That Old Cookbook Called for Ammonia - So I Baked It

If you enjoy the videos we make; buy us a cup of tea: https://ko-fi.com/glenandfriendscooking Welcome back to Sunday Morning and The Old Cookbook Show! Today we’re exploring a fascinating recipe from the 1899 Dominion Cookbook, a historic Canadian cookbook compiled by Anne Clark. This episode dives into one of the strangest ingredients you’ll find in historic baking: ammonium carbonate, also known as hartshorn or baker’s ammonia. Before modern baking powder became common, cooks experimented with a variety of chemical leavening agents to make biscuits, cakes, cookies, and crackers rise. In this vintage recipe for Buttermilk Cakes, the leavening doesn’t come from yeast, baking soda, or baking powder. Instead, the recipe uses ammonium carbonate — the same compound historically used in smelling salts. When heated, it releases carbon dioxide and ammonia gas, creating lift in baked goods while the ammonia dissipates during baking. This ingredient was rarely used in English-language cookbooks but appeared more often in Scandinavian and Eastern European baking, especially for thin cookies and crisp crackers. So today we test the recipe exactly as written in this late 19th century Canadian cookbook and see how it compares to modern baking. Along the way we also explore: The history of chemical leaveners in baking Why baking soda and baking powder changed baking after the 1850s The role of community cookbooks in documenting real home cooking Whether this unusual Victorian-era baking ingredient is actually worth using today As always with these historic recipes, the instructions are… a little vague. So we experiment and see what happens! About The Old Cookbook Show On The Old Cookbook Show, we cook our way through historic cookbooks from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, exploring food history, forgotten ingredients, and traditional recipes from across the English-speaking world. Buttermilk Cakes. Take one pint of buttermilk, and stir into it as much flour as will form a dough, with one tablespoonful of dissolved carbonate of ammonia; roll the dough out in sheets, cut the cakes, and bake them in a moderate oven. The carbonate of ammonia may be obtained at any of the druggists; it is the common smelling-salts, without any of the aromatic drugs. It never imparts any taste to the food, as the heat disengages the carbonic acid gas and the ammonia. Supporting Hope Air This year I’m once again raising funds for Hope Air, a Canadian charity that helps people in remote and underserved communities access medical care by providing free flights to treatment centres. Many Canadians live hundreds or even thousands of kilometres from major hospitals. Hope Air connects volunteer pilots and donated flights to patients who need life-saving medical care but cannot easily travel. In 2026, I’ll be participating in Give Hope Wings, flying across eastern Canada to raise awareness and funds for this incredible organization. If you’d like to help, please consider supporting Hope Air or learning more about the work they do. More info about Hope Air: https://hopeair.ca/ 2026 Hope Air Donation: http://www.hopeair.ca/glen Here is the link to our Apron: https://searchandrescuedenim.com/prod... https://searchandrescuedenim.com/GLEN... Discount code to be used at checkout: GLENANDFRIENDSCOOKING Buy us a cup of tea: https://ko-fi.com/glenandfriendscooking Help us out with a PayPal donation: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr... Join this channel:    / @glenandfriendscooking   This channel is nothing without you our viewers! Thanks for watching the Old Cookbook Show and our Historical Cooking. #LeGourmetTV #GlenAndFriendsCooking Check out our Aviation and Flying Channel:    / glenshangar