A manual of home-making

Sweet or sour milk, sweet or sour buttermilk, sweet or sour^ cream, whey, molasses, water, potato water, rice water, and various other liriuids may be used in doughs and batters. Sour milk, sour cream, sour buttermilk, whey; and molasses rf*quino i iibda to neut ralize tlieir aciii (p! 475). 8our milk gives a texture 1 that is slightly more tender than that produced with sweet milk. Both eggs and fat serve as par! of the Ucjuid* An average- ] gized e^ may he reganied as supplying two tablespoons of liquid; fat may be regarded as entirely liquid. This fact must { be taken into consideration if changes are made in a standard recipe. If cream k used, its fat-content must be considered (P* 477). Soda, When baking soda comes in contact with an acid in the prcs^-l ence of moisture, it lil>erLitcs a gas called carbon dioxide. The ' acid may Ix* cream of tartar, or such acids as are containiHJ in sour milk or molasses. The amount of soda to lie used is ile* BATTERS AND DOUGHS termlned by the amount of sour milk Ufsed and its degree of acidity, and nni by the nniooiit of Hour its is the case when baking powder is used. SocIm luny be added in two ways: (1) It rna}^ be stirred into the mitk, in which case it does not act so decidedly as a leaveniujE: ap;cnt, l>ut serves to sweeten the milk. In the process some of tfie gas is lil>era1ed and the leavening powder is lost to such an extent that it generally l>eeomes neees- eary to use baking powder as aciditional leavening agent, (2) The soda may be sifted with the flour^ in w^hich ciise the gas is lil aerated ehieHy during the baking process. When it is addetl in Uuj? way, no additional baking powder is useii if the milk is sufficiently sour to rec|uire soda in »uch aniotmt as to give a proportion of li teaspoon of soda to 1 eup of Hour, No absolute statement can l>e mjide, however, as to the cor- rect amounts of soda to use, since sour milk and molasses differ greatly in their degree of acidity. In general it may be said that from I'i to }4 teaspoon of soda should be used for eaeh cup of sour milk, and more nearly 3^ teaspoon should be used for each cup of molasses. Experience in cooking with sour miJk and soda W'ill Ijcst teach correct amounts to use. If soda is added to the milk^ the taste may serve as a guide for determining eorrect amounts, a brackish taste indicating that too much soda has been iLsed, a sour taste indicating that too little has been used. Tests may be made with red and blue litmus paper: if, after the soda has Ijeen added, blue litmus paptT tmns re<l, the amount of soda has been insufficient to neutraUze the add ; if red litmus paper turns blue, too much has been abided. If neither red nor l>lue litmus paper changes color, the ac^id of the milk has been just neutralized. Instead of using soda alone as a leavening agent when sour milk or molasses is used as the hciuid, some persons choose to use baking powder also in the proportion of 1 teaspoon of bak- ing powder to 1 cup of flour. This is advisable i^specially if the milk is only slightly sour, and the amount of soda requii-ed to neutralize the acid is not sufficient to furnish enough gas to make the mixture light* If eggs are used in the mixture, baking powder is not so necessary. 476 A MANUAL OF HOME-MAKING Baking pmvder.