A Guide to Food Recipe Substitutions

How many times have you started to make a recipe and discovered that you didn't have all of the ingredients? It isn't always handy to run to the store for a single ingredient, and there isn't always a friendly neighbor nearby who can spare the ingredient you need. Below you will find a number of recipe substitutions that I have learned and used in my many years of cooking.

Baking a cake and don't have an egg? Use a dollop of mayonnaise (salad dressing will work as well) the size of an egg. There is no change in the taste or consistency of the cake.

Make this homemade substitute for condensed milk: Blend in blender - 1 cup powdered milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 1/3 cup boiling water and 3 tablespoons melted butter. Store in the refrigerator. For recipes, use the same amount as in a can or whatever the recipe calls for.

Run out of powdered sugar? To powder sugar, blend 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch in blender at medium speed for 2 minutes.

In place of 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk, use 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice and add enough milk to make 1 cup.

If you don't have unsweetened chocolate (the kind that comes in squares), use 3 tablespoon cocoa plus 1 tablespoon butter or margarine for each square needed.

If your recipe calls for cake flour, for each cup needed, use 7/8 cup sifted all-purpose flour and add 2 tablespoons cornstarch to the flour and sift 4-5 times to blend. This makes a very light flour ideal for cakes.

In place of 1 cup self-rising flour, use 1 cup all-purpose flour plus 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoons baking powder.

Out of baking powder, for each teaspoon needed, use 1 teaspoon baking soda plus 5/8 teaspoon cream of tartar.

Check also the appendix sections of your cookbooks. Many have lists of ingredient substitutions as well as other general cooking information.