Cream of tartar baking powder (raising agent, organic?)

Cream of tartar baking powder is the phosphate-free alternative to conventional (inorganic or chemical) raising agents. The acid contained in cream of tartar baking powder comes from natural cream of tartar and is used to loosen the dough.

Use in the kitchen

What is cream of tartar baking powder? Baking powder is generally a chemical raising agent. It usually consists of a mixture of baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate, E500) and an acidifier or acidic salt (such as disodium dihydrogen diphosphate, E450a or monocalcium orthophosphate, E341a). Cream of tartar (E335-337), citric acid (E330) or tartaric acid (E334) are suitable natural acidifiers. Baking soda and the acid react under the influence of heat and moisture. In this reaction, CO ₂ is produced in the form of small bubbles - an airy dough is created. ^8,11

The advantage of baking powder compared to yeast or sourdough is that it does not require a resting phase (fermentation phase). Cream of tartar baking powder (different acidifiers determine the name) is advantageous over synthetic baking powder because it is free of potentially harmful phosphates.

What is tartar? Tartar is formed when grapes are fermented to make wine. At the end of the main fermentation, the sugar has largely been fermented into alcohol, and proteins, pectin and tannins, as well as tartrates (tartar) and cell fragments, are deposited together with the yeast as sediment. The excretion of part of the tartaric acid as tartar (a mixture of potassium hydrogen tartrate and calcium tartrate) depends on the temperature, alcohol content and pH value. ⁹

How much cream of tartar baking powder should I use instead of regular baking powder? Cream of tartar baking powder is used for the same dishes and in the same amount as regular baking powder. Cakes, muffins and even breads can be baked well with cream of tartar baking powder.

The loosening effect of cream of tartar powder is based on a chemical reaction: the reason for the dough to rise is the formation of gas, which is created by adding moisture to the baking powder - also known as fore-rising. The main rise takes place under the influence of heat and releases carbon dioxide (CO ₂). This process loosens the dough and increases its volume. When baking, baking powder is therefore always mixed with the dry ingredients such as flour first and the liquid ingredients are only added at the end, immediately before baking. If the moist dough is left to stand for a long time, the baking powder can lose its effect and the dough will no longer rise when baked.

When using baking powder, unlike yeast dough, you must not use warm or even hot water. Otherwise the baking powder will start to react too soon and foam.

Cream of tartar baking powder dosage: One sachet of cream of tartar baking powder, approx. 70 g, is suitable for approx. 500 g flour. Depending on the method, whether you beat the mixture well with a hand mixer, add mineral water (with carbon dioxide) or mix in a beaten egg substitute, you can also reduce the specified amount, which has a positive effect on the taste. Raising agents have a big influence on the taste and texture of baked goods. If you use the correct dosage, you get light baked goods; however, if you use too much, the dishes will have a soapy taste.

Homemade preparation (make your own cream of tartar baking powder)

You can also make your own cream of tartar baking powder. The following mixing ratio is suitable: 1 part (e.g. teaspoon) baking soda (sodium hydrogen carbonate) to 2 parts cream of tartar and 1 part corn starch (as a separating agent). You can also use baking soda with six times the amount of lemon juice or vinegar. Baking soda without added acid tastes slightly soapy. Without a separating agent, the homemade cream of tartar baking powder does not last long and you have to use it up quickly.

Recipe for vegan wholemeal spelt pancakes

Ingredients (6 people): 400 g wholemeal spelt flour, 1 tsp cream of tartar baking powder, 1 tbsp raw sugar (or agave syrup), 1 pinch of salt, 2 tbsp chickpea flour, 400 ml plant milk (e.g. oat drink), oil (e.g. rapeseed oil), a pinchof vanilla, approx. 200 ml mineral water

Preparation: First mix all the dry ingredients well. Now stir in the milk and finally add the mineral water. The dough should be relatively thick, but still pourable. If necessary, add a little more plant-based milk or mineral water. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a coated pan and add about 1 ladle (soup ladle or ladle) of the pancake mixture to the hot pan and spread it by swirling. Bake the pancake for 1-2 minutes on both sides. The temperature should be reduced slightly after the first pancake. The finished pancakes can be stacked on a plate and covered with a lid so that they keep each other warm.

Vegan recipes with cream of tartar baking powder can be found under the note: " Recipes that have the most of this ingredient ".

Purchasing - Storage

Most supermarket chains sell cream of tartar baking powder all year round (e.g. Coop, Migros, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Volg, Spar, Rewe, Edeka, Hofer, Billa). Organic products are available in health food stores, organic shops and organic supermarkets such as Denn's Biomarkt or Alnatura. The difference between organic cream of tartar baking powder and conventional baking powder is that the ingredients are organically grown ( corn starch, tapioca starch, cream of tartar) and that it does not contain any phosphate.

In general, far fewer additives are permitted in organic products: around 50 - compared to around 330 in conventional products. ⁸

Almost all packaging states that it is phosphate-free (without phosphate additives) and gluten-free. Most organic baking powders do not contain phosphates, but not all of them contain cream of tartar. Cream of tartar is not necessarily vegan either ³ - more on this in our article on red wine. It is worth reading the ingredients and looking out for quality seals (organic symbol and vegan flower from the Vegan Society).

The availability of cream of tartar baking powder varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. You can find our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries above under the ingredient image - and by clicking you can see their development at various suppliers.

Storage tips

If stored in a cool, dark and, above all, dry place, cream of tartar baking powder will last for many years.

If cream of tartar baking powder has expired, this does not necessarily mean that the product is unusable. Many manufacturers specify a best-before date to protect themselves. If the cream of tartar powder is old, it could lose its effectiveness. This is easy to test: Mix a small amount of cream of tartar powder with an acid (eg vinegar or lemon juice) or hot water. If it is still effective, it should foam or bubble.

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

To be realistic, we show you the ingredients per 1 g (instead of per 100 g as usual).

Baking powder always consists of the following ingredients: the raising agent, a dry acid and a release agent. ⁹

The difference between conventional baking powder and cream of tartar baking powder is the acidifier. The raising agent is usually sodium bicarbonate (E 500 as sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate and sodium sesquicarbonate), but this alone does not loosen the dough as desired. An acidifying agent is needed for this. In conventional baking powders it is phosphate or diphosphate. This can be, for example, disodium dihydrogen diphosphate or sodium pyrophosphate. However, aluminum-containing acids are also used. All of these acids are harmful to health and should therefore be avoided (see effects on health).

In cream of tartar baking powder, however, the acidifier is natural cream of tartar (the common name for salts of tartaric acid). The release agent used is mainly starch in the form of corn or potato starch, which prevents the baking powder from being activated by the humidity in the air. Rice starch and gluten-containing wheat starch are also used. By significantly increasing the total volume, the release agent makes dosing easier and increases the flowability.

Due to the carbohydrates it contains (0.44 g/1g), cream of tartar baking powder has a relatively high calorie content of 2.35 kcal/1g. Fat and protein content are negligible at less than 1%. ¹⁷

Sodium, calcium and manganese are the most important essential nutrients that cream of tartar baking powder offers. However, due to the small amount consumed, they and the macronutrients do not contribute significantly to meeting the respective daily requirements.

