Question about using leftover sourdough starter in a basic cake recipe

I had about a cup of discard from my weekly feed and decided to throw it into a simple vanilla cake batter instead of buttermilk. Figured it would just add a bit of tang, but the texture came out super dense and gummy, not light and fluffy at all. My oven temp was right, so I'm guessing the active yeast messed with the baking powder? Has anyone else baked a regular cake with starter and gotten it to work, or is this a lost cause?

3 comments

3 Comments

lopez.simon2mo ago

Yeah, that "active yeast messed with the baking powder" thing is like when you try to fix one small problem and accidentally create a bigger one.

angela_grant2mo ago

Sometimes that bigger problem is exactly what you need to learn.

morganhill2mo ago

Totally agree with what angela_grant said about bigger problems being the real teachers. It happens all the time with tech stuff, like when a simple software update breaks three other things you didn't even think were connected. You end up having to learn the whole system just to fix that one small glitch. That messy process is usually where you actually figure out how things really work, not when everything is going smoothly.