Grandma's baking powder vs. modern double-acting: my cornbread test flopped one way

I always used my grandma's old single-acting baking powder for her cornbread recipe. Last week I ran out and grabbed a can of double-acting from the store. The first batch came out with a weird metallic taste and these big holes in the middle. I swapped back to the single-acting stuff and the texture was perfect again, dense and tender like it should be. Has anyone else run into problems swapping old-school leaveners for the modern kind?

3 comments

3 Comments

hart.sage28d ago

Oh man, I feel this one deep. My grandma's cornbread recipe uses single-acting baking powder too, and I made the exact same mistake last fall when I ran out. I ended up with this spongy, crater-filled mess that tasted like a chemistry experiment. It was so bad my husband asked if I changed the recipe. I had to go to three different stores before I found a little tin of the old single-acting stuff. It broke my heart to think I'd ruined her recipe just by swapping one ingredient. Did you end up tossing that flop batch too?

miles_young5928d ago

Grandma's baking powder is bulletproof, the new stuff's just trying to trick you.

josephmartin28d ago

Store it in a glass jar, not the can.