Why do my cake recipes with baking powder never work?

Q: It seems as if every time a recipe calls for baking powder, I never get the rise I expect. I have made cakes and pound cakes that flopped with fresh-from-the-market baking powder, and they have been coming out barely an inch high. Is my oven too hot or cold? At $4.50 a can, it’s getting expensive buying new cans, all to no avail.

A: This sounds like a frustrating problem to have. As the reader speculates, I’m skeptical that the baking powder itself is to blame. Unless it’s very old, commercial baking powder is reliable. (To test the viability, cookbook author and food scientist Shirley Corriher recommends mixing ¼ teaspoon baking powder into ½ cup very hot water. If you see fine bubbles, you’re good to go.) Once opened, it should last 6 months to a year.

Because the issue seems limited to certain recipes that the reader is using the powder in, the oven temperature theory is a good one. Baking powder is double-acting, meaning the reaction is triggered by both liquid and heat. So if the oven is not hot enough, you are not going to get a vigorous rise.

An inexpensive stand-alone thermometer is key, so I encourage everyone to have one in their oven. If it’s reading below the set temp, give the oven more time. It can take upward of 30 minutes for some ovens to preheat. If it’s never reaching the temp, or if it fails to within a reasonable time, then it’s time to have your oven repaired or recalibrated.

Other things that can cause problems with baking-powder-leavened baked goods: insufficient creaming of butter and sugar, or ingredients (namely eggs and butter) not being at the right temp, which is one cause of insufficient creaming.

A fellow chatter wisely asked whether the reader is baking at a higher altitude, which is a great thought. In that situation, you often need to reduce the leavener (and make other adjustments), because baked goods can easily expand too much, then collapse.