March 2006
Dear Friends,
Last month I wrote about the different types of oats and shared a heart-healthy Cherry Oat Muffin recipe. I hope you and your family enjoyed it as much as we have. You know, there is so much we can learn in the kitchen, and much we can teach our children there. When you think about it, the kitchen is a type of science lab where chemical and heat reactions go on every time we cook or bake. Understanding a little of what goes on with ingredients in our recipes helps us to be better cooks, and provides many teaching opportunities to share with your children.
Let’s go “behind the scenes” and take a more in-depth look at some of the lessons we can learn from our oat muffin recipe. If you didn’t read last month’s Online Letter, you’ll find the February 2006 letter in the archives.
Leavening in the recipe comes from both
baking soda and baking powder. Leaven (rhymes with “heaven”) means “to lift”, from the Latin word, levare. Yeast is also a type of leaven, but it causes dough to rise much more slowly than baking soda or baking powder. Breads and other baked goods made with baking soda or baking powder are called “Quick Breads” because they rise much more quickly than yeast breads. Cakes, donuts, scones, biscuits, muffins and even pancakes are all types of quick breads.
Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate. It is alkaline and when combined with liquid and an acid, it releases carbon dioxide bubbles. Those little bubbles lift the dough and form tiny air pockets that help create the texture of our baked goods.
Try this simple experiment to show your children the
action of baking soda. Put about half a cup of warm water in a glass. Add a teaspoon of baking soda and stir. As the baking soda dissolves, you will see some bubbles form. Next, add a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice. Now you’ll see lots of foaming action! The addition of an acid ingredient reacts more vigorously with the alkaline baking soda than just water alone. Even a small amount of acid in a recipe will enhance the leavening ability of baking soda and baking powder.
Sometimes in recipes you’ll see a teaspoon or less of lemon juice listed as an ingredient. It seems like such a small thing and cooks are tempted to omit it. Don’t; in many cases, it’s not there to add flavor, but to enhance leavening. As you can see from the experiment, a little acid can have a big impact on how well your baked goods rise. Yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream, and molasses are other acidic ingredients often used in baked goods that also react with baking soda and baking powder.
Baking soda will keep indefinitely if stored in a cool, dry place. For those of you outside the U.S., baking soda is usually called “bicarbonate of soda.”
Baking powder is a combination of baking soda and usually two acids, often cream of tartar and sodium aluminum sulfate. Cornstarch is also added as a type of buffer to keep the baking soda from reacting to the acids. Have you noticed that baking powder is always sold in cans with tight lids, while baking soda is sold in a box that often remains partly open in the cupboard? If baking powder gets damp, a chemical reaction between the acids and the baking soda begins – right in the can! That’s why it’s very important to use only dry measuring spoons when measuring baking powder, and keep the lid tightly closed.
Even humidity in the kitchen will begin to react with the ingredients in baking powder. Some reaction is inevitable over time so it’s important to replace baking powder about every 6 months. Buy a small container, or about as much as you might use in 6 months. It is not cost effective to buy a large container and then have to throw much of it away because it’s lost its effectiveness. To test baking powder to see if it’s still good, mix one teaspoon of baking powder in ¼ Cup of warm water. If it foams, then it is still an effective leavening ingredient. It’s not that it spoils; it just loses its potency over time.
Look closely at the can of baking powder and you will probably see the words
“double acting.” Some of the bubbling action begins as soon as baking powder mixes with liquid, and there is a second reaction when it comes in contact with heat. This double action helps in baking because all of the leavening doesn’t take place at once as soon as you mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Some leavening occurs then, and more occurs as the batter rises in the oven. Most baking powder sold today is double acting.
If a family member needs to limit sodium (salt) intake, remember that baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. One teaspoon of baking soda contains over 1200 mg of sodium. One teaspoon of baking powder contains about 440 mg of sodium; it varies a little depending on the brand. Because my husband is on a low-sodium diet, I omit salt from most recipes especially if they contain baking soda or baking powder. Always read the product nutrition labels and consult your doctor for the amount of sodium recommended for your family members.
