What can replace baking powder

As I have already briefly said, baking powder is needed to produce a fluffy, airy sponge cake and to give the baked item a loose, porous structure. During mixing it sets off a chemical reaction that "lightens" the dough and helps it rise during baking, so the item turns out fluffy. Leavened dough bakes through well and is more easily digested.

Now for what baking powder actually is. In essence, it is a substance or mixture of components that release carbon-dioxide bubbles when they interact, saturating the dough and making it fluffier and more porous. These include yeast, baking powder, and various alkaline-acid mixtures. If the recipe specifies the correct amount, it imparts no taste to the food – it only improves the structure of the baked goods.

Ready-made packaged baking powders are sold as a dry, finely ground mixture of an acidity regulator (E450i), soda (E500ii), and flour or starch. This is the simplest set of ingredients, which can be supplemented or replaced with analogues. For example, ammonium carbonate (E-503) can be used instead of soda.

The composition of baking powder must be well balanced, otherwise it will impart the taste of soda or acid.

1. Soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate / sodium bicarbonate) and ammonium carbonate form the basis of the composition. Manufacturers use one of these additives or mix them together. On entering a moist, acidic environment, soda releases carbon dioxide, whose bubbles penetrate the dough.
2. The acidity regulator – sodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate (disodium pyrophosphate). When moisture is added, this food additive creates the very acidic environment necessary for the soda reaction.
3. Starch and flour increase the shelf life of the mixture. By absorbing moisture, they prevent a premature reaction. Cornstarch is preferable, since flour clumps more readily.

For leavening dough, biological and chemical leavening agents are used – these are two different operating principles.

Biological leavening agents

These include:

1. Lactic-acid bacteria, which take part in the fermentation of carbohydrates and help make the dough fluffy.
2. Sourdough starter for bread, which also contains lactic-acid bacteria.
3. Baker's yeast – it contains microorganisms of the Saccharomyces family. Warm liquid is required to wake them, and sugar to feed them. After that the yeast fungi begin to work and produce the gas that raises the dough.

Chemical leavening agents

This is a way of making the dough loose through chemical processes, when substances react and release gas. This is exactly how baking powder, or a "dough-raising agent", works. The soda or ammonium it contains reacts chemically with an acid. A clear example of such a process is extinguishing soda with vinegar.

I replace ready-made packaged baking powder with food additives and products available at home. I take soda as the base, and any food acid will set off its reaction.

Another means of replacing baking powder for dough is carbonated mineral water. It should be clean, without colourings or flavourings. Carbonated water contains carbon dioxide, which gives the dough the necessary porosity. The effect is stronger if you add a pinch each of salt and citric acid to the water. This option suits choux, unleavened, and rich (sweet) doughs.

The simplest way to make baking powder at home is to mix 5 parts soda, 3 parts citric acid, and 12 parts flour or starch in a dry container. In grams it looks like this: 5 g of soda, 3 g of citric acid, and 12 g of flour or 9 g of starch. To measure by the spoon, use the information on how many grams there are in a spoon of each substance. For a larger amount, count by the spoon: 5 spoons of soda, 3 spoons of citric acid, and 12 spoons of flour or starch.

If the baking powder is prepared in advance, the storage container must be absolutely dry, otherwise the reaction may start in the moisture.

If the mixture is made just before use, the flour and starch are not needed, and the dry citric acid can be replaced with other acidic products. For example, instead of citric acid, take 3 tbsp of 9% vinegar per 1 tsp of soda, or 0.5 tbsp of 70% vinegar essence, or 7 tbsp of 6% apple or grape vinegar.

One teaspoon of citric acid can be replaced with 2 teaspoons of crushed cranberries or redcurrants.

If you prepare baking powder with a wet acid outside the dough, its effectiveness will be reduced. When soda enters a moist acidic environment, the reaction happens at once, and the released gas escapes into the air. So you should mix the soda with the flour, pour the acid in with the liquid ingredients, and only then knead the dough.

Another method is to add ½ tsp of lemon juice to the liquid ingredients, and mix ¼ tsp of soda with the dry ones.

There is no point in using baking powder when the dough is whipped. In that case the recipe should include ingredients capable of creating and holding a foam-like structure – egg whites, butter. Whipping saturates the dough with air and is itself a mechanical method of leavening. The egg and butter act as an emulsion that coats the air bubbles, keeping them in the dough.

The mechanical method is used in making meringue (protein), sponge, and choux doughs.

Additional mixtures are also not required if the recipe's ingredients already list soda and some acidic products. They will already act as leavening agents themselves, since their interaction produces a reaction that releases carbon dioxide.