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Understanding the difference between baking soda and baking powder

Understanding the difference between baking soda and baking powder

By: izzah zainal | February 17, 2025

It’s hard to truly understand the importance of baking soda and baking powder — and the difference between the two — until the day you accidentally stumble and add one instead of the other, or forget to add one entirely. If you need visuals, just imagine sunken banana bread, squat scones, and deflated cupcakes. An eerie sight, am I right?

Sometimes it can be downright confusing how a mix-up in leavening agents makes or breaks a cake batter or cookie dough. And such ignorance is never bliss, especially when it results in frightening baked goods. So to avoid any baking mishaps, here’s a breakdown of the difference between baking soda and baking powder, what they contribute to baking, and suggestions for substitutions if you find yourself without one.

What is baking soda?

Let’s quickly return to high school chemistry class. Baking soda (or sodium bicarbonate) is a base compound with a pH level of 8. When it mixes with an acidic solution, it reacts to produce carbon dioxide — a.k.a. the gas required to get that desirable lift in baked treats.

As a result, baking soda needs an acidic partner to work its magic; this can be a wet ingredient like sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, lemon juice, vinegar, maple syrup, or honey, but it could also be a dry ingredient like brown sugar or natural cocoa powder. (Dutch-process won’t contain enough acidity.) Once paired and mixed, baking soda instantly starts to react with that acid. Therefore, with recipes that lean on baking soda, it’s better to get batters and doughs in the oven straightaway so the reaction doesn’t die down before you even start baking.

Baking soda creates a less chewy and more tender, airy texture in baked goods. It’s no wonder it’s called for in quick bread recipes to provide shape and soft crumb without having to rise for a long time like traditional yeasted bread. As a leavener, baking soda is more responsible for the outward spread of baked goods. (Remember: soda = spread).

What is baking powder?

While baking soda needs a co-conspirator, baking powder is a complete mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar, a powdered form of tartaric acid, so it has both the basic and acidic components necessary to produce carbon dioxide. In grocery stores, you’ll often come across “double-acting” baking powder, meaning it reacts twice. The first reaction occurs when you’re mixing batter and the powder dissolves. (Think about how when you let pancake batter rest for around 15 minutes, it thickens and bubbles slightly — this works on the same principle.) The second reaction takes place when the batter hits the heat and begins to bake.

Inside any high-rise scone or jumbo muffin is typically a good amount of baking powder. That’s because baking powder adds height, fluff, and lightness. (Remember: powder = puff). Just feast your eyes on the glow-up that 1 tablespoon gives Baking Powder Biscuits. I’m not saying if you skimp on the baking powder, you’ll be left with dense, inedible doorstops, but I’m not not saying that either — there’s a reason the ingredient is in the recipe name.

Why do some recipes call for both baking soda and baking powder?

If a recipe requires both leavening agents, there’s a good chance there’s acid included in the recipe, yet not enough to trigger a full reaction when combined with just baking soda on its own. In such cases, baking powder comes in as reinforcement to do most of the leavening, while baking soda is there to neutralize the acid (lessening the astringent taste) and contribute some lifting power. Now that’s teamwork!

Can you use baking soda instead of baking powder? Or vice versa?

You can’t substitute equal amounts of baking soda for baking powder in a recipe, or vice versa. But! There is some wiggle room for substituting.

To put it briefly: Don’t substitute these ingredients for each other (or other swaps) if you can help it, but should you be in a pinch (maybe in the middle of mixing your brownie batter when you realize you’re missing baking powder) there are a few options to swap in. Some may be sitting in your kitchen as we speak! It’s important to keep in mind that these ingredients are happy to step in and do a good job, but they won’t perform absolutely the same as the original leavener called for in the recipe.

Learn how to create deliciously roasted sesame seeds for your meals by following the step-by-step instructions below.

Substitutions for baking soda

Baking powder: Baking powder can be used to replace baking soda, though not at a 1-to-1 ratio. Because the former is not as strong as the latter, it’s important to use three times the amount of baking powder as baking soda. Be aware, a slightly bitter, off-putting taste might result from using that much baking powder.

Sub for 1 teaspoon baking soda: 3 teaspoons baking powder

Substitutions for baking powder

Baking soda + cream of tartar + cornstarch: You can’t just sub baking soda directly for baking powder, but you can use it alongside other ingredients as a swap. Remember, baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and cream of tartar — which means you can easily make it yourself.

Sub for 1 teaspoon baking powder: Combine 1/4 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch or tapioca starch.

