Stairway to Leaven

Have you ever wondered why we put what we do in our cakes? A box cake mix simply uses eggs, oil, water, and mix and poof you have a cake! Why does baking from scratch have to be so dang hard? Unfortunately the answer lies in the chemistry of it all. Whether you enjoy it or not, baking is simply chemistry at its finest using a variety of ingredients to create all kinds of reactions. These reactions that need to occur are what make baking such a tedious and time-consuming task, so what do we need to know before we get started.

One of the major components in baking, whether it is a cake you are interesting in making or delicious chocolate chip cookies, is sodium bicarbonate. Not sure what I’m talking about, then take a look in your pantry for the orange box of baking soda and you have found sodium bicarbonate. This chemical has many other uses such as cleaning you stove top, freshening your fridge, or curing your stomach acid, but we are going to look particularly at its use in baking (Breyer, n.d., para. 5).

Minion Cake by Caitlyn Tink

Let’s walk through the steps. First, you mix together all you wet ingredients such as eggs, oil or butter, water and sugar. Then comes the fun part of adding sodium bicarbonate, better known in the baking world as baking soda. Baking soda begins its reaction during this aqueous phase of your batter (Edwards, 2007, p. 71). It is soluble in water so will begin to dissolve when being mixed in; you may even see some bubbles occurring which is simply the reaction taking place before your eyes (Schlager, 2006, p. 723). Then, baking powder, flour, and salt are typically added to the mix, and we are going to specifically look at the baking powder. Baking soda and baking powder react with each other as baking soda is a base and baking powder is an acid, causing the release of water and C0₂ (Edwards, 2007, p. 71). Once combined you are ready to bake your cake!

Penguin Cake by Caitlyn Tink

        One last reaction is actually occurring while your cake is in the oven and your anxiously awaiting the timer to go. The heat from the oven is adding an extra reaction to the sodium bicarbonate as it has a melting point of about 50 degrees Celsius (Schlager, 2006, p. 723). The extra CO₂ release from this reaction allows your cake to rise up nice and high (Edwards, 2007, p. 71). Without adding the sodium bicarbonate into your baking, the end result would be a very flat cake. Baking powder could be a substitute to baking soda however because this is such a delicate reaction make sure to do your homework on what proportions you need (New Health Guide, 2016, para. 2).  

Now, if you are wondering whether this chemical compound is safe for you to be mixing in your chocolate cake the answer is yes. Within baking, sodium bicarbonate is added in such low doses and undergoes such an extensive reaction that the amount that is entering your body is extremely low if not nonexistent. Even if you felt daring and wanted to try eating a spoonful of baking soda on it’s own, the most it will do is reduce the pH in your stomach and urine due to is being a base (Schlager, 2006, p. 726). In other words, it’s harmless, meaning more reason to eat cake right?

References:

Breyer, M. (n.d.). 51 Fantastic Uses for Baking Soda. Retrieved March 3, 2016, from http://www.care2.com/greenliving/51-fantastic-uses-for-baking-soda.html

Edwards, W. P. (2007). The Science of Bakery Products. Retrieved from http://library.mtroyal.ca:2052/lib/mtroyal/reader.action?docID=10618825

New Health Guide. (2016). Baking Soda Substitutes. Retrieved March 3, 2016, from http://www.newhealthguide.org/Baking-Soda-Substitute.html

Schlager, N., Weisblatt, J., & Newton, D. E. (2006). Chemical compounds. Detroit, MI: UXL.

Tink, C. (2016). Minion Cake. [Photograph]

Tink, C. (2016). Penguin Cake. [Photograph]