All-purpose Flour/Self-rising Flour/Cake Flour

 

• Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour with baking powder and salt added. 

To make your own, all you have to do is combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour with 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

• To substitute self-rising for all-purpose flour, look for recipes that use baking powder: about ½ teaspoon per cup of flour, minimum. Self-rising flour will work just fine in recipes using about 1/2 teaspoon (and up to 1 teaspoon*) baking powder per cup of flour.

• For every cup of cake flour called for in a recipe, measure out 1 level cup all-purpose flour. Remove 2 tablespoons flour from that measurement. (Return those 2 tablespoons to the bag of flour, you don't need them.) Add 2 tablespoons cornstarch to the (1 cup minus 2 tablespoons) measured flour.

• One option for softer, more delicate cookies is substituting cake flour for all-purpose flour. Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour, so it does create more delicate textures. You can use it, but it might make some cookies a little crumbly since it doesn't give as much structure as the all-purpose.

Salted/Unsalted Butter

1/2 cup salted butter = 1/2 cup unsalted butter + 1/4 teaspoon of salt

1. Basically, that means if your recipe calls for unsalted butter and you want to use salted, reduce the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
2. If your recipe calls for salted butter and you're using unsalted, increase the amount of salt by 1/4 teaspoon.

Substitute Pumpkin for Egg, Oil, or Butter

100% pure canned pumpkin can be substituted for egg, oil, or butter in recipes:

1/4 cup pumpkin = 1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin = 1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup pumpkin = 1 cup butter

In A Pinch

Sunday, I made Funeral Potatoes as part of our family Easter dinner. In the middle of the preparation, I discovered that I had no cream of chicken soup in the house. In fact, I had no cream of anything soup I could use. In desperation, I turned to the internet to see if there was something I could substitute and found this recipe:

Casserole Sauce Mix:
Substitute for Condensed Soup

2 cups non-fat dry milk powder
3/4 cups cornstarch
1/4 cup chicken bouillon crystals
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 Tablespoons dried onion
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Combine all ingredients. Mix well and store in an airtight container.
To substitute for one can condensed soup, combined 1/3 to 1/2 mix with 1 1/4 cups water in a saucepan. Cook and stir until thickened.

Culinary Quick Fixes

Here are some quick culinary tips for quick substitutions, or for fixing a cooking boo-boos:

Substitutions:

1 cup buttermilk: 1 cup milk + substitute one tablespoon milk with 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar (but not in raw applications, like buttermilk dressing)

1 teaspoon baking powder: 1/3 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar OR 1/4 teaspoon baking soda + 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar + 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch

1 cup brown sugar: 1 cup granulated sugar + 2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup sour cream: 1 cup yogurt (low-fat or regular)

1 cup cake flour: 1 tablespoon corn starch + 1 cup (minus 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour

Band-aids:

Too salty: add small amounts of vinegar (any kind) until the salty taste dies down

Stale: add a piece of bread to the package (works especially well for old brown sugar)

Dry turkey: as you carve it, spray the turkey with warm chicken stock

Lumpy gravy: puree gravy in a blender (make sure to secure the lid so you don’t burn yourself!)