Baker’s ammonia: Baker’s ammonia is a trusty leavener from the 19th century that produces a light, tender crumb similar to what you’d get from baking powder. You can use it 1:1 in place of baking powder. Be aware: It doesn’t smell great, but no need to worry, as the smell totally dissipates by the time baked goods are done.

Sub for 1 teaspoon baking powder: 1 teaspoon baker’s ammonia

Lemon juice or vinegar: These acids react with baking soda to mimic the power of baking powder.

Sub for 1 teaspoon baking powder: 1/4 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar

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What exactly is a scone?

What exactly is a scone?

By: RedmanShop | February 17, 2025

Depending on which side of the pond you’re on, a scone can take a few different forms. Sometimes, it’s a simple affair — a buttery, blank slate waiting for a dollop of jam or drizzle of honey. Other times, a scone is a decadent treat all on its own, loaded with sweet or savory mix-ins. Either way, it’s a perfect accompaniment for tea or coffee. But what’s the difference between all these scones, and their close cousin, biscuits?

British scones vs. American scones

Traditional British scones work butter and/or cream into flour until a crumbly dough forms, which makes the resulting baked good finely crumbed and tender, but still a bit flaky. Leavener (typically baking powder) and sometimes eggs are added to help the scones rise and keep them light. British scones are generally quite plain (though they sometimes have a handful of currants or raisins added) and just barely sweet, making them the perfect vehicle for slathering with salted butter, jam, or clotted cream (or all three!). They’re often cut into rounds before baking, but they can sometimes be shaped as triangles.

American-style scones, on the other hand, are usually a no-holds-barred affair. Often found in coffee shops, these pastries are typically triangular, on the sweet side, loaded with mix-ins like dried or fresh fruit, nuts, or chocolate, and sometimes finished with a decadent glaze. They can go savory, too, featuring shredded cheese, herbs, or even pops of salty bacon. The dough often contains more liquid and is mixed more thoroughly than British-style scones in order to incorporate all of those fillings, so they tend to be on the crumblier side after baking.

What is the difference between a scone and a biscuit?

American-style biscuits are cousins to scones, deriving from recipes brought over by settlers from Europe; over time, they were adapted to incorporate available ingredients and evolved into new styles of their own.

Biscuits contain most of the same ingredients as scones, with the exception of eggs and, sometimes, buttermilk instead of milk or cream. However, they typically have a higher proportion of fat and less liquid than scones, causing them to bake up taller and flakier, rather than crumbly and tender. Scones can be made without butter (just using cream), but biscuits always use a form of solid fat. That fat — often butter but sometimes lard or vegetable shortening — is usually left in larger pieces that are folded and laminated into the dough, creating ultra-flaky, striated layers as the pockets of fat puff up in the oven. Biscuits generally skew more savory than sweet, perfect for serving alongside a plate of bacon and eggs or sopping up gravy.

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Egg

Egg

By: RedmanShop | February 17, 2025

Eggs

Eggs are a staple ingredient in baked items and bring a list of incredible attributes: Egg provides aeration, is a natural emulsifier, adds softness and tenderness to cake batters, brings nutritional value and assists in the shelf-life of products.

Fresh and liquid eggs are used to make fresh bakery products. The hen shell egg comes in various sizes/weights and should be cracked and weighed. Relying on the size gradings of eggs, e.g. 50g, 65g, instead of the liquid weight, can result in unbalanced recipes.

As a convenience, powdered eggs are a component in bakery pre-mix, with the application formula appropriating the liquid amount required for the egg powder. Eggs contain a natural emulsifying agent called Lecithin that stabilises cake batters.

Chicken Egg

Types of Eggs

 
Fresh

Shell Eggs / Egg Yolks / Egg White : The shell can be white or brown, with the colour related to the chicken’s genes. They come in varying sizes and should be weighed for accuracy when using them in a baking formula.

Fresh and Frozen

Liquid Whole Eggs / Liquid Yolk / Liquid Egg Whites : Shell eggs can be processed by pulping the whole egg to a liquid or separating the yolk and white.

Powdered Egg

Whole Egg / Egg Yolk / Egg White (Albumin) : The liquid shell eggs undergo a drying process that removes the egg’s moisture.

Pasteurisation of Eggs

For Food Safety reasons, egg products are pasteurised to destroy harmful bacteria and prolong shelf life. It is common practice for many brands of fresh shell eggs sold in the supermarket to have undergone pasteurisation.

Storage

Fresh shell eggs and fresh liquid eggs require refrigeration for safety reasons. Frozen egg product storage is at -10°C. Powdered egg products have an extended shelf-life of up to 5 years if stored in an airtight container at a low ambient temperature.

