problem. It browned far too quickly, lending it an acrid
burnt flavor tinged with the soapy chemical aftertaste of
unneutralized baking soda. Interestingly enough, this
pancake was also flat and dense—the large amount of
baking soda reacted too violently when mixed into the
batter. The carbon dioxide bubbles inflated too rapidly and,
like an overfilled balloon, the pancake “popped,” becoming
dense and flaccid as it cooked.
This browning phenomenon isn’t just limited to pancakes,
of course. For example, cookie recipes routinely include
baking soda to aid browning, even when there isn’t an acid
for it to react with.
Double Bubble
If there’s one major drawback with chemically leavened
breads, it’s that they need to be cooked pretty much
immediately after the batter is mixed. Unlike a yeasted bread
dough, which is low in moisture and kneaded until a tough,
elastic gluten network forms to trap the massive amounts of
carbon dioxide produced, a quick bread must be made with
an extremely moist batter—baking powder simply doesn’t
produce enough gas to effectively leaven a thicker dough.
Batters have relatively little gluten formation, meaning that
they aren’t all that great at trapping and holding bubbles.
Once you mix a batter, your baking soda or baking powder
immediately begins producing gas, and that gas almost
immediately being trying to escape into the air. When
working with quick breads, those who aren’t into the whole
brevity thing may run into difficulties.
Cook your pancakes immediately after mixing, and you