Ginger and Walnut Carrot Cake Leavening

Our answer

Nigella's Ginger And Walnut Carrot Cake (from AT MY TABLE) is a slightly rustic cake that is denser than an American style carrot cake. The cake contains 200g (1 2/3 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour and a combination of baking powder and bicarbonate of soda (baking soda). Nigella uses the two in combination as the bicarboante of soda is very active and useful for giving batters that contain fruits, vegetables or cocoa an extra lift, as these ingredients are usually slightly acidic and react well with the alkaline bicarb. Bicarbonate of soda acts very quicky so the cake should be baked as soon as the batter has been mixed.

One teaspoon of baking powder is approximately 4g and half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda is approximately 3g (rounded to the nearest whole gram). The problem with very small quantities is that most domestic scales are not sensitive enough to measure less than one gram (i.e. they don't display half or a quarter of a gram) so for the leaveneing we prefer to use teaspoon measures. Use a proper measuring spoons - one teaspoon is 5ml and half a teaspoon is 2.5ml - and use level measures.