Must Know

The firmness of the yolk and white upon opening indicates freshness. Both should be firm, with the yolk having a bold appearance. Stale eggs will show a thin yolk that breaks easily and a thinner white. To obtain the best results when whipping, the fresher, the better.

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Yeast – Baker’s & Natural

Yeast – Baker’s & Natural

By: RedmanShop | February 17, 2025

Baker’s and Natural Yeast

Baker’s and Natural are two types of yeast more commonly used in baking, each providing the basis for dough fermentation. Yeast requires special conditions for it to perform consistently throughout the fermentation process. Yeast growth is shown by its increasing capacity to multiply and bud. The conditions necessary for its growth are water, food, oxygen, time, temperature, and appropriate acidity/alkalinity level (pH).

Baker’s Yeast

Baker’s Yeast is a commercial product available in several forms, such as low-sugar or high sugar-tolerant varieties. The choice of which yeast will depend on the dough’s sugar levels. Low sugar yeast works well up to 10% sugar content, whereas high sugar yeast works best in doughs with above 10% sugar content. To check the Percentage of sugar in the recipe, use the Bakers Percentage calculation method, as explained in Part Two.

Types of Yeast

Compressed : Block form is the most common. It is also available in flakes for larger plant bakeries.

Dried Yeasts: Instant Dried / Instant Active DriedStrains of yeast that have had the water removed. The yeast is re-activated by mixing with warm water. It is added directly into the dough when it is mixed.

Note: To convert fresh yeast usage to dried yeast, multiply the quantity by 0.4.

High and Low Sugar Yeasts

The type of yeast used in the dough relates to the amount of sugar in the formula. For lean dough formulas, sugar will range from 0% – 10% on the flour weight. In rich sweet dough formulas, sugar can be 12% to 20% of the flour weight. The high sugar yeast strain is required in these doughs as regular yeast will not be able to create enough fermentation activity. The dough would move slowly as low-sugar yeast cannot cope with high-sugar levels.

Storage

For dried yeasts, refrigeration in airtight containers is most suitable. Fresh compressed yeast also needs refrigeration and is wrapped in appropriate paper to prevent it from drying out. Buy small packs until confident so as not to waste ingredients. Do not purchase large pack sizes (500g) at first, as they deteriorate with age.

Must Know

Yeast is a living organism and requires attention to detail to obtain a consistent result. Buying yeast in individual small sachets is recommended rather than a large amount. Once opened, its gassing properties deteriorate.

Natural Yeast – Levain (Sourdough)

A mix of flour and water (equal parts) stands in a clean container to attract the wild yeast cells and organic bacteria in the air. Once evidence of activity (bubbles or air pockets visible), a regular feeding process using equal parts of flour and water begins. The action is repeated for the next seven days. The result is that Levain replaces baker’s yeast for dough fermentation. For further details refer to page 71, Part Three on practical baking.

Storage

It is best kept refrigerated during the building stage and upon completion of the starter. Any leftovers from daily production must be returned to the mother and kept under refrigeration.

Must Know

Building the Levain is a slow and steady process requiring care so that the foundation is solid and healthy. Once you have the Levain, you must feed it so it is ready for use before making the dough. The flour used in the starter and feeding must be unbleached, with the most suitable being a medium protein.

Fermentation

Yeasts are used as an aerator, affecting product structure, flavour, volume, and quality. The yeast’s performance depends on the amount of water, its temperature, and the finished mixing temperature. It will be challenging to control this process as it could move too quickly or slowly at times, so it is crucial to have a clear understanding for success to follow.

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How to achieve your perfect chocolate chip cookie

How to achieve your perfect chocolate chip cookie

By: izzah zainal | February 16, 2025

A few tweaks — more sugar, a dash of milk — can make cookies crispy, chewy, or cakey.

Good bakers know how to follow recipes. Great bakers know how to tweak them — how to deviate subtly from the printed word and create something that’s not just tasty but tailor-made to your palate. The line between good and great is surprisingly easy to navigate when it comes to chocolate chip cookies. All you need is a little cookie science and a friendly guide to show you the way.

Just a few simple changes can turn a regular chocolate chip cookie into one that’s extra-crunchy, extra-chewy, or extra-cakey. We recommend using our Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, but these tips are broadly applicable to chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes a similar quantity of finished cookies.

How to make crunchy chocolate chip cookies

Add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and bake for 2 to 4 extra minutes.

What does the extra sugar do to the cookie dough?

