One of the most interesting things I’ve noticed is that baking powder is not the same in Europe and the US. A quick Goggle translate and a stop at the grocery store will not result in the identical powder. The products are not 100% interchangeable if you are a picky baker. I cannot recall how I originally discovered this, but it was before my first experience living abroad in Sweden. My best guess is that my time in the food lab during my college years triggered me to look closer at the backpulver label in my German mother-in-law’s kitchen. I probably noticed it didn’t say double-acting on the front of the package. (The European one is single-acting baking powder.) In simple terms the double-acting American one reacts twice. The first time it reacts with wet ingredients and a second time with heat. The double action means there is more lift in the finished product. Don’t despair if all that you have available is the European (German) baking powder–it will still work. However, if it’s something that needs that extra lift like the perfect blueberry muffin. Import it!
A funny aside about muffins in Europe. Cupcakes are sometimes called muffins here in bake shops. I vividly remember a Canadian friend in Sweden go on a long rant about not calling a cupcake a CUPCAKE. Baking PowderBaking Powder
