Baking Powder

Baking powders are mixtures of dry acid or acid salts and baking soda, with starch or flour added to standardize and help stabilize the mixtures. The words “double-acting” mean the baking powder will react, or liberate carbon dioxide, first from moisture during the mixing stage and then again when exposed to heat during the baking stage.

I use Rumford baking powder, an all-phosphate product containing calcium acid phosphate that is found in most supermarkets or health food stores. It lacks the bitter aftertaste associated with the aluminum in SAS (sodium aluminum sulfate) baking powders. (The advantage of SAS powders is that they release a little more carbon dioxide during the baking stage than during the mixing stage.) Argo baking powder is also an aluminum-free double-acting baking powder, containing sodium acid pyrophosphate, but reacts a little more in the baking stage than Rumford. It is ideal for cakes that are baked in tube pans because it decreases or eliminates the dome and ensures that the cake, when inverted, sits flat on the serving plate.