LESSON CXI
LEAVENING WITH BAKING SODA, SOUR MILK, AND MOLASSES: GINGERBREAD
EXPERIMENT 70: ACTION OF BAKING SODA ON MOLASSES.—Place a teaspoonful of baking molasses in a test tube and dilute with a little water. Test it with litmus paper. What is its reaction? Add a pinch of baking soda. Heat. What does effervescence indicate? What do we call the gas formed by the action of the baking soda and a substance having an acid reaction? Explain how baking soda and molasses could be used to lighten a quick bread.
EXPERIMENT 71: QUANTITY OF BAKING SODA TO USE WITH MOLASSES.—Carefully measure 1/8 cupful of molasses. [Footnote 80: The acidity of molasses may be due to fermentation or to the preservatives used in many brands. Its intensity varies.] Dilute it with much water. Carefully measure 1/16 teaspoonful of baking soda and mix it with water. Add about 3/4 of the soda mixture to the molasses solution. Stir and heat. Test with blue litmus. If it changes color, keep adding the soda mixture, until the litmus paper does not change, as in Experiment 68. When neither blue nor pink litmus paper changes color, what kind of substance,—acid, alkaline, or neutral,—is present? What change has taken place in the materials placed in the saucepan?
This experiment shows that the approximate proportion of baking soda to molasses is:
1/2 teaspoonful of baking soda to 1 cupful of molasses.
This "equation" expresses the chemical change in the experiment:
1 cupful molasses + 1/2 teaspoonful of baking soda —> neutral material + carbon dioxide gas + water.
GINGERBREAD
2 cupfuls flour 1/2 teaspoonful salt 3/4 teaspoonful baking soda 1 teaspoonful cinnamon 2 teaspoonfuls ginger 1/8 teaspoonful cloves 1 egg 1 cupful thick sour milk 1/2 cupful molasses 1/2 cupful sugar 2 to 4 tablespoonfuls fat
Mix all the dry ingredients except the sugar. Beat the egg in a mixing bowl. Add the sour milk, molasses, and sugar. If solid fat is used, melt it. Add the fat to the molasses mixture. Through a sifter, add the dry ingredients to other materials. Beat thoroughly and turn at once into a shallow oiled pan. Bake in a moderate oven (375 degrees F. to 400 degrees F.) 20 minutes or longer (see Tests for Sufficient Baking of Quick Bread)
Gingerbread without Eggs may be made. Omit the egg from the recipe above. To the dry ingredients, add 1 teaspoonful of baking powder.
Water Gingerbread may be made by substituting 7/8 cupful cold water for the sour milk, and using 1/4 teaspoonful baking soda (instead of 3/4 teaspoonful) and adding 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder.