COMMON BAKING SUBSTITUTES (from Food & Wine Magazine)

676goingon50 adapted this version originally produced by  Margaret Eby 

April 17, 2020

Baking is precise but if you go to the trouble of baking, anyone lucky enough to get the results is not going to complain, whether or not you made a few swaps here and there.

However, cooks need to be careful.  A little swap here and there can be helpful.  Making a cake with bread flour will work but it won’t look or taste the same as if you had the original ingredients. That’s OK because it will likely still taste good!  But if you’re worried, use a recipe you have most of the ingredients for.  After all, your tahini brownies won't taste great if you have neither tahini nor sugar. 

Remember: weights of ingredients differ, and swapping out a cup of granulated sugar for a cup of powdered sugar actually means very different amounts by weight. A scale is important here and 67goingon50 finds this conversion chart very helpful. If you don’t have a scale—do your best, but keep that in mind when you’re making swaps. 

FLOURS

Cake Flour 

For every cup of cake flour, substitute a  cup of all-purpose flour less two tablespoons.  Add two tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder. The cornstarch inhibits the production of gluten, resulting in a crumb characteristic of cake flour. 

Bread Flour 

Bread flour has a higher percentage of protein than all-purpose flour and it is the protein which strengthens dough, encourages gluten formation, and helps bread rise. But it’s not a huge percentage difference between bread and all-purpose flour, about 1%.  That means you can usually make a one-to-one swap. But bread flour does not work well in recipes where you don't want lot of gluten including biscuits or pie dough.

LEAVENERS

Baking Soda 

Since baking powder is actually made from baking soda, you can use baking powder as a substitute for baking soda. You need to adjust the proportions—use three times the amount of baking powder for baking soda, e.g if a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon of baking soda,  add 3 three teaspoons (aka 1 tablespoon) of baking powder instead. There’s usually a bit of salt in baking powder as well, so cut down slightly on whatever salt you’re adding to the recipe.

Baking Powder 

For every teaspoon of baking powder needed, combine 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar with 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda. If you don’t have cream of tartar on hand, you can use another acid like lemon juice or vinegar in the proportions: 1/4 teaspoon baking soda with 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice.

SWEETENERS

Brown Sugar 

The easiest substitute for brown sugar is granulated sugar. If you happen have molasses, you can add it to regular sugar in the proportions: For every cup of brown sugar needed, take 1 cup granulated sugar and  add 2 tablespoons of molasses, ( or maple syrup or agave nectar); process briefly.  

Powdered Sugar

Granulated sugar pulsed in the food processor is a decent approximation of powdered sugar.  Add a teaspoon cornflour for every cup of granulated sugar;  pulse until very finely ground.

Honey 

Replace honey on a one-to-one basis with maple syrup, agave syrup or corn syrup.

COOKING FATS

Butter 

Replace with margarine. If you just need a bit more butter to supplement what you have, add a bit of Greek yogurt.  Or you can take a page from the vegan cooking playbook, and swap in half a cup of applesauce for every cup of butter you need.

DAIRY AND EGGS 

Milk 

If you have a can of evaporated milk, a half cup of evaporated milk with a half cup of water is a good substitute 

Heavy Cream

Whisk a 1/4 cup melted butter with 3/4 cup whole milk or use an equal amount of coconut milk.

Buttermilk 

Add a tablespoon lemon or white vinegar in a cup of milk to replace buttermilk.  Or use about 3/4 cup yoghurt or soured cream with 1/4 cup water until pourable.

Sour Cream 
Use an equal amount of  yogurt, mayonnaise, or pureed cottage cheese.

CHOCOLATE

Unsweetened/Baking Chocolate 

Uuse cocoa powder as a swap. For every one ounce of unsweetened chocolate  needed, mix three tablespoons cocoa powder with one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Or replace semisweet chocolate at a ratio of 1½ ounce of bittersweet or semisweet to every ounce of unsweetened chocolate, and omit one tablespoon of sugar from the recipe per ounce.

Semisweet Chocolate 

Replace or semisweet chocolate with unsweetened chocolate plus a little sugar. For every ounce of semisweet chocolate needed, replace with 2/3 ounce unsweetened chocolate and one tablespoon sugar. OR three tablespoons cocoa powder mixed with a tablespoon of vegetable oil and three tablespoons sugar.

Chocolate Chips 

Replace with chopped up bars of baking chocolate on a one-to-one basis.   

Egg Substitute

• In cases where you don’t need to whip eggs or separate yolks and whites,  substitute 1/4 cup of carbonated, unflavored water for every large egg needed. 
• OR mix 2 tablespoons water, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil for every large egg. 
• OR replace each egg with 1/4 cup applesauce or mashed banana
• OR add for each egg needed, add 1 tablespoon flax or chia seeds to 3 tablespoons of water and stir to make a paste
• For egg whites, try aquafaba, the cooking liquid in a can of chickpeas. 

With thanks to Margaret Eby, Food and Wine

TWO-TONE CHOCOLATE ORANGE PUDDING: lower-fat, no-bake, no-added sugar, easy peasy indulgence, alcohol opt

Easy-peasy delicately flavoured pudding slips down like a dream...

updated 7/23;updated 4/21

Subtle layers of dreamy creamy two-tone chocolateness
'Very smooth & tasty' Taster 

As if being a no-bake dessert isn't enough reason to delight in this recipe, the two-toned double chocolate pudding is creamy, smooth, light but satisfying. 

