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10 baking secrets only pastry chefs know

By,
Gourmandize
Baking powder 4/11

Baking powder

Baking powder is essential for in order for a cake to rise.

But put too much and your cake will taste too floury, put too little and your cake won’t rise.

To make a cake, pastry chefs recommend using 4 teaspoons of baking powder per half pound of flour. To get the calculation right, simply multiply the quantity of flour that you’re using by 0.02.  

But if math is not your strong point, then simply your life by buying baking flour, which is premade a mixture of flour and baking powder.

 

Should I sift the flour?

It’s always ideal to sift the flour and the baking powder – it will bring a certain lightness to the batter that’s hard to obtain by any other method. It also helps to fully integrate the baking powder into the flour.

If you’re adding cocoa powder or matcha green tea, then you should definitely sift them.


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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!