What is the cream of tartar that appears in so many cooking recipes? Why does it seem so important for making meringue? Is there any difference with Royal baking powder? Today, we take a detailed look at what it is and how to use cream of tartar in our next cookies and cakes.
Cream of tartar is an ingredient that we often find in baking recipes. It is sold in the form of a fine powder and can give a complete twist to our cakes, creams, and meringues. Below, we will find out what cream of tartar is, its uses in cooking, and how to replace it.
What is a cream of tartar?
Cream of tartar is a powdered baking ingredient that has no taste or smell. Its main function is to stabilize fats and correct acidity, two properties highly appreciated in the preparation of icings, pastries, cakes, egg products, and certain beverages.
It is also known as potassium bitartrate or potassium acid tartrate, and in some regions of the world, as white cream. Tartars are potassium salts derived from tartaric acid, a compound obtained from the fermentation of grapes and berries. In fact, commercially available cream of tartar is a byproduct of wine production.
European legislation includes it as tartaric acid (E-334) and this is how we can identify it in many lists of ingredients. Tartaric acid (E-334) is used to produce other additives with a gasifying function such as monopotassium tartrate (E-336i), the most commonly used to ensure a successful meringue.
What is the cream of tartar used for and how to use it in the kitchen?
Cream of tartar, which has nothing to do with tartar sauce, is used to give fluffiness to cakes and biscuits, leaven cookies, provide creaminess, achieve the best frosting, and an unforgettable meringue. As an added bonus, it also acts as a natural preservative and acidity regulator, which is why it is present in drinks, soft drinks, pastries, and many other industrial foods.
How can we use cream of tartar at home? To increase the fluffiness of our cakes and biscuits, just add ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar for each cup of flour used in our recipe, along with half the amount of baking soda. This will give us a light and soft dough.
Cream of tartar is also essential for making meringue. It’s as simple as adding 1 teaspoon of coffee for every 4 egg whites. The resulting meringue will be voluminous and with a perfect texture, that unbeatable balance between almost crunchy and tender.
To leaven our cookies, we can make our own baking powder by mixing 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar with 1 teaspoon of baking soda. The combination releases carbon dioxide in such a way that it acts like any other leavening agent, with the added advantage of allowing us to enjoy crispy cookies for longer.
As for glazes, adding ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar will prevent the sugars from crystallizing too much. This will give you the ideal texture to decorate, spread or wrap in the glaze without it becoming petrified. If we are talking about savory dishes, adding cream of tartar to our sauces is a great idea to keep them creamy for much longer.
How cream of tartar is used in the food industry
In the food industry, tartaric acid (E-334) is the preferred additive for correcting the acidity of wine. Tartaric acid E-334 is also the food additive found in many fizzy drinks. It is also naturally present in fruits such as grapes and apples and is added to jams and jellies, in certain spreadable chocolates, fresh pasta and some sweeteners, as stated in Regulation 1129/2011.
Monopotassium tartrate (E-336i), on the other hand, is a derivative of tartaric acid that is marketed specifically for baking purposes under the name “cream of tartar”. There is sometimes confusion with the names since both additives come from tartaric acid extracted from the fermentation of grapes.
Where to buy cream of tartar
Cream of tartar can be purchased in specialty baking stores and online baking or spice stores such as Carmencita. Nowadays, large supermarkets such as Carrefour also sell cream of tartar.
Cream of tartar substitutes
What to do if I don’t have cream of tartar? No problem, because there are many possibilities to replace cream of tartar when making homemade pastries. If the recipe only needs cream of tartar but has baking soda, we can replace it with:
- Lemon juice: Lemon juice can be used in place of cream of tartar because it will act as an acidulant just as well. It should be noted that the ratio is double that of cream of tartar, so if the recipe calls for one teaspoon of cream of tartar, you will need two teaspoons of lemon juice. Of course, you should think about the influence it will have on the final flavor. Lemon juice can be the perfect substitute for cream of tartar in a lemon meringue pie.
- White vinegar: again, due to the acidic nature of white vinegar, it can be used as a substitute for cream of tartar as long as we triple the quantity and it is not a chocolate cake where it could negatively affect the final flavor.
In case we need to substitute a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar in our recipe:
- Baking powder for cookies and cakes from any supermarket or large store, such as Royal baking powder.
Cream of tartar or Royal baking powder? Which is better?
Cream of tartar and Royal baking powder can both leaven our cookies, but cream of tartar has more benefits.
Cream of tartar is an acidulant that, when mixed with a basic element such as baking soda, creates a chemical reaction that releases carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is the air that is trapped in the dough in the form of bubbles. Depending on the amount of air, our cakes or cookies will have more or less fluffiness.
Royal baking powders may or may not contain cream of tartar, but they will always contain an acidic element and a basic element to create the reaction that releases carbon dioxide. In addition, cornstarch is often added to baking powders to absorb excess moisture.
The advantage of baking powders is that they are very easy to use because they are already prepared and adapted in the quantities most commonly used in baking, freeing us from the need to do calculations.
Cream of tartar has the quality of preserving our food better, something that does not happen with baking powder. Cream of tartar also has the advantage of avoiding the crystallization of sugar, providing a creamier texture that baking powders (which do not contain cream of tartar) do not provide. The small difficulty with cream of tartar is getting used to adapting the necessary quantities according to the recipe we have in hand. Although it seems that it is very much worth trying.