Although sugar may seem like a simple ingredient, it plays a very important and complex role in cookie dough. It contributes to both texture and flavor in many ways: It melts in the heat of the oven to increase spread, and it creates little air pockets in the dough to expand and make cookies rise. Sugar also caramelizes and participates in Maillard reactions to add both color and additional flavor notes, and it recrystallizes upon cooling to give the cookies crispy texture. (Maillard reactions are when amino acids react with sugars to give you the brown color and caramelized flavor in baked goods.)

When adding an extra few tablespoons of granulated sugar, you increase the ratio of sugar to fat and flour in the cookie. This will result in a bit more spread, a larger surface area and more material to caramelize and react and, of course, a little bit of extra sweetness as well, which never hurts.

You may notice that the cookies won’t be crispy immediately out of the oven; that happens later. While the exact science of cookie cooling is still somewhat of a mystery, one theory is that as the molten sugar retreats to its crystalline structure and solidifies, the cookie becomes crispy as opposed to bendy. Working with that theory, we can then understand why the more sugar present to recrystallize, the more snap your cookie will have.

How does granulated sugar act differently than brown sugar?

Granulated sugar contains little to no “invert sugar,” which is what you find in the molasses or refiners syrup added to brown sugar. This invert sugar is actually single monosaccharide molecules that were created by breaking down the double disaccharide molecules that make up granulated or table sugar (sucrose). These monosaccharides possess different chemical properties that make cookies chewier, as we’ll see in the tip below.

Why the different bake time?

By adding extra sugar, you can bake the cookies to a slightly higher temperature without over-baking, which will allow for a crispier final cookie as well as deeper flavor development.

Why not just bake any version longer to get a crunchy cookie without added sugar?

While it’s certainly true that baking any cookie longer will cause it to have a firmer final texture, having the extra granulated sugar allows the cookie to maintain a tender, “snappy,” crisp texture (due to the properties discussed above), as opposed to a less enjoyable hard/crunchy texture.

How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies

Add 2 tablespoons brown sugar.

What does extra brown sugar do to the cookie dough?

While brown sugar is similar to granulated sugar in many ways, it has one major functional component that granulated sugar does not: invert sugar!

The two primary invert sugar monosaccharides found in brown sugar are glucose and fructose, which are actually bound together to make the disaccharide sucrose — what Americans know as our standard white table sugar.

Compared to sucrose, invert sugars caramelize at a lower temperature, and absorb and retain more moisture; fructose is particularly hygroscopic, meaning it really loves to suck up and hold onto water.

Invert sugars also interfere with recrystallization upon cooling, which helps make cookies crisp. By holding that extra moisture and delaying the sugar’s recrystallization, brown sugar has the wonderful ability to give you a moist, bendy, chewy cookie.

Does it make the chocolate chip cookie extra sweet?

While a particularly perceptive taster might be able to tell the difference in sweetness with the additional two tablespoons brown sugar, the overall sweetness level only increased slightly. It’s really just a delightfully sweet cookie at either level.

Do light and dark brown sugar work the same?

In fact, they do. The differences between light and dark brown sugar in terms of the amount or types of syrup used are usually minimal, even though you might expect otherwise given the significant difference in coloration.

How to make cakey chocolate chip cookies

Add 2 tablespoons milk.

What does extra brown sugar do to the cookie dough?

Although it may seem obvious, the most important role extra milk plays is adding a little more liquid. As cookie dough is very low in hydration, that two tablespoons of milk have more of an impact here than in something with higher hydration, such as cake batter.

Milk is around 85% water — and that water will evaporate in the heat of the oven to form steam. This steam will migrate to air pockets created by the melting sugar grains.

As the steam gets hotter, it teams up with gases produced by the leaveners, expanding those air pockets. That expansion causes the cookies to puff and rise in the oven, creating an airy, cakey texture.

The moisture contributed by the milk will also increase spread and hydrate more of the starches in the flour. These hydrated (gelatinized) starches support the structure of the air pocket wall, keeping the cookies from collapsing once cooled. By holding more water, they also help keep the cookies softer over time.

Why milk and not water?

While milk is mostly water, those other little molecules in milk do serve a purpose. First, their presence means that there’s 15% less liquid being added to the dough, and this helps prevent the dough from spreading too far and turning into some less-than-ideal chocolate chip pancakes in the oven.

The proteins in milk — about 3% to 4% — will enhance Maillard reactions (as discussed above) and contribute many of the flavor notes that we recognize as “baked,” giving the cookies their roasted, toasted, and even sometimes nutty notes. Finally, the fat and sugar from the milk also add extra tenderness and richer flavor.

Sugar creamed with warm or melted butter is grainy and greasy.

