Bicarbonate of soda, and flour

Clauric

I've recently been diagnosed IBS, and I am not allowed to eat bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate). This causes some issues, as I do like to bake, and love cakes.

I am wondering if anybody can suggest what I can use instead of bicarbonate of soda in baking?

Also, I was advised to not use self raising flour (as it often contains bicarbonate of soda), and to use strong flour instead? Looking around, I can't seem to find recipes that use strong flour without bicarbonate of soda. Are there any suggestions on how to use strong flour without the raising agents?

Dizzyblonde

Bicarbonate of soda is usually used with plain flour, and is already in self raising flour. Yeast is the raising agent used with strong white flour and mostly in recipes for bread, although there are plenty of sweet recipes too such as cinnamon rolls, iced buns (the type you slice open and butter) etc.

Clauric

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

Bicarbonate of soda is usually used with plain flour, and is already in self raising flour. Yeast is the raising agent used with strong white flour and mostly in recipes for bread, although there are plenty of sweet recipes too such as cinnamon rolls, iced buns (the type you slice open and butter) etc.

Thanks for the reply. From my understanding, yeast is mainly used in breads, and the like. What could I use for making cakes, and the likes?

Dizzyblonde

For cakes like sponges you wouldn't use strong flour because anything you bake with it will have a bread-like texture whether sweet or savoury. You'd have to use plain flour, and that has no bicarb or any raising agent in it. I'm not sure that you could actually make things like sponges etc without bicarb, although hopefully I'm wrong and someone else will know better.

Markcheese

Dizzyblonde wrote:

For cakes like sponges you wouldn't use strong flour because anything you bake with it will have a bread-like texture. You'd have to use plain flour, and that has no bicarb or any raising agent in it. I'm not sure that you could actually make things like sponges etc without bicarb, although hopefully I'm wrong and someone else will know better.

Fatless sponge (swiss roll sponge ) in made with plain flour ... you're depending on beating the eggs and sugar to ribbon stage to get the air in and the lightness... you may have to really search to find a plain flour with absolutely no raising agent ...

Shenshen

There are some nice cakes you can actually make without any additional raising agent at all. Most of them would use beaten egg to give it a light texture and rise.
Angel Food Cake would be one of them, for example.

rubadub

Be sure to check your flour ingredients lists. Tesco plain flour has bicarb in it.

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=251959276

so does odlums cream/plain flour
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=250829294

Odlums organic plain flour, and tesco value plain flour have none.

looksee

Most Irish 'plain' flour has raising agent in it, a fact which totally confused me when I came here, plain flour should imo be plain!

You can also raise bread with beer, but it would not make cakes! Things like flapjacks don't have raising agent.

Clauric

Was planning on using strong flour, with the yeast, instead of plain flour, as suggested by other posters.

Dizzyblonde

I never knew that plain flour had some raising agent in it!

rubadub

Dizzyblonde wrote: »

I never knew that plain flour had some raising agent in it!

only some, and I would guess it is a lot less than self raising, just not sure how much, I wish they were obliged to list % for ingredients.

The tesco strong flours have calcium carbonate in them, not sure if that would be an issue.

I read ingredients lists on almost everything, many things people think are basic/plain can have extra stuff in them.

e.g. avonmore skim milk, not advertised as "super milk".

Skimmed Milk, Milk Protein, Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), Stabiliser: Carrageenan, Iron (Ferric Pyrophosphate), Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol), Folic Acid

They often put proteins in to make it seem less watery

huskerdu

Clauric wrote: »

Was planning on using strong flour, with the yeast, instead of plain flour, as suggested by other posters.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious, you cant use a recipe for cake and replace the flour / bicarb with strong flour and yeast. If a recipe uses bicarb, I dont know of any direct replacement.


To make cakes, you should use a recipe for a fatless sponge or angel cake as above which dont use raising agents. google "cake recipe no baking powder". There are loads of suggestions,

If you want to use strong flour to make a sweet treat, you can make sweet pastries.

What do you normally bake ? It would be best to do a variation on what you are already experienced at

Toto Wolfcastle

Rather than trying to adapt recipes that have bicarb in them, there are loads of things you can bake are already bicarb free. Brownies, eclairs, all sorts of biscuits, soufflés. As mentioned above, a fatless sponge contains no bicarb, and you could use it to make a layer cake or swiss roll etc.

Just check the plain flour first to make sure it's okay to eat.

Clauric

Clauric wrote: »

I've recently been diagnosed IBS, and I am not allowed to eat bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate). This causes some issues, as I do like to bake, and love cakes.

I am wondering if anybody can suggest what I can use instead of bicarbonate of soda in baking?

Also, I was advised to not use self raising flour (as it often contains bicarbonate of soda), and to use strong flour instead? Looking around, I can't seem to find recipes that use strong flour without bicarbonate of soda. Are there any suggestions on how to use strong flour without the raising agents?

Having suffered for years with IBS, despite avoiding all trigger foods, on the advice of my local chemist, I started using a desertspoon of linseeds in my breakfast and have never looked back. If you haven't already tried them, you could give them a go.

Mystery Egg

Tarts and pies with a whole world of fillings require no raising agents.