Substitute for baking powder?
Ephraim Vishniac
What other leavening agents can I use (and in what quantities) when
recipes call for baking powder? My problem is that baking powder is
primarily cornstarch, and I'm allergic to all corn products.
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Bruce Smith
>
>What other leavening agents can I use (and in what quantities) when
>recipes call for baking powder? My problem is that baking powder is
>primarily cornstarch, and I'm allergic to all corn products.
>
used for substitution were the same in each case: cream of tartar and baking
soda. I seem to remember having done this same substitution successfully.
The two most likely proportions are:
For one teaspoon of baking powder use 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp.
baking soda.
For one tsp. baking powder use 1 tsp. cream of tartar and 1/2 tsp. baking soda.
The third formula involved measuring 5/8 tsp. of one of the ingredients. That
was in, I believe, the Joy of Cooking. Given the other options, I prefer not
to deal with measuring 5/8 tsp., which requires either using 2 measuring spoons
or estimating. (Does anyone have a 5/8 tsp. measurer?)
In any case, neither bakibg soda nor cream of tartar contains cornstarch.
Bruce Smith
Ben A. Fairbank
>>
>>What other leavening agents can I use (and in what quantities) when
>>recipes call for baking powder? My problem is that baking powder is
>>primarily cornstarch, and I'm allergic to all corn products.
>
is added to, I suspect that it is there only to keep the leaveners from
caking or clumping. Do you know what percentage is cornstarch?
Thus if you add a teaspooon of baking powder to
a recipe that serves four, a single serving will have a quarter of a
teaspoon of baking powder which will contain rather little cornstarch. If
you are sensitive enough to react to such concentrations, you should also
be aware that confectioner's (or powdered) sugar usually also contains about
four percent corn starch, also to keep it from caking up. Eternal vigilance
is the price of health...
Ben Fairbank
Ephraim Vishniac
>>In article <2ie978...@early-bird.think.com> eph...@think.com (Ephraim Vishniac) writes:
>>>What other leavening agents can I use (and in what quantities) when
>>>recipes call for baking powder? My problem is that baking powder is
>>>primarily cornstarch, and I'm allergic to all corn products.
>Since cornstarch does not contribute to the leavening of the mixture it
>is added to, I suspect that it is there only to keep the leaveners from
>caking or clumping. Do you know what percentage is cornstarch?
On one brand of baking powder it's the first ingredient; on another
it's the last. Since I doubt the brands are really very different, I'm
tempted to guess that a typical baking powder is about one-third
cornstarch.
BTW, another respondent tells me that Featherweight brand baking
powder is made with potato starch and is also sodium-free, for those
of you on restricted-salt diets.
>Thus if you add a teaspooon of baking powder to
>a recipe that serves four, a single serving will have a quarter of a
>teaspoon of baking powder which will contain rather little cornstarch. If
>you are sensitive enough to react to such concentrations, you should also
>be aware that confectioner's (or powdered) sugar usually also contains about
>four percent corn starch, also to keep it from caking up. Eternal vigilance
>is the price of health...
I don't know exactly how little corn it takes to produce a reaction,
but I do know that eating baked goods I didn't make myself (say, one
cookie a day from Michela's) is enough to sustain a mild reaction. Two
aspirin a day (aspirin tablets are mostly cornstarch) for a couple of
days is enough to produce a severe reaction, which is why I only take
Alka-Seltzer now. So, confectioner's sugar should probably join my
list :-(.
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Cambridge, MA 02142 was the ease with which
such crazed rumors could spread.
aly...@news.delphi.com
>In article <2ie978...@early-bird.think.com> eph...@think.com (Ephraim Vishniac) writes:
>>
>>What other leavening agents can I use (and in what quantities) when
>>recipes call for baking powder? My problem is that baking powder is
>>primarily cornstarch, and I'm allergic to all corn products.
>>
You can use arrowroot powder in place of cornstarch. It even works
as a thickener, like corn starch does.
To make baking powder, I use 1 part baking soda, 2 parts cream of tartar,
and 2 parts arrowroot.
Speaking of corn allergies, I heard somewhere that the glue on some postage
stamps is corn-based.
Blake (aly...@delphi.com)