If your butter is just right

Now that we’ve seen both extremes, let’s check out the results when the butter is at the right temperature. The mixture is lightened in color, it’s visibly fluffy, and it’s not clinging to the sides of the bowl.

Sugar creamed with room temperature butter is pale and fluffy.

Let’s look at the three results side by side. Starting on the left: too cold and the mixture sits in a lump. Too warm, and the mixture spreads out and has an oily layer. Finally, properly creamed, the mixture sits up tall and has visible fluffy peaks.

From left to right: sugar creamed with cold butter, warm butter, and room temperature butter.

Besides looks, the feel of each mixture will be different as well. Under-creamed and your mix will feel like wet sand or damp cornmeal. Over-creamed, and your mix will have the feel of oil and sugar on your fingers, rather like a facial scrub. Your well-creamed mix will be moist and light and the sugar will be nearly dissolved. You’ll barely feel any grit when you rub it between your fingers.

The right mixing speed and duration for creaming

Of course, having correctly softened butter is just one part of the equation, albeit a big one. Mixing at too high or too low a speed and for too short or long a time will also wreak havoc with your creaming. With the advent of the more powerful stand mixers that we use today, gone are the days of having to whip the butter and sugar mixture on high speed for several minutes to achieve good results. Instead, a moderate speed (typically speed 3 to 4 on a stand mixer) for 2 to 3 minutes is sufficient to get the aeration you’re looking for, being sure to scrape the bowl halfway through.

Under-creamed butter and sugar

If you under-cream your butter and sugar mixture, it will remain dense, grainy, and dark in color:

Under-creamed butter and sugar

If you under-cream your butter and sugar mixture, it will remain dense, grainy, and dark in color.

Correctly creamed butter and sugar

Perfectly creamed butter and sugar should be light, fluffy, and pale in color (but not white).

Perfectly creamed butter and sugar

Perfectly creamed butter and sugar should be light, fluffy, and pale in color (but not white).

Over-creamed butter and sugar

If you beat too long and hard, the mixture will be over-creamed, becoming nearly white in color. Because it’s too aerated, it can result in dense, gummy streaks in your cake when baking.

Over-creamed butter and sugar.

Unfortunately, if the butter and sugar has gone this far there’s no going back. We hope you’ve found this information helpful. A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and we hope these photos and our video will help you achieve the cakes and bakes of your dreams.

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Using the chocolate tempering machine

Using the chocolate tempering machine

By: izzah zainal | February 15, 2025

Need a large quantity of workable chocolate? Then it’s best to use the chocolate tempering machine.

Good To Know:

Why is fluidity so important?

The fluidity of your chocolate determines the thickness of the shell and the snap of your chocolate products: the more fluid your chocolate, the thinner and crunchier your shell will be.

Using chocolate with the right fluidity also saves time: you can cast large moulds in one go with less fluid chocolate. Chocolate with a higher fluidity is better for moulds with a lot of detail, but you’ll need to fill your mould with chocolate 2 to 3 times.

Why is it so important to pre-crystallise chocolate properly?

It helps chocolate harden, and gives it a beautiful satin gloss and a delicious snap. It makes chocolate contract during cooling, which makes it easier to unmould. Badly crystallised or uncrystallised chocolate will turn grey and won’t have an appetising gloss.

What is tempering or pre-crystallising?

The purpose of tempering chocolate is to pre-crystallise the cocoa butter in it, which is important to make your chocolate ready for processing. During tempering, the cocoa butter in the chocolate takes on a stable crystalline form. This guarantees a perfect finished product with a satin gloss and a hard snap. It also makes the chocolate contract during cooling, which makes it easier to unmould. If chocolate is simply melted (between 40 and 45 °C) and then left to cool down to a suitable working temperature, the finished product will not be glossy. If you make the small effort of bringing your chocolate to the right working temperature properly, you are guaranteed to get the desired end result. And that’s what we mean by tempering: bringing chocolate up to the right working temperature while making sure that the crystalline structure of the cocoa butter in it is stable. As you’ll discover below, the three key principles for proper tempering are time, temperature and movement.

Step 1

Pour a small amout of chocolate into a plastic or glass bowl.

Step 2

Place the bowl in a microwave and melt the chocolate at 800-1,000 W.

Step 3

Take the chocolate out of the microwave every 15 to 20 seconds and stir well to make sure that the heat is distributed evenly throughout and to keep the chocolate from burning.

Step 4

Repeat this procedure until the chocolate has almost entirely melted. Some small pieces of chocolate should still be visible in the bowl.

