How to replace yeast in confectionery and bakery

The leavening agents They are what make our masses rise by conferring gases to the mass. Not all are the same or are used for the same. For example the bakery yeastwhat is Saccharomyces cerevisiae alive, is used for breads, while baker’s yeast, which is an acid and a base, is used for baking.

What happens when we lack these two ingredients? We have simple alternatives depending on what we are going to prepare:

Yeast substitutes in bakery

The bakery yeast both fresh and dry, it is a live yeast that must be “fed” with sugars and kept at a warm temperature so that it produces the gases that make our bread rise and rise. This process is a bit long, it takes time, that is why the masses are left to rest for hours.

The truth is that this yeast is found in the environment, and we can “capture” it by making homemade sourdough.

The best way to make homemade sourdough is with whole wheat flour and water. The process will take about five days but it is not laborious and after that we will have our own dough with live yeast ready to use whenever we want.

Ingredients day 1:

¾ cup whole wheat flour½ cup water (at room temperature)

Preparation:

Mix the flour with the water in a plastic or glass bowl. until a smooth dough is made. If necessary you can add more water. It will be very sticky. Cover it with transparent film or a clean cloth with a rubber band and let it rest for 24 hours at room temperature.After this first day, little bubbles will have appeared in the dough. Now we have to feed it so that it continues to multiply.

Ingredients day 2:

¾ cup plain wheat flour½ cup water

Preparation:

We use normal wheat flour because it has more carbohydrates, which are food for evadura. Add both and mix well. Cover it and let it sit for another 24 hours.after this second day, the surface will have a lot of bubbles, your dough will have grown and it will start to look more spongy. It will smell a little more sour. If not, leave it for a few more hours.

Ingredients day 3:

¾ cup plain wheat flour½ cup water

Preparation:

Add both ingredients and mix very well. You will notice that they sound bubbles. The dough will be quite sticky and consistent. Again, cover it and let it sit for another 24 hours.On this fourth day your dough will have a lot of bubbles, it will appear much fluffier and will have double (or almost) the volume. If you remove it you will see that it is creamy and full of bubbles, similar to a mousse. It should smell sour and slightly pungent. If not, leave it for a few more hours.

Ingredients day 4:

¾ cup plain flour½ cup water

Preparation:

Add both to your sourdough and stir it very well until a homogeneous and sticky mass is left. Cover it and leave it another 24 hours.On the 5th day the sourdough should be ready.. It will have doubled in size, it will be full of bubbles and if you remove it it will be less hard and more spongy. If not, leave it 12 more hours.This dough is ready to use and it can be kept in the fridge to slow down the process and have sourdough whenever we want.To keep your sourdoughadd ¾ cup of flour + ½ cup of water every week or every time you take a part, so we keep it “fed” and growing again.Remember to leave it at room temperature overnight. to eat and then put it in the fridge.

You can also make your sourdough with whole spelled flour. In this video we give you the recipe:

Yeast substitute in baking

Unlike baker’s yeast, the confectionery is not aliveis a combination of acid and alkali that causes a reaction in the presence of moisture or heat. A typical baker’s yeast may be composed, for example, of bicarbonate and cream of tartar.

both things are powdered and will react with the moisture in the dough and the heat of the oven. The most popular home leavening agent is baking soda plus vinegar. It is a very simple mix.

Mix the baking soda with the dry ingredients and the vinegar with the liquids, and when we mix both things it will begin to react. You have to work the dough quickly and put it in the oven as soon as possible, because the reaction will begin when acids and alkalis come together and will stop when they have been neutralized. That is, do not mix vinegar and baking soda in a glass and then you put it in the dough because it will have already reacted and it will not do it more times.

Baking soda alone is not practical as a leavening agent because a large quantity is needed to produce enough gas, and if we add a large quantity, the mass will be between salty and bitter, with little spots and discoloration (yellowish or greenish). We can add any acid to react with bicarbonate, not only
vinegar. For example cream of tartar. Unlike vinegar, being dry does not
will react instantly.

We can add acidic ingredients such as brown sugar or brown sugar and cocoa powder to increase the acidity of the dough and to react with the baking soda.We can mix vinegar or lemon with vegetable drink to make sour milk and add it with the liquids. It will react with the baking soda.The yogurt will also react with the baking soda.. If your dough contains yogurt, be sure to mix it very well to incorporate more air and add baking soda as a leavening agent.

Some advices:

When you use a homemade leavening agent use the same amount as baker’s yeast. For example, if your cake needs 2 teaspoons of yeast, add 1 baking soda and 1 cream of tartar.Beat your dough with a whisk to give more air to the dough. This will help a lot with the leavening.Do not let the dough rest. Have everything ready before you start and put it in the oven as soon as everything is well mixed.Adjust the pH: If your batter, other than the baking soda and vinegar or cream of tartar you’re adding, contains a lot of acidic ingredients, such as sour milk, cocoa, molasses, or brown sugar, increase the amount of baking soda a bit. You can also use a little more baking soda. in preparations with a lot of cocoa and/or chocolate. It will give you more fluffiness and better color.Remember to always save your baking sodacream of tartar and baking yeast in preferably airtight containers in a cool, dry place.