Well, not a total disaster but, so very very strange.
I made Red Velvet Cupcakes today for the first time and, I tweaked a recipe that I found online a bit. The cupcake tastes amazing and has great texture (moist and lovely) but, I have these strange little indents on the bottom of the cupcake...like reverse sinking!!
Here is the original recipe:
http://www.carrottopmom.com/?p=290
And, I made the following changes:
1. Used dutch processed cocoa and, removed the baking soda.
2. Used 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 cup buttermilk (only because I realized after I started that I only had about a 1/2 cup of sour cream left...ooops)
Any ideas??
I'm curious why you removed the baking soda, its the only levening ingredient in the recipe? My guess is that might be what caused your problem.
Tried to take a pic...
Here they are...looking all normal and stuff:
then you take off the liner, flip them over and....
Oh and for those wondering why they are not "red" this was my 4th dozen testing different recipes and, I ran out of red food coloring so, only used a small squirt instead of the 2 tablespoons! LOL
I had removed the baking soda because I used the dutch processed cocoa and, from what I understood, it already has baking soda in it so, in order to avoid over leavening, I took it out! HA
I just recently did a search on dutch processed cocoa vs unsweetened cocoa and "technically" I believe the OP was thinking correctly to eliminate the baking soda...but I don't know if that specific recipe can handle the substitution. I would try with unsweetened cocoa powder.
According to this page, you did the right thing by removing the baking soda. This page also says that you may want to add some leavening...
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/CocoaTypes.htm
I learned something new. I didn't now Dutch Processed Cocoa was different then regular cocoa. Thanks for sharing! This is how we all earn!
Maybe I need to add MOST of the baking powder back in??
1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa = 1.5 oz if I'm not mistaken so, based on that link, every 1 oz of dutch processed cocoa has 1/8 tsp of baking soda so, it realistically is less than 2/8 tsp of baking powder. Can't imagine that would be a HUGE difference so, I think I'll give the recipe a go with the original called for baking powder.
My brain hurts now! HAHAHA
I had removed the baking soda because I used the dutch processed cocoa and, from what I understood, it already has baking soda in it so, in order to avoid over leavening, I took it out! HA
No, dutch processed cocoa does not have baking soda in it. Dutch processed cocoa has gone through a process that removes the acidity from the cocoa powder. It is neutral so it does not react with baking soda.
The problem is you took out a leavening agent (baking soda) without adding any back in. You needed to add a leavening agent to replace the baking soda you removed. In most cases that would be baking powder.
Interestingly enough however you will see baking soda in recipes with Dutch Processed Cocoa if there are other ingredients in the recipe that are acidic ingredients that then react with the baking soda. In this case your adding of a cup of buttermilk would have been enough to active the baking soda (lactic acid in the buttermilk). Thus you did not need to remove the baking soda.
In addition your adding of a cup of buttermilk to replace the 1/2 of sour cream would impact the recipe.
No... the recipe just for the opposite of what she put in... 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup of buttermilk... so she didn't add extra liquid. She just used the inverse, 1 cup butter milk and 1/2 cup of sour cream
They domed but have the divot in the bottom -- how does that come into play with the leavening issues?
No... the recipe just for the opposite of what she put in... 1 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup of buttermilk... so she didn't add extra liquid. She just used the inverse, 1 cup butter milk and 1/2 cup of sour cream
Yeppers misread the original recipe so the amount of liquid did not change. However buttermilk is not a standard substitution for sour cream. They have different fat content which would impact the recipe, especially if as most buttermilk is around here, low fat. May not be what caused the issue the OP describes but half a cup is enough to impact the recipe.
They domed but have the divot in the bottom -- how does that come into play with the leavening issues?
Had there been a leavening agent, there would have been an equal rise through out the baking product, and no divot.
This gives a thorough scientific break down.
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/baking-powder.htm
Hey everyone, just wanted to update that I made this recipe again WITH the baking soda and, it turned out PERFECTLY!!!
Yes, good lesson learned! LOL And really shows the difference a little baking soda makes. That first batch tasted good but was super dense and rich. The latest batch was so light and airy it was amazing.
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