cream of tartar

views updated Jun 08 2018

cream of tartar Potassium hydrogen tartrate, used with sodium bicarbonate as baking powder because it acts more slowly than tartaric acid and gives a more prolonged evolution of carbon dioxide. This is tartrate baking powder. Also used to ‘invert’ sugar in making boiled sweets.

A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition DAVID A. BENDER

cream of tartar

views updated Jun 27 2018

cream of tar·tar • n. a white, crystalline, acidic compound, HOOC(CHOH)₂COOK, obtained as a by-product of wine fermentation and used chiefly in baking powder.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English