Physics Buzz: When chemistry dunces bake

What about my deflated cakes? I remember baking a very sad birthday cake that cooked but didn’t rise. Incredibly, a detail as tiny as what baking powder I used could have been the culprit. While baking soda reacts immediately, baking powder usually makes bubbles twice—once when cool and once when heated. But this all depends on the acids in the baking powder. If a baking powder happens to release all the bubbles in the first stage, when mixed, you’ll lose out on most of your leavening if you don’t act fast. Considering how slow I am about going about things, this could very well be an explanation.

Bonus for including the Möbius bagel at the end.

(I still maintain that most food preparation doesn’t rise to this level, to allow it to be called science. Jennifer and I will have to agree to disagree)