Healthy Recipe Doctor: Yeast Can Be Touchy

Recently a friend asked me...what could have happened to my yeast? Just as the lemon cake recipe called for, she said she added her yeast to warm milk and then added it to the cake batter and the cake did not rise like it was supposed to.

Has this happened to you? Have you used yeast and then wondered why it didn't do its job and create the air bubbles for your bread, rolls, or other baked goods?

Photo Credit: advencap

Usually the recipe calls for adding yeast to a small amount of liquid and letting it "proof" for about 10 minutes. This is rather like activating your yeast. It should look puffy at the end of the 10 minutes. Ask yourself if the milk or water that you added the yeast to was so hot that it killed the yeast. It needs to be warm enough to activate the yeast, but if it's too hot it will kill the yeast. Between 105 and 115 degrees F is thought to be best.

Here's a list of things to ask yourself when your yeast doesn't perform for you:

Did you give the yeast enough time to "proof" with the warm water or milk? The mixture should look puffy by the time you add it to your mixture. This seems to take around 10 minutes.

Did you include some sugar in with the recipe? The yeast needs the sugar to feed on and this releases the carbon dioxide gas bubbles that help leaven your baked product. Often recipes call for adding a pinch of sugar to the water before the yeast is mixed in and left to "proof" for 10 minutes.

Was your yeast too old? Sometimes if the date has expired on the package, the yeast is passed their prime. Some of us don't exactly use yeast too often so these packets are kept in our kitchen for many months, sometimes years without being used. Make sure to check the date on your yeast package to be sure it hasn't expired.

Did you refrigerate or freeze your yeast and then not let it get to room temperature before using it in your recipe?

With all these things to think about, it's tempting to trade in our yeast packets for a can of baking powder isn't it? But some of my favorite bread recipes (including my cinnamon rolls) call for yeast - so it's definitely worth the extra trouble sometimes.

--Elaine

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