Pancakes

(So, that bitter pancake story.)

Pancakes, McDonald's especially, are magic. So there was one night two weeks ago, I felt like making pancakes and found a recipe on the internet. Coincidentally, I did have all the ingredients: leftover flour and sodium bicarbonate from my cake adventure last raya, milk, butter etc.

The batter turned out creamy and soft and looked promising, but the taste of the pancakes... was not.

The right word was 'bitter'.

So it has to be the sodium bicarbonate, right?

Questions:
- What does sodium bicarbonate actually do, anyway?
- When they say teaspoon... what do they mean by that exactly?

I went on the internet, and about 40 webpages later, got about half the idea.

For now, I think I'll go for the tip of the thumb for a tablespoon, and the tip of the index finger for a teaspoon.

And I always got confused between baking soda and baking powder. I typed 'sodium bicarbonate bitter' and found this link.

Summarizing the article:
1) Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.
2) Baking powder contains sodium bicarbonate and cream of tartar.
3) Both cause baked goods to 'rise'.
4) And because baking powder contains cream of tartar, it's more suitable for a longer baking time.
5) We can use baking powder when a recipe needs baking soda.
6) We cannot use baking soda when a recipe needs baking powder.
7) Baking soda has a somewhat bitter taste.

Well, thank you, point 7. I agree.

I did, however, eat one of the two pieces that I made, out of respect for my effort. It made me stop craving for pancakes (ok, for two weeks).