What's the deal with the Cream of Tartar!!?!

As you explore my blog, particularly the baked goods, you will notice cream of tartar as a listed ingredient on almost all of my recipes.  So, what's the deal?!?

I grew up in a house where my mother had that small tin of cream of tartar in the spice cupboard that looked like it had been around since the beginning of time. (sorry mom!) Unless you were making a meringue, there really was no use for cream of tartar-right?  Not exactly...

So let's start with what is cream of tartar, is it natural, and what is it used for.  Tartar is often associated with a bad trip to the dentist, but have no fear!  This is natural, but it has nothing to do with teeth.  Cream of tartar is actually the acidic sediment left in wine barrels after the wine has been fermented.  The sediment is purified and the result is an acidic, white, powdery substance. Ta da! Cream of Tartar.  Why Tartar?  Well, apparently that is related to the more scientific name... potassium hydrogen tartrate.

So, what good is it, and why am I adding it to my baked goods?  Well, to really understand cream of tartar, you need to understand leavening.  Think about that science fair project with the volcano.  You put in the baking soda and pour in the vinegar, and voila, erupting volcano.  

The resulting reaction causes the whole thing to overflow.  While we are not looking to make things overflow, we do want to make our baked goods rise, which means we need to add an acid to get the most out of our baking soda.  So, why haven't you used it before? Well, you have been using it - in baking powder.  Baking powder is actually a blend of cream of tartar and baking soda.  That is why you can't just substitute one for the other in baked goods, you need to have them both in your cupboard.  Before baking powder, everyone used to combine the baking soda and cream of tartar in their baking.

Now, your next question is, why am I not just using baking powder?  Well, I have two reasons for this.  First, ALL baking powder contains corn starch.  This is simply an additive to keep your baking powder from clumping and turning into a solid brick stuck in the bottom of the container.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to tolerate even this teeny, tiny amount of corn.  But, the second part of this is that because I couldn't tolerate it and I had to start using cream of tartar, I found I could tweak the ratio of the baking soda and the cream of tartar to get a better result in leavening.  So, converting the recipes back to baking powder is probably not going to work in the same way.  My recommendation is to go online and buy your cream of tartar in 1 pound bulk.  I find this lasts me 6 months or more and is about the same price as that teeny, tiny jar on the shelf in the grocery store.

So, what can you do if you run out of cream of tartar?  Well, it is an acid- so you need to add another acid.  Many of my recipes also contain vinegar.  This is an acid that I have used to increase the leavening either in place of cream of tartar or in addition to it.  Still, you need a lot more vinegar to match the cream of tartar and adding liquid is not always a good idea.  If you absolutely have an emergency, replace 1 TBSP of liquid with 1 TBSP vinegar for each 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar.  Keep in mind though, some people cannot tolerate the vinegar either...