Step 5

Take the bowl out of the microwave and stir the chocolate well until all the pieces of chocolate have disappeared. You’ll notice that your chocolate is now smooth and slightly thicker. That means it is properly tempered and ready for use.

Which chocolate needs to be tempered?

Each variety or type of chocolate should be tempered before you use it to mould chocolates and hollow figures, or to enrobe cakes and chocolates. In short, whenever chocolate needs to have a beautiful satin gloss and a hard snap, tempering is absolutely crucial.

When you add chocolate to dishes as a flavour component (e.g. chocolate mousses or bavarian creams), it suffices to simply melt it without tempering. All our recipes clearly indicate if your chocolate should be tempered or not.

A general overview of baking pan materials

The biggest distinction between pans is heat transfer. Metal conducts heat the most efficiently — in other words, it gets hot the quickest and transfers heat evenly across the pan’s surface — which is why many professionals choose aluminum pans. (Another benefit: Metal pans withstand rapid temperature changes, meaning you can take your pie plate from the fridge to the oven without worrying about shattering.)

Glass, on the other hand, is an insulator. Because glass slows the flow of heat between the oven’s air and your dough, it takes more time to heat up than metal — meaning your dough takes longer to heat too. But once it’s hot, it retains that heat well, and it stays hot for longer than metal. For pie, there’s one more bonus: The clear material means you can visibly check how brown your crust is getting.

Ceramic pie pans are usually either stoneware or porcelain, and they can vary based on the material and how it’s made. They can also vary in thickness and thus heat transfer, so ultimate performance depends on which brand or maker you’re baking with. Overall, though, they tend to be slower to transfer heat than more efficient metal pans, though they retain heat well.

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How to store chocolate products

How to store chocolate products

By: izzah zainal | February 7, 2025

Bad storage will have a negative impact on the quality of your finished product. To prevent this from happening, we show you the ins and outs of the proper storing procedure.

Good To Know:

Why is it so important to store your chocolate creations in the right conditions?

Constant storage temperatures are essential to slow down the white-greyish discoloration (i.e. fat bloom) that naturally appears on the chocolate’s surface.

Avoid temperature shocks since they may cause sugar bloom.

Storing chocolate in a space that is too humid or too cold may expose it to condensation, often causes sugar bloom.

Never store chocolate near strong-smelling products as chocolate has the tendency to absorb odours.

How can you slow down the appearance of fat bloom?

Store your finished chocolate products at a constant temperature between 18°C and 20°C. Fat-based fillings (e.g. pralines or nut-based fillings) will make fat bloom appear faster. You can prevent this by adding 5% to 6% cocoa butter to your filling and then pre-crystallising (or tempering) it.

What causes sugar bloom?

Temperature shocks, or storing chocolate in a space that is too humid or too cold (thus exposing it to condensation) in many cases gives rise to sugar bloom.

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How to make chocolates in a mould

How to make chocolates in a mould

By: izzah zainal | February 7, 2025

Eager to get started on those beautiful moulded chocolates? This step-by-step breakdown will help you achieve the perfect end result.

Good To Know:

What should you take to heart when making moulded chocolates?

Use polycarbonate moulds. These yield the best gloss and contract slower than chocolate, making unmoulding far easier. Choose a fluid chocolate: a three-drop or four-drop fluidity is ideal. Heat the moulds briefly before pouring in your chocolate. This way, you’ll avoid temperature shocks that could make your chocolate turn grey afterwards.

Make sure that your filling is smooth and fluid enough to pipe easily. Also check that it isn’t warmer than 28°C, otherwise the filling will make your chocolate shells melt. Try to avoid making smudges on the rims of your chocolate moulds with the filling as they may cause leaks in your chocolate shells. Always fill each chocolate shell individually. Never fill the chocolate shells to the brim. Leave a 1.5-mm opening from the top, otherwise it would be impossible to seal your chocolates properly.

Needed:

  1. Moulds for chocolates (pralines), preferably in polycarbonate
  2. A ladle
  3. Chocolate melter or tempering machine
  4. A small palette knife
  5. A chocolate scraper
  6. Sheet of paper

Step 1

Temper the melted chocolate.

Step 2

Warm your chocolate mould with a heat gun to a temperature of 26 to 27°C, but make sure it doesn’t become warmer than your tempered chocolate.

Step 3

Fill the mould with tempered chocolate. Hold the mould at an angle and scrape off the excess chocolate from the top and sides of the mould.

Step 4

Tap the mould firmly against your worktop to remove any air bubbles from the chocolate.

Step 5

Pour the chocolate back into the melter, but make sure that all sides and corners of the mould cavities are evenly covered with chocolate.