It's lower in fat than normal, has no added sugar but orange adds a sophistication to the layers of velvety dark and pearly white chocolate puddings.   

And all from the same base!

The pudding is rather rich and small portions will more than satisfy.

Cost: £5 (7/23)

Makes: 5-6 x 110ml half-cup portions; recipe halves easily

Ingreds:

200gm/7.05oz cream cheese, fat-reduced, room temperature

100gm/3.5oz fat-free thick Greek yoghurt

300gm/11oz whipping cream (or double cream if no cholesterol worries)

1/3 tsp orange essence (near the vanilla in the baking area and lots cheaper)

50-100gm/1.7-3.5oz dark baking chocolate*, melted, slightly cooled (67 used 50gm but 75gm would intensify the chocolate flavour)

50gm/1.7oz white baking chocolate, melted, slightly cooled

finely grated zest of orange

Garnish: grated dark chocolate (see variations in Tips, below)

Method:

FILIPINO ADOBO PORK WITH PINEAPPLE: lower-fat, wallet-friendly, make-ahead; fresh fruit, some prep-ahead, slow cooker

Impressive South East Asian flavours score highly on western taste-o-meters...

5-star Pork & Pineapple in Filipino Adobo Sauce 

If you've grown up on Chinese food, you're not likely to be fazed by unfamiliar Oriental ingredients.  But 67 has to admit some hesitation when it came to the Phillipino dish - adobo.  

Adobo is considered the Philippines' unofficial national dish.  It's indigenous to the Philippines, developing earlier than the spicier Spanish/Latin American adobo.  Philippine adobo tends to be tangy, with sweet overtones.  

The main component of adobo is vinegar, used to preserve meat in the hot climate.  Gradually, garlic, soy sauce, peppercorns and bay leaves were added for flavour and transformed into a braising liquid/sauce for meat, fish or vegetables.  Unlike Spanish adobe, it does not contain tomatoes or paprika.

It was the amount of vinegar in the recipe* that made 67 hang back.  But a Filipino colleague who spoke often and longingly of his mother's Adobe stews encouraged 67 onward.  Plus the recipe being considered*    included one of 67's favourite fruits - pineapple. 

Reader,  the stew was astonishingly delicious - not too acidic, not too salty, with a gentle undertone of sweetness.  It was a  glorious amalgam of subtly unfamiliar flavours.  So different from western and Chinese cuisines to reward oneself for being a little with adventurous.  In a good - and very satisfactory - way.

67 chose pork as the main ingredient to help bump up deficient Vitamin D levels and improve immunity.   

Pork is also quite wallet-friendly.  A kilo of casserole pork or pork shoulder costs about £5 in Morrisons and even less at Sainsbury's.  Casserole Pork and pork shoulder are higher in fat than leaner cuts like tenderloin or chops but the cooking method means any fat is easily removed.  

Chicken will work just as well and will only need 45-50 mins of cooking on top of the stove. (see tips below) 

As for fresh pineapple, many supermarkets have plentiful supplies at a just s£1 each; fresh produces best results.  But if you really really must, tinned pineapple in juice - not syrup - will do. 

67 recommends this recipe though maybe not so much for small children.  Golden oldies, however, can enjoy its savouriness knowing they are not overdoing salt.   

Start cooking the day before needed.

Cost: min £6

Serves: 6

Ingreds:

One large ripe pineapple

2 tbsp +2 teaspoons veg oil

1 kg boneless pork shoulder (fat removed) or casserole pork in 1.5 inch cubes

One half white onion, thinly sliced

Six garlic clothes thinly sliced 

2/3 cup vinegar (plain, white wine or cider)

1/3 cup reduced-salt soy sauce

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon peppercorns +

Five bay leaves (tied in a muslim bag or clean j cloth)

          Salt and pepper 

steamed white rice

Garnish: chopped spring onions

Method:

SWEET'N SOUR CUCUMBER: frugal

Have a look at Welcome to the Blog

 (on the Nav Bar above) with advice, info & photos

Fabulously refreshing cucumber side...

Thin crisp cucumber slices bathed in vinegar, sugar and salt, are a cut above. Wow!  

An easy picnic side dish prepared the day before adds colour, texture and flavour to foods on the picnic blanket.  Who knew cucumber* could be elevated so easily?

Salt and sugar have been reduced.  

Ingreds:

One English cucumber, unpeeled, thinly sliced

Dressing: 

1/2 tablespoon coarse salt

1/4 cup white vinegar, pref white wine but any will do

2 tbsp fresh chopped (or 1 tsp dried) dill

1.5 tablespoon sugar

1/4 tsp pepper, freshly ground, if poss

Method:

1. Mix dressing ingreds until sugar is completed disssolved
2. Add cucumber slices; stir to coat; refrigerate 2 hours or pref overnight

Comments:

'I really loved these: they are cucumber but not as we know it..and mightily better for it.' Retired writer

*adapted from Food & Wine

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This recipe has been developed by B M Lee/ Bright Sun Enterprises.  It may not be reproduced without the author's written permission.