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Clever Uses for Baking Soda You Never Knew

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Softens Beans & Makes Them Easier To Digest 7/12

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Softens Beans & Makes Them Easier To Digest

If you have some old, stubborn beans that just don't want to become tender, try adding baking soda to the soaking water. Don't add too much—1/4 teaspoon per pound of dried beans should do the trick. If you're too heavy-handed, it may give the beans an overly salty or even soapy flavor, and the texture could turn out mushy. It's claimed that the use of baking soda may also help people digest beans easier and reduce flatulence. 


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Ingredients

  • 2 large water or soda bottles (empty)
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 sticks butter
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 4 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Ready 2 large plastic bottles, cleaned and dried.
  3. Add 1 cup of flour to each bottle.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of sugar to each.
  5. Melt butter, then add equal halves to each bottle.
  6. Add 6 eggs, 3 in each.
  7. Add 1/2 tbsp of baking powder to each.
  8. Add 1/2 cup of heavy cream to each.
  9. Shake the bottles thoroughly until the contents are well mixed.
  10. In one of the bottles only, add the cocoa powder.
  11. Beginning with the cocoa powder mixture, add a dolop of batter to the center of a circular
  12. baking tin. Do the same with the other mixture, placing the dolop directly in the center of the previous one.
  13. Continue with alternating additions of each mixture until all batter is used and the tin is full.
  14. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
  15. Serve and enjoy!