Question

A person found that the cake prepared by him is hard and small in size. Which ingredient has he forgotten to add that would have caused the cake to rise and become light? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

The person forgot to add baking powder.
Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda (sodium hydrogencarbonate) and a mild edible acid such as tartaric acid.
When baking powder mixes with water, the sodium hydrogen carbonate reacts with the tartaric acid to emit carbon dioxide gas. The carbon dioxide gas produced gets trapped in the wet dough made for baking a cake or bread, and bubbles out slowly. Thus, the cake becomes soft and spongy.