Been baking my Russian Coffee Cake for 40 years, never had a problem.

Baked it last night and it is completely inedible. Tastes like SALT!!!

Does baking soda go bad - deteriate - break down?????

How about baking powder?

I keep the chopped walnutz in the refrigerator. Could they have gone bad?????

I opened the oven to check it and noticed that the outer rim of the cake was puffed up, and that the cinnamon,sugar, walnutz mixture was no longer around the rim - almost like the part of the cake that touched the cake pan was expanding from the bottom of the cake pan. In other words, the center of the cake was fine, but the outer part was all puffed up. This was all settled down when I took it out of the oven.

Here are the ingredients: sugar, butter,eggs, baking soda, baking powder, flour, sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon and walnutz.

Last week, I made the cream cheese & crescent roll recipe . I don't know what happened, but we had to throw the whole tray out. It tasted of the spare ribs that I had made a few nights before. I was devastated because it was dessert for company. My friend suggested that the roasting pan probably was worn out and became porous. That's also the roasting pan that I use for the Russian Coffee Cake. So this time I used a pyrex roasting pan that was a little smaller, and therefore the cake would have been higher.

What the heck is going on???????????? Well, if it's not the baking soda or baking powder, then I am clueless. Any ideas?

Throwing out two expensive desserts in two weeks is getting me down!!!!! My ego is suffering!!!!!!!!!! Help!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too salty ... my first thought would be that you have put in too much baking soda/powder. An easy slip-up is to add in tablespoons instead of the teaspoons the recipe calls for.

And yes, they can become "old" ... and can prevent baked goods from rising in their normal manner.

I freeze packages of nuts to keep them fresh, and yes, baking soda and baking powder can go bad.

Yep, I keep all my nut supply in the freezer.Could have been a combo of something old with the flour causing bad chemical reaction...which is what baking is all about. Sorry that happened.

I keep both my baking power and soda turned upside dow in pantry, An older lady friend of mine said this keeps them from going bad. They are in plastic containers.

you also might get a thermomator for your oven and I never bake in things I have roasted meat in, soda and powder do go bad but I think your looking at a year of time or so, occasionly things go amiss it happens to all of us.

Baking soda can lose it's fzzz. Baking powder can lose it's leavening ability as well. The oven thermometer is also a good suggestion. And did you by chance change old measuring equipment for new?
I had set aside an old set of measuring spoons and cups. Purchased new. Nothing would come out right and I also lost lots of dishes, they tasted horrible and were extremely salty. Checked the new measures to the old and found out the new were not accurate! Had to throw them away. Now when I purchase new measure equipment, I always check for accuracy against my old old old set.

I keep my nuts in the freezer and my oil in the frig.

I keep my nuts in the freezer and my oil in the frig.

This was my first thought. If anything distracted you while baking it's easy to do.
Do you pre-measure all ingredients? Put each in a separate custard cup and there's no chance of adding twice.

Guess I better put my husband in the freezer then. LOL JUST KIDDING JUST KIDDING.

I always take all ingredients out before I start, and then put them away as soon as I use each one.

I did use different measuring spoons this time, and might have been distracted. Also, didn't know to put the nutz in the freezer.

I keep nuts in the freezer to if I don't use them right away. The oils in the nuts can go rancid in them and cause bad taste. I also keep my sesame seeds in the freezer for the same reason. I take everything out and put it away immediately after I have added it to my bowl. I get distracted and have ruined a thing or two also. As for the pan, if it is a coated metal pan it could be becoming porus as someone suggested and the flavors of other foods are staying in the metal. I also do all my baking sweets in glass except my Wilton cake pans, savory roasting in metal, never the two to meet.

Speaking of nuts, they can go rancid due to the oil if not kept frozen/refridgerated. Also, the dry ingredients you used can also get old and lose their uumph after awhile, too. I was at Sam's and their 2 pound bag of pecan halves are over $15 a bag now. They had been under $10 a bag and noticed the price increase about a month ago. The lack of rain really cut the yield from the pecan trees. Never hurts to buy a new pan either. I like the new silocon ones, easier to pop out a cake or baked item.

By chance are you using whole wheat flour?
It too can go rancid when kept too long.

If I read your message correctly, you used a Pyrex(glass?) pan for your second try. Was the first pan metal? Usually when I use glass I reduce the temperature by 25 degrees. I have also had flour be bad when I bought it. Not often, but have had it happen 2 or 3 times in the past 40 years.
Give it one more try paying close attention and with fresh flour. Good luck.

When you said it tasted salty I instantly thought of the time my kids made kool-aid for the first time. They asked if they could make Kool-aid by themselves and I thought they have to learn sometime so I let them mix it up. Next they said mom it tastes funny so I asked if they needed more sugar so they added more. It still tasted funny to them so I asked them to show me how much sugar they put in. Well found out they grabbed the wrong container and added salt instead of sugar. They've made it perfect every time since.