Step 6

Scrape off the excess chocolate from the top and sides of the mould again.

Step 7

Let the chocolate set for about 5 minutes: put the mould on a sheet of paper with is open side facing down and allow the excess chocolate to drip onto it (until the dripped out chocolate begins to set).

Step 8

Scrape off the excess chocolate one last time and leave the chocolate to harden in a refrigerator at 14 to 16°C for a few minutes. The chocolate shells are then ready to be filled with a ganache, praline or other filling.Which type of chocolate is best suited to create moulded chocolates?

For a medium thick chocolate shell:

All chocolate types with a basic three-drop fluidity are right about perfect. They make it easy to create a chocolate layer with the perfect thickness and minimise the chance of having unwanted air bubbles, especially in comparison with more fluid chocolates.

For a fine chocolate shell:

Some chocolate lovers and craftsmen want the chocolate shell of their moulded chocolates to be as fine and crunchy as possible. A more fluid chocolate with a 2% to 4% higher cocoa butter content is absolutely perfect for this. You can easily recognise these types of chocolate by the four-drop symbol indicated on their packaging.

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Baking trials: From metal to glass to ceramic, how does your pie pan affect your crust?

Baking trials: From metal to glass to ceramic, how does your pie pan affect your crust?

By: RedmanShop | February 7, 2025

Choosing the best pan for the best pie.

Baking is often about choices, and sometimes those choices can help you dial in your ideal bake. From selecting a certain cocoa for your chocolate cake to finding the cupcake decoration that feels both beautiful and achievable, bakers have a lot of agency beyond the strict confines of a recipe.

Can baking in a specific type of pan help you achieve a perfectly browned bottom, crispy and golden and not the least bit soggy? Let’s find out.

A general overview of baking pan materials

The biggest distinction between pans is heat transfer. Metal conducts heat the most efficiently — in other words, it gets hot the quickest and transfers heat evenly across the pan’s surface — which is why many professionals choose aluminum pans. (Another benefit: Metal pans withstand rapid temperature changes, meaning you can take your pie plate from the fridge to the oven without worrying about shattering.)

Glass, on the other hand, is an insulator. Because glass slows the flow of heat between the oven’s air and your dough, it takes more time to heat up than metal — meaning your dough takes longer to heat too. But once it’s hot, it retains that heat well, and it stays hot for longer than metal. For pie, there’s one more bonus: The clear material means you can visibly check how brown your crust is getting.

Ceramic pie pans are usually either stoneware or porcelain, and they can vary based on the material and how it’s made. They can also vary in thickness and thus heat transfer, so ultimate performance depends on which brand or maker you’re baking with. Overall, though, they tend to be slower to transfer heat than more efficient metal pans, though they retain heat well.

Putting the pie pans to the test

How these properties affect your baking often depends on the recipe you’re making. In pie, this primarily applies to the bottom crust. The ideal is a crust that cooks quickly and completely, even in a pie with juicy or liquid fillings. Let’s see how Easy Fall Mini Pies made with All-Butter Pie Crust and baked in metal, glass, and ceramic pie plates compare.

Note: Some crusts — notably those with added sugar — will naturally brown better, regardless of pan type. Again, there are always many factors to balance when baking!

The biggest takeaway

Though there were some slight variations among the pans (more below!), all of these pies ultimately turned out well. Their crusts mostly browned, and none were distressingly underbaked. This means that, no matter what kind of pan you currently have in your cupboard, you can still make good pie worthy of serving to friends and family.

Pie made in a metal pan

Of the three pies, the metal pan had the most even browning across the entire bottom crust. From the outer edge to the very center, the crust was golden brown and thoroughly baked. If I had my choice of pans, I’d go with an aluminum one like this.

Pie made in a ceramic pan

While the ceramic-baked* crust was far from soggy, it had the least even browning of the three pies. The center of the pie was pale and slightly underbaked, which wasn’t ideal, while the outer edge had a nice deep brown color.

Pie made in a glass pan

The glass pan resulted in a bottom crust that was somewhat evenly browned, though there was more variance than the metal pan: The center was paler than the outer edge of the crust. That said, the glass-baked crust was darker than the metal-baked crust, which makes sense — glass retains heat longer than metal, so the crust was able to bake further. This is where being able to check your crust color using the clear material comes in handy, especially for fruit pies like apple that can bake for a long time without the filling being adversely affected.

A final trick for perfectly browned crust

More specifically, bake them on a preheated pizza stone or baking steel, which blasts the bottom with a big burst of heat to help the crust set before wet fillings can soak in and make them gummy. Using a metal pan is crucial, though, since it can withstand rapid temperature changes that glass or ceramic pans can’t.

