Question

Baking soda is used in small amounts for making bread and cake. It helps to make these soft and spongy. An aqueous solution of baking soda turns red litmus blue. It is also used in soda-acid fire extinguishers.

How does baking soda help to make bread and cake soft and spongy?

Answer 1

• Baking soda reacts with the acidic ingredients of bread and cake to form carbon dioxide gas trapped inside the food item, which makes the foodstuff rise and thus makes it soft and spongy.
• The reaction for baking is given as follows -

$$\begin{gathered} {\mathrm{NaHCO}}_3\left(\mathrm{s}\right)\stackrel{∆}{\to }{\mathrm{Na}}_2{\mathrm{CO}}_3\left(\mathrm{aq}\right)+{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)+{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right) \\ \mathrm{baking}\mathrm{soda}\mathrm{sodium}\mathrm{carbonate}\mathrm{water}\mathrm{carbon}\mathrm{dioxide} \end{gathered}$$