The complete ingredients of cream of tartar baking powder, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Effects on health

Is cream of tartar baking powder healthy? As a food additive, cream of tartar has the E number E354 for calcium tartrate and E336ii for potassium bitartrate and E336i for monopotassium tartrate. Harmful effects have not been identified so far. Cream of tartar is harmless to human health, but larger quantities can have a laxative effect. ⁸

In medical studies, researchers have found that cream of tartar is an effective stool softener. Combined with sodium bicarbonate and polyethylene glycol in the form of suppositories, cream of tartar can help with chronic constipation. ⁵ Its effect is based on the same mechanism as that used in baking powder: potassium bitartrate releases carbon dioxide. This gas causes pressure on the intestinal wall and triggers intestinal contractions. This laxative is also apparently suitable for patients who are at risk of electrolyte imbalances, such as the elderly and people with kidney or cardiovascular disease. ²

The tartaric acid in cream of tartar has a positive effect on our health up to a quantity of 30 mg per kg of body weight per day. This is particularly due to the antioxidant effect of cream of tartar powder. Tartaric acid can help with urinary stones. In addition, tartaric acid, taken in the form of cream of tartar, has been shown to have a positive effect on digestion and the risk of developing colon cancer. ¹

Cream of tartar baking powder is healthier than most baking powders because it does not contain any inorganic phosphates. Excessive consumption of these artificial phosphates, which can easily occur in a diet with a lot of highly processed foods, is linked to increased mortality. ¹² There is also an interesting video about foods that contain phosphates: Processed cheese: The underestimated phosphate danger. Additives that contain phosphates have the following E numbers: E338 - E341, E343 and E450 - E452. ⁸

Cream of tartar baking powder is therefore a good alternative to baking powder containing phosphates. In addition, cream of tartar baking powder is generally not a problem for people with histamine intolerance, unlike yeast.

Is monopotassium tartrate harmful? Monopotassium tartrate (E336 i), also known as potassium tartrate, is used in baking and cooking like potassium ditartrate. So far there is no evidence of a harmful effect on health. No negative consequences are to be expected up to 240 mg/kg body weight per day. ¹⁴

Secondary plant substances

As far as we know, cream of tartar baking powder does not contain any secondary plant substances. Since cream of tartar baking powder is a refined chemical compound ( potassium bitartrate C ₄ H ₅ KO ₆ ), all secondary plant substances from the underlying grape are probably lost during processing or remain in the wine.

The secondary plant substances are probably not relevant to the nutritional profile of cream of tartar baking powder. Learn more about the importance and classification of these bioactive substances in foods in the article on secondary plant substances.

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

Consuming large amounts of cream of tartar (4-6 tablespoons in the present study) can be life-threatening. It leads to an excess of potassium in the body, a condition known as hyperkalemia. Six tablespoons of pure cream of tartar (potassium bitartrate) contains more than three times the daily maximum amount of potassium. Using ⁵ cream of tartar baking powder as a laxative on your own is therefore not a good idea.

Cream of tartar baking powder is toxic to dogs. ¹³

Folk medicine - natural healing

Paracelsus called diseases such as gout, rheumatism, arthrosis, gallstones, kidney stones or sclerosis "Tartaric diseases" (raw tartar = Tartarus crudus). He also attributed healing effects to tartar: many powers are found in tartar, more than in wine. Tartar was previously used for chronic skin diseases, as a drainage agent via the kidneys, liver and intestines and for kidney stones. Even today there are natural cosmetic products that make use of the effects of tartar. ⁶

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

Unfortunately, we could hardly find any data on the impact of cream of tartar baking powder production on the environment.

Carboncloud, a Swedish database, calculated the _carbon footprint of tartaric acid (E334) from Italy: 4.6 kg CO ₂ eq/kg. This is a large footprint, similar to that of pork. However, if you convert this value to the usual consumption of cream of tartar baking powder, you get only 0.0046 kg CO ₂ eq. ¹⁵ In addition, cream of tartar is a by-product, which has a positive effect on the carbon footprint.

For detailed explanations of various sustainability indicators (such as ecological footprint, _CO2 footprint, water footprint), see our article: What does the ecological footprint mean?

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

For cultivation of the underlying grapes follow the link.