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Butter vs shortening in pie crust

Butter vs shortening in pie crust

By: RedmanShop | February 7, 2025

Pie crust — gotta love it, right?

Flaky and tender when you nail it, tough as rawhide when you don’t, pie crust divides all of us bakers into definitive categories: those who succeed; those who fail, but keep trying; and those who buy Mrs. Smith’s.

Why is pie crust so tough — often literally? Well, it’s all about the fat, the water, and the flour. Three simple ingredients that, together, can create a masterpiece — or mayhem.

Butter vs. shortening in pie crust: the flour

Flour does make a difference, but not as much as you might think. A lower-protein pastry flour will inherently make a more tender crust (and will also be a bit more fragile when you’re rolling it out).

Truthfully, I use our all-purpose flour in my pie crust; I have to be careful not to work it too hard once the water is added (for fear of developing its gluten), but for me, it offers an ideal blend of good results and ease of handling.

The liquid

Make it ice water. Simple enough, right? Sure, you can use milk, add an egg, and try other types of liquid, but water produces reliably good results — so why not? Ah, now comes the ingredient that arguably makes or breaks a pie crust, and also creates the most debate:

The Fat

Your grandma used lard. Your mom used shortening. You use butter. Are all fats created equal?

I decided to find out.

First thing I did was rule out lard. NOT BECAUSE IT’S NOT A PERFECTLY GOOD FAT AND CAPABLE OF MAKING WONDROUSLY TASTY PIE CRUST. After all, our ancestors made lard-crust pies for centuries and, like lard-fried doughnuts, they were delicious.

I’m ruling out lard simply because good, fresh lard isn’t as universally available as shortening and butter. So if you love lard, and have a good supplier – stick with it.

But if butter and vegetable shortening are your choices, read on.

For years, I’ve alternated between two favorite recipes: Gluten-Free Crustless Pumpkin Pie, a crust made with both shortening and butter; and All-Butter Pie Crust.

One Thanksgiving I’d go with an all-butter crust for my Cranberry Hand Pies​; the next, I’d make my Easy Fall Mini Pies with the shortening/butter clone.

But never had I made both crusts in tandem, and done a side-by-side comparison. Which was flakier? Which tasted better?

Butter makes a lighter crust

I made an amazing discovery (amazing to me; we pie geeks are easily amazed): something I’d always believed to be true was absolutely, categorically, without a doubt not true at all.

I’d always told people that a shortening/butter pie crust would have better texture than an all-butter crust, due to shortening’s higher melting point. Why?

Fat keeps the layers of flour/water “matrix” separated as the pie bakes; the longer fat is present in its solid form (score one for shortening, with its high melting point), the more flakes will form, the more tender/flakier the crust will be.

Now, that may be true. I didn’t actually count the number of flaky layers in each crust.

But one thing was abundantly clear: the all-butter crust (above left) made a lighter crust, with more defined flakes than the butter/shortening combination (above right).

I was totally puzzled until it dawned on me: butter contains more water than shortening.

As the crust bakes, that water is converted to steam, puffing up the crust (and its flakes) like someone blowing up a balloon.

Each fat adds its own distinct flavor

And flavor? The all-butter crust tasted — well, buttery, of course. The butter/shortening crust (which was, by the way, just as tender and flaky as the butter crust, but without its light texture) tasted a bit like butter, and a bit like pie crust — that indefinable something that tells your taste buds, yes, I’m eating a piece of pie.

Both were good — just different. And one of the chief differences was looks: the butter crust produced a very ill-defined edge. My careful fluting basically went up in smoke (er, steam).

So if you’re after looks, stick with the butter/shortening combination (or all shortening). If looks don’t matter to you, I’d go with the all-butter crust.

What about substituting vodka for water?

While I was at it, I decided to test the famous Cook’s Illustrated secret to tender, flaky pie crust: using vodka in place of half the water in the crust.

The theory is that vodka, being alcohol rather than water, will develop flour’s gluten less than plain water, thus creating a more tender crust.

The verdict? I couldn’t discern any difference in the flakiness/tenderness of the vodka vs. non-vodka crusts.

But the vodka crust rolled out more easily; with its silken, smooth texture, it was a pleasure to work with.

So would I add vodka to pie crust? Sure. I think I’ll even keep a little bottle in the fridge, so it’s handy for pie crust or a gimlet — whichever comes first!

OK, I’ve given you a map. And here you stand at the crossroads, ready to make a decision on the butter vs. shortening in pie crust debate.

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