Cautionary Tale

In the heat of Monday night, I embarked on a baking adventure. I wanted to convert this genius recipe into single-portion brownie-meets-muffin goodies. So far, so good. I even pimped it by using chocolate with salted caramel chunks. Even better. It was only when I wanted to add some baking powder that I realised I had run out of it. Instead, I added a tablespoon (flat, not heaped) of baking soda, reasing that it would probably do the job. Well, rise they did and my colleagues claimed to like them, despite my disclaimer, some even going for seconds, but to be honest, I hated both the texture (too bubbly and chewy) and the slightly acidic taste. A little research online revealed that the two rising agents are not, in fact, interchangeable and whereas you can replace baking soda by baking powder, you "can't" do the opposite. I agree.