Baking Powder

Baking Powder is essentially a mixture of tartaric acid and bicarbonate of soda. These are carefully dried and sifted together, some flour being usually mixed with them to dilute the strength. When added to flour in the manufacture of bread or scones, carbonic acid gas is liberated by the action of the water which is used, and this blows or puffs up the doughy mass, giving it the requisite lightness. Frequently the bicarbonate of soda is alone used, buttermilk or the natural acidity of the dough being depended on to evolve the gas. See BREAD.