Successful baking requires a trustworthy egg substitute. Learning what is best takes practice. When you have an egg allergy it is a must to use substitutions. The most important thing you need to understand is egg can creep in where you would least expect it. That is the case for Baking Powder.
What are the Ingredients of Baking Powder
Baking Powder is made from three ingredients. They are sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and a powdered acid (cream of tartar) and cornstarch. Cream of Tartar is made from the crystalized residue of egg whites in making some wines. The Wineries that use egg whites do so to speed up the fermentation process so it can go to market faster. Not all Wineries use egg whites. EGG ALLERGY PEOPLE MUST NOT USE Baking Powder or Cream of Tartar.
I have had great success using Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) and Vinegar with hot water to activate it so that the result will be a nice rise. Don’t forget to add ½ teaspoon of salt to your recipe if you are using Baking Soda. It helps to stabilize the flavors.
Are Cornstarch and Baking Soda the same
Baking Soda and Cornstarch have separate functions in the result of your recipe. The use of Baking Soda will help your baked goods to rise, whereas Cornstarch will add more thickness and density. Thus, you should not replace baking soda with cornstarch if you want your cake to rise. They do work well together. In fact, cake flour has cornstarch in it.
They are surprisingly similar in some of their household usage. They are different in flavor. Baking soda is a salt and a leavening agent. Cornstarch is made from corn kernels and is used to thicken soups and gravies. It will help you get the thickness correct in your recipes. Both Cornstarch and Baking Soda are excellent for cleaning without using a lot of harsh chemicals.
How to Make Cake Flour
To create Cake Flour all you need is all-purpose flour and cornstarch. Here is the recipe for that:
For 1 cup of Cake flour combine – ¾ cup plus 2 Tablespoons of All-purpose flour with 2 tablespoons of Cornstarch. To make a cake you may want to triple this recipe for two 8-inch round cake pans.
The ratio or amount of baking soda you will need per cup of flour is ¼ teaspoon of baking soda. This is so that the cake can leaven or rise once it is exposed to heat. That is also why it is best to warm up the water that is going into the cake as the heat and the moisture will help activate the baking soda.
The usual ratio of baking soda versus vinegar in a cake recipe is 1 part baking soda to 2 parts vinegar.
For my chocolate cake recipe, I use 3 cups of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking soda, and 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar. The reason my ratio doesn’t match is that the cocoa powder is a dry ingredient, so I had to adjust the recipe. The full recipe is under the desserts section.