Why is there both baking soda and baking powder in the same recipe? Baking soda alone would release all it’s carbon dioxide bubbles as soon as it’s combined with liquid, so most of the bubbles rise, and fall, before the batter even gets into the oven. Using baking powder enhances leavening because of its double action. Baking soda also causes more browning of baked goods.
Baking soda and baking powder are not interchangeable. Baking powder is four times stronger than baking powder. Only use about ¼ t. baking soda per cup of flour in recipes, or about 1 t. baking powder. Too much baking soda can leave a bitter, off-taste to baked goods. Teach your children to read the label carefully and recognize the difference between a box of baking soda and a can of baking powder so they use the right ingredients when they are baking.
In a pinch, if you don’t have any baking powder,
you can make a reasonable substitute by mixing 1 T. baking soda + 2 T. cream of tartar + 1 ½ T. cornstarch.
For more information on baking powder, visit
www.clabbergirl.com. In their “Resource Center” you’ll find a great Learning Center with Lesson plans for a variety of baking lessons and a great lesson called “Chemical Leavening 101” that goes more in-depth
into the chemistry of leavening.
Another topic to teach in the kitchen involves a little math. It’s not only important for every cook to measure ingredients carefully; it’s also essential to memorize a few
equivalent measurements. For example, there are 16 T. to one Cup, and 3 t. = 1 T. Teach your children the difference between tablespoons (T.) and teaspoons (t.) and then look for other abbreviations commonly used in recipes, such as C for cup, oz. for ounce, lb. for pound, etc.
Why is it important to memorize equivalents? Take the baking powder substitute above. The formula makes nearly 5 T. of baking powder. You may not need that much. How would you cut this amount in half? If you know that 1 T. = 3 t. you can more easily cut the recipe in half. First, convert the recipe to teaspoons: 3 t. baking soda + 6 t. cream
of tartar + 4 ½ t. cornstarch. Then divide these amounts in half.
In the Oat muffin recipe, you need to measure ¼ C honey or molasses. These are very sticky ingredients to measure and it’s easier if you measure the oil first, then use the same utensil to measure the honey or molasses. It will be much easier to clean, too.
The recipe calls for 3 T. of canola oil. I would use a Tablespoon measuring spoon to measure the oil. How would I use that same spoon to then measure the honey or molasses? If you have memorized that 1 C = 16T., you will know that you can measure 4 T. of honey or molasses to equal the ¼ C called for in the recipe.
Next month, we’ll learn other lessons from the Cherry Oat Muffin recipe: what are the advantages to whole wheat flour, what is gluten, what’s the difference between soluble and insoluble fiber and why is it important to our health… and much more!
In the meantime, here are a few more entries from my
Grandma’s 1928 diary:
Sunday, March 4, 1928: A typical March day – wind, cloudy, and sunshine. First one, then the other all day. Arla (turned 7 years old today) was pleased with her cake. I trimmed it in yellow and green; it was real pretty. We gave her a dollar to spend as she liked. Mother sent her a quarter and Betty gave her a flower. She coughed so hard most of the day we couldn’t let her outside.
Tuesday, March 6, 1928: Did part of my ironing at home & took the rest out to Virginias. Stayed for lunch, then the two of us went downtown. I bought a lamp base and shade frame @ $4.20 so far. Mrs. Stapleton (neighbor) came over for me to see her new yellow hat. Mr. Stapleton was all fussed up because they had caught Wayne smoking a cigarette.
Monday, March 12, 1928: Fair and almost too warm for a fire. Went to the city; paid the rent and payment on a parlor suite. Got the rest of the material for the lampshade. Cost us $7.60 complete. Finished the shade (it’s slow going indeed). Had to hurry too. Then the cord is shorted somewhere and we couldn’t get it fixed. After all my fuss, can’t have it lit tonight. Oh well, the shade’s a success at least. Mrs. Stapleton was over a few minutes. Arla came home with the cutest cardboard house furnished so dear.
Thursday, March 15, 1928: Ironed until about eleven, then went with Virginia to the clinic to have her three teeth pulled. Had to go to the shop after the car. Virginia was sure she was the most miserable person on earth because they pulled hard. Glad I’m
not such a baby. Came back and finished my ironing and dry cleaned her dress and mine, too.
Until next time ~
Copyright, 2006, Laurie Latour.
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