Soda and baking powder come with a date on them, but I always put an "opened" date on them with a marker. They generally have a long shelf life, especially soda, but in your case, I would toss them to be sure. It sounds like too much soda or baking powder (or both) was used, but there can also be a problem if they are not well blended into the mix.

Have a double check that you haven't inadvertently mixed up some of the ingredients you have put in your storage jars.

it would be a good idea to have your oven checked I was having problems like that and fould out my oven was not coming on at the right time to keep the tempature even was able to get a small appliance repairman and have had no problems since

I always say a little prayer when I put bakeing pans in the oven. God willing you will come out as beautiful as you go in. It hasen't failed me yet LOL

When it's past the 'good for cooking' date, use it for cleaning.
Dip a wet finger in the soda and scrub spots on dishes. Works great on tea rings, baked on spots on glassware, etc. Best of all it doesn't scratch!

I had not thought about the having oven checked, but that is a good suggestion.

I had the too-salty-to-eat problem one time with homemade biscuits I made at my mom's house. I discovered that she kept self-rising flour in her canister instead of the plain flour I kept in mine. After I used the self-rising flour, then added baking powder and salt the dog wouldn't even eat the biscuits! :-(

Check the expiration date on the container. Or......has someone been playing with the salt and sugar? When I was quite little I put salt in the sugar bowl and my uncle discovered it when he fixed his cup of coffee.

Read some where that baking powder is only good for 6 months. Don't know if this is your problem or not.

My late DH started all of us dating anything and everything we bought, especially in the food line. I just remembered that when we bought this microwave, I took lessons in using it!!! That is OLD, so it's now in the garage for our next Ewaste announcements.

Toss out all the stuff with a year ago's date, with the possible exception for whole black pepper, whole cloves and any other whole spices. Maybe check unopened cans/bottles for the correct odors, to see if they smell like what they're supposed to be.

Never heard of Russian Coffee Cake, what is it?

That maybe the problem.

Check your flour bag. It sounds like you may have self rising flour. If not, I have no idea.

My first thought was that you swapped the baking powder and baking soda.....using the powder's amount of soda and vice versa. I bake a LOT and always set out everything first, them move each to another counter as I use it. I work on the counter on the left side of my stove and move everything to the right side as I use it....which puts it closer to the cabinets to put up.

Thank you all for your input.


You were all right! Baking powder expired Nov 2006
Baking Soda expired July 2010
Shouldn't have started baking at 2 am
Nuts were not in freezer
Throw out new measuring spoons - they
were 1/2 TBSP, not 1/2 tsp.
Use different pans for baking cakes
and roasting meat.
I didn't realize that baking soda and baking powder had expiration dates. It's a wonder that I didn't ruin more cakes.

Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed!!!!

Thank you all. pal

Sounds like Madamekelly hit the nail on the head. I made a chocolate pound cake one time and mistakenly used self rising flour instead of plain flour. After about 30 minutes I checked on it, and it was all poofed up and running down the sides of the pan into the oven. It was a mess and tasted awful. I did dare to taste it. And cleaning the oven was a horrible job. I make sure the right flour goes in the right canister anymore. Hard learned lesson

sassy granny

Why would you throw out the measuring spoons ... I love my newer set with the 1/2 tbsp measure. You just need to read as you use them!

I suspect the main thing would be this tbsp/tsp problem that I suggested at the start.

Using after BBD doesn't mean for a disaster, though it might have affected things a tad. Likewise, many of us use nuts that have not been kept in the freezer ... it's just a precautionary! Also, in a perfect world, different pans for meat/baked goods, though again, many of us have not had disasters

Yes, all things have added up ... so now hope you will re-make your old favourite recipes and enjoy !

I took a class and was told that Baking Powder MUSt BE STIRRED BEFORE EACH USE and that it goes bad within a 5 or 6 month period of time so it's best to buy smallest can or pkg. of baking powder you can find and just buy it more often.

oven temp? oven seal? the clue for me was food that tasted like food cooked previously? did you by chance wash the pan in a dishwasher that didn't finish it's cycle? baking soda is cheap and easy fix but did both dishes contain bakingsoda?

One can test baking powder before using it to see if it is still "fresh" enough to use.

Put one teaspoon of baking soda in 1/4 cup of hot water - if it bubbles madly, it's good to use. If it doesn't, it's "dead"

http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/a...er-1192669.php

baking powder goes bad their was a story about a kid whose mother made pancakes and he was not feeling well. She took him the the hospital and it ended up the old pancake box the baking powder breaks down. I now only keep 2 boxes in the house and watch the dates on the boxes

I made my same cheesecake for years and recently made it and it came out of the oven BEAUTIFULLY...I forgot the sugar!

Did you use self-rising flour instead of regular?