Sometimes, you don’t have all the ingredients you need on hold to make something. And you don’t have the time/energy/money to go run to the store to get it. So what do you do?
Substitutions!
Not everything can be substituted. And sometimes I do the substitutions because it’s easier than having a bunch of a product on hand that I likely won’t use often. (I’m looking at you, buttermilk!)
Buttermilk
I don’t bake with buttermilk all that much, but sometimes you need the chemical reaction it is part of. You can buy buttermilk, but I don’t think I have ever gone through a whole carton before it goes bad. Instead, use the ratio of 1 cup milk to 1 tablespoon white vinegar as a substitution.
Cake Flour
I don’t tend to make a lot of cake, so I don’t usually keep cake flour on hand. If I find myself needing it, in a pinch I substitute. For each cup of cake flour needed, remove 2 tablespoon of all purpose flour from that cup, and add in 2 tablespoons of cornstarch instead.
Half-and-half
Here’s another one that comes up every now and then. For each cup of half-and-half needed, measure out a scant cup of milk and add 1 tablespoon of melted butter. A scant cup means that it isn’t full all the way, just barely touching the rim.
And there are lots more types of substitutions you can do! This is just scratching the surface of ones that came to mind quickly. I could do a whole post on some other substitutions, like butter and eggs, and perhaps I will in the future. But for now, this is where we are starting from. Did you know you could make substitutions like this? Have you ever tried?