Have you ever noticed that even following a recipe exactly sometimes isn't enough to make a perfect pie? The dough has sunk, the sponge cake has become rubbery, and the muffins have burnt on the bottom. Sound familiar?
It turns out there's one secret ingredient hidden in your kitchen that can save even the most hopeless dessert.
It's not something that's often mentioned in culinary schools, and professional chefs grit their teeth when newbies hear about it.
We're not talking about baking powder or vanilla extract. This is regular apple cider vinegar. Yes, that same bottle that's been gathering dust in the back of your cupboard for years.
Why does it work? It's simple: vinegar reacts with baking soda, creating millions of air bubbles that make the dough incredibly airy. But that's not all.
It also neutralizes the baking soda taste that sometimes makes baked goods taste soapy, and prolongs the freshness of the dessert.
For example, if you add a teaspoon of vinegar to the batter for a chocolate cake, it will become moist, like in expensive bakeries, and will not go stale even after three days.
Try kneading shortcrust pastry with vinegar - it will not crumble when rolling out, and after baking it will retain its perfect shape.
How to use this life hack? It all depends on the recipe. For biscuits and muffins, 1 teaspoon per 2 cups of flour is enough. If you are making gluten-free baked goods, mix vinegar with plant milk (1 tablespoon per cup) to replace eggs.
Even for yeast-free bread, vinegar will be a salvation: add it to the water before kneading, and the crumb will be fluffy, like from a village grandmother’s oven.
The main thing is not to overdo it. If you pour too much vinegar, the dough will become sour, but this can be easily corrected by increasing the amount of sugar or vanilla.
And now the most important secret: vinegar can be replaced with lemon juice or even kefir. But it is the apple version that works best in sweet pastries, because its aroma is almost imperceptible.
Try adding it next time you bake pancakes or gingerbread, and you'll be surprised how such a small thing changes the result.
Chefs will of course say it's 'cheating', but is your goal really to please snobs or to have the perfect pie for tea?
Author: Igor Zur