Question

Explain the action of baking powder in the making of cake (or bread). Write the equation of the reaction involved.

How does baking powder make the cake soft and spongy?

Answer 1

When baking powder mixes with water (present in dough made for baking cakes or bread), sodium hydrogencarbonate reacts with tartaric acid to release carbon dioxide gas.

\[\ce{\underset{(Baking soda)}{\underset{carbonate}{\underset{Sodium hydrogen}{NaHCO3_{(aq)}}}} + \underset{acid)}{\underset{(From tartaric}{\underset{Hydrogen ions}{H+_{( aq)}}}} -> \underset{tartarate salt))}{\underset{(From sodiu}{\underset{Sodium ions}{Na+_{( aq)}}}} + \underset{Carbon dioxide}{CO2_{(g)}} + \underset{Water}{H2O}}\]

The carbon dioxide gas produced gets trapped in the wet dough and bubbles out slowly, making the cake (or bread) rise and become soft and spongy. If, however, baking powder is not added to the preparation of a cake (or bread), the resulting cake (or bread) will be hard and quite small.