasant porous structure and speeds up the baking process. It is noteworthy that the baking powder in the form in which we are used to using it appeared relatively recently, and before each housewife had her own secrets, and she knew exactly what to use instead of the baking powder.
Factory baking powder consists of ammonium carbonate, citric acid, starch or flour base and acidity regulators. When liquid is added, these substances react, a lot of carbon dioxide is released, bubbles appear, which give the necessary structure. This reaction is easy to reproduce at home.
Types of baking powder for dough
- Biological, organic - just with their help in the test, fermentation reactions are launched. These are yeast known to everyone, as well as bacteria (usually lactic acid) used to make dough and sourdough.
- Chemical is sodium bicarbonate, it is also soda. Very often the question arises whether it is possible to use soda instead of a baking powder, we answer: it is possible, but you need to do this correctly, how exactly, read on.
There are also physical methods that can achieve the effect of a magnificent test, they consist in the fact that, with certain features of the heat treatment of products, splendor increases under the influence of steam.
Slaked soda as a baking powder
The easiest way to give the test lightness and airiness, familiar to our grandmothers, is to use slaked, and in some cases ordinary soda.
Soda can be used instead of baking powder in such types of baking as biscuits, muffins, magnificent pancakes and yeast-free pancakes on kefir. Usually, soda is not used in its pure form: when heated, it produces not only carbon dioxide, but also sodium carbonate. This substance has a specific unpleasant taste, reminiscent of soap, to avoid its appearance, soda needs to be extinguished.
This is done as follows: soda is mixed with citric acid. About 1.5 teaspoon of dry citric acid is taken per spoon of soda. This mixture is added to the dry ingredients for the dough (before eggs and water are added to the flour) and mixed thoroughly.
Many housewives use vinegar instead of citric acid, but this method is not considered the best, since the reaction occurs in air, carbon dioxide evaporates, and does not get into the dough. Also, making a mistake in the proportions, you can spoil the dough with an unpleasant vinegar smack.
You might think that using soda instead of a baking powder for the test is the last century and factory additives are much more convenient to use, however, it should be noted that they contain much more preservatives and a variety of components that are not always useful with frequent use. This is the advantage of replacement. Another plus is the low cost of soda compared to baking powder.
A few words about quick soda
Not all cases require extinguishing soda when added to a baking dough. For example, if the test contains a large number of acid-based products, they will successfully react. These products include kefir and other dairy products, sour fruits and berries. If they are contained in the test, you can not be afraid to add quicklime soda.
You also need to know what to use instead of baking powder in shortcrust pastry is best to drink baking soda without quenching - this is a feature of the preparation of this particular product.
Use of butter and margarine
One way to make the dough more loose is to use a large amount of oil or other fats in it. In order to increase the splendor of the dough with the help of fats, it is required to add 1-2 tablespoons more butter or margarine when kneading than indicated in the recipe.
Also, to achieve a better effect, the fats are whipped with sugar and salt until foam is formed, and after that they are added to the dough.
Eggs and yeast for ease of dough
When preparing baked goods from yeast-free batter (for example, pancakes and jellied pies), as well as biscuit muffins, egg whites are added for a pleasant nostril structure. To get the maximum effect, they must be carefully separated from the yolks, and then beat to a dense foam with a whisk and add to the dough. After adding the egg white, the dough is stirred very carefully.
Baking powder is not always added to yeast dough, since yeast by itself has a very good effect of making the dough voluminous and light. They are mixed with sugar and warm water, left for about half an hour, and then knead the dough, which is allowed to rise for another 1.5-2 hours.
Interesting ways to make the dough light and fluffy
I would also like to talk about quite unusual options for what can be used as a baking powder for dough:
- Alcohol. A tablespoon of flavored liquor, cognac and even plain vodka improves the taste and texture of the dough. You can also add beer, but it creates a specific flavor that is not suitable for all types of baking. By the way, he is very good at charlotte and other products with apple filling.
- Sparkling water. If you find that there is nothing to use instead of a baking powder, mineral water with gas mixed with kefir may come up.
- Dried Cranberry Powder. It is used instead of citric acid in quenching soda; it gives the baking an interesting color and aroma.
Of course, replacing such an important ingredient as a baking powder can have its drawbacks - it is not always possible to achieve the desired effect when baking, and having mistaken proportions, you can get an unpleasant aftertaste or smell (this is more about adding vinegar and soda). In this sense, of course, it is best to use soda or analogues, since only this ingredient allows you to achieve the desired test structure.
It is also important to remember that instead of baking powder or soda, you can use any other lossless substitute for taste and consistency in cases where the dough does not contain honey or chocolate - when used, the dough can lose its pleasant structure without the proper use of the baking powder.