A familiar picture: we kneaded a fluffy dough, were delighted with the abundant bubbles, poured it into a frying pan, and at the end we got flat rubber cakes. I immediately want to add more baking soda or baking powder. But the secret of ideal porous baking lies not in the amount of chemicals, but in one simple action, or rather, in complete inaction at the final stage.
Why does the dough deflate in a frying pan?
Many people are accustomed to whipping the dough with a mixer or actively stirring it with a whisk until it is absolutely smooth, even after adding flour and soda. This is the main mistake. Intensive stirring destroys microscopic bubbles of carbon dioxide, which are precisely what should raise the dough during frying. As a result, a heavy, dense mass remains in the pan.
Important nuance: The basis for the dough can be kefir, yogurt or fermented baked milk. This base must be warm, not ice cold from the refrigerator. The warm environment instantly activates the soda reaction, creating that very airy structure. A cold product simply “puts the dough to sleep” and it does not rise.
How to achieve a cloud effect: 4 simple steps
To make the pancakes tall and tender, just change the usual algorithm:
- Remove the kefir from the refrigerator in advance or warm it slightly in the microwave. It should be warm, but not hot, so as not to curdle.
- First, mix warm milk with egg, salt and sugar. Then add the sifted flour in parts.
- Add baking soda or baking powder last.
- As soon as the soda touches the dough, the spatula or whisk should be immediately put aside.
Why is this a working method?
The pancake batter should not be smooth, but slightly lumpy. The same bubbles that you see on the surface of the mixture in the bowl are the future holes in the finished baked goods. Leaving the dough alone for 15 to 20 minutes allows the gluten in the flour to swell and the gas bubbles to take hold. You need to spoon this mass into the frying pan, trying not to disturb it or stir it too much.
From personal experience
For a long time I beat the dough until perfectly smooth and did not understand why the pancakes turned out flat and hard. As soon as I started just carefully combining the ingredients and leaving the mixture alone for 15 minutes, the result changed dramatically. Now they are rising right before our eyes, and the family is constantly asking for more.
