This morning, in an attempt to maintain the Domestic Goddess flow around here, Owen and I have been making pikelets.  Well, OK, I’ve been making pikelets while Owen “helps” by making a mess :o)  The recipe stated that it would make 36 but I’m sure we’ve eaten nearly half of them – as soon as they come out of the pan all nice and warm – so there won’t be many left for afternoon tea, let alone tomorrow!

Anyway, the recipe we used today called for 1 teaspoon of Baking Powder.  Of course, I didn’t have any so I Googled it and this is what I found out, from the ever reliable Australian Women’s Weekly.

Baking soda, bicarb soda, baking powder – what’s the difference?

Question
What is the difference between baking powder, baking soda and bicarbonate of soda? What are their different applications?

Answer
Baking soda and bicarbonate of soda are different names for the same thing; in Australia, we mostly refer to it as bicarbonate of soda, but overseas, especially in America, it is referred to as baking soda. They aren’t interchangeable, but bicarbonate of soda and baking powder are both leavening agents. When included in a batter, the leavening agent causes air bubbles (produced by stirring, whipping or beating) to expand when cooked – causing it to ‘rise’.

Bicarbonate of soda is a pure leavening agent. It needs to be mixed with moisture and an acidic ingredient for the necessary chemical reaction to take place to make food rise. Because it needs an acid to create the rising quality, it is often used in recipes where there is already an acidic ingredient present, such as lemon juice, chocolate, buttermilk or honey.

Baking powder, which contains bicarbonate of soda, comes pre-mixed with the acidic ingredient for you – so all you need to add is the moisture. The acidic ingredient most often used in baking powder is cream of tartar. You can make your own baking powder: simply mix two parts cream of tartar with one part bicarbonate of soda. Baking powder has a neutral taste and is often used in recipes that have other neutral-tasting ingredients, such as milk.

In Australia, we usually just cook with self-raising flour when a leavening agent is required, unless the specific qualities of bicarbonate of soda are required. Bicarbonate of soda imparts a slightly different quality to that of baking powder when used in cooking. It can have a slightly “tangy” taste and it makes a lovely golden colour. It also makes a very specific texture not achievable with baking powder. It is very important to sift bicarbonate of soda well as it gets lumpy and to use very exact measures as the “tangy” taste can quite easily become bitter or soapy if too much is used.

So I tried the cream or tartar and bicarb soda mix, and the pikelets turned out wonderfully!

Owen wanted three pikelets on his Shrek plate (yup, very specific!) for morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and finally not for dinner.  Dinner was reserved for a weetbix with honey request…  Unfortunately, his horrible mother and father made him eat vegetables!