Tartaric acid occurs naturally in many plants. Tamarind, grapes, bananas, apples and some citrus fruits contain the most of this substance. Tartaric acid occurs mainly in the form of potassium bitartrate and calcium tartarate. ¹

Baking powder was first used in the first third of the 19th century. Curiously, it was in the form of pigeon droppings. The French, especially the Parisians, fill the dough with air, which causes the dough mass to rise to the surface, where it is then fried to form a hollow crust or bark. This makes the bark very dry, fried and therefore very tasty and digestible. Doctors can decide whether the hot pigeon droppings can be harmful to health if consumed on a regular basis. The effectiveness of pigeon droppings as baking powder is based on the ammonium salts it contains. ⁷

There are various stories about the invention of baking powder. Initially, sour milk and cream of tartar were used. However, this combination was unpredictable; one time the dough would be excellent, the next it would not rise. Therefore, research began into better methods. Two important researchers were the chemist Justus von Liebig and his student Eben Norton Horsford. ^4,16 At that time, in the mid-19th century, Liebig believed that adding phosphoric acid to flour was beneficial to health, as this nutrient would otherwise be missing from the bread due to the grinding and removal of the phosphorus-rich bran. ⁷

Industrial production

Tartar is a mixture of poorly soluble salts of tartaric acid, e.g. potassium hydrogen tartrate and calcium tartrate. These salts form during the storage of wine, grape juice and during the production of sparkling wine. The tartar has a different color depending on the type of wine. Tartar crystallizes mainly on the walls and especially on the bottom of the vessels. ⁷ Decanting is used to separate tartar from the wine. Tartar is not a quality feature, but it does indicate that the wine was not or only insufficiently chemically (by metatartaric acid) or physically (by cold) stabilized during the wine aging process (the period between the end of fermentation and bottling of a wine).

For information on how to make the other (usual) components of cream of tartar baking powder, please see the following links: Baking soda , corn starch .

Further information

Despite extensive research, we were unable to find any good sources for the invention of baking powder. One story that is often found online is that Alfred Bird developed the first cream of tartar baking powder (made from bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar) for his wife, who was allergic to eggs and yeast. At the time, however, cream of tartar was expensive, so in the mid-19th century , Eben Norton Horsford, a student of Justus von Liebig, researched a cheaper alternative - and the classic baking powder was born.

As an alternative to baking powder, in addition to yeast, there is also ammonium bicarbonate (E503), which is mainly used for flat, long-lasting baked goods. This ammonium hydrogen carbonate (ammonium bicarbonate, ABC leavening, E503ii) is used for gingerbread, honey cakes, speculaas or other biscuits, usually in combination with potassium carbonate (potash, E501). At temperatures above 60 °C, ammonium bicarbonate decomposes into ammonia, carbon dioxide and water. Baking with ammonium bicarbonate can, however, lead to the increased development of acrylamide. ^{10, 11}

Alternative names

An old name for cream of tartar is 'tartarus'. ⁶ The chemical name is potassium bitartrate or potassium tartrate. In English, cream of tartar baking powder is called 'cream of tartar' or 'tartar baking powder'. Sometimes it is also found - like conventional baking powder - under the name 'baking powder'.

Other uses

In pharmacy, cream of tartar is known as a laxative and Rochette salt (E337) made from cream of tartar is often used as an acidity regulator. However, the use of cream of tartar as a laxative is dangerous because it can lead to excess potassium (or hyperkalemia).

Cream of tartar is also used to stabilize egg whites and whipped cream. It also prevents the crystallization of sugar syrup and reduces the discoloration of cooked vegetables. In combination with potassium chloride, cream of tartar is used as a sodium-free table salt substitute. Outside of food use, cream of tartar can also be used as a cleaning agent to remove stubborn stains.

Sourdough,dry yeast and baking yeast ( brewer's yeast) are organic, i.e. non-chemical baking agents (raising agents), but not always organic.

Cream of tartar and baking powder can be used to make modeling clay. As an environmentally friendly cleaning agent, it is suitable for cleaning textiles (gentle bleach), pans and pots, or as a bathroom and toilet cleaner.