Substitutions – Cream of Tartar

Vanilla — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:31:43 +0000

I mentioned in the buttermilk post that the cream of tartar is the ingredient I substitute for for the most. Don’t get me wrong, I AM a snickerdoodle aficionado and I do keep cream of tartar in my current residence, but about half of my cooking takes place in the homes of others (hence how handy an online recipe box is ;3). I am a baker though, most people aren’t that heavily into baking from scratch and won’t keep this stocked (just pray they have baking powder!). Cream of tartar is listed in recipes for two purposes: as a leavening agent (something that makes the dough or batter rise) or as a stabilizer of eggs and such.

1. Baking powder

Now, if your baking recipe calls for both cream of tartar AND baking soda you can omit both and substitute baking powder. The fast acting baking powder you find in the baking aisles is actually just a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda, so if you are baking and the CoT and soda are the leavening agent, this is the best option.

2. Lemon Juice and Vinegar

For 1 teaspoon of cream of tartar, substitute 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar. This is the preferred substitution for recipes that call for cream of tartar to be added to egg whites before whipping.

By the way, if you aren’t stocking lemon juice in your refrigerator already, I would really pick some up on the next shopping trip.

Substitutions – Buttermilk

Vanilla — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 22:10:38 +0000

Ever get started on a recipe and hit one ingredient, one tiiiiny little ingredient that you just don’t have? Yea, that is buttermilk to a T. It’s a product that most people just plain never buy, and often your recipe will only call for half a cup or less which barely warrants going to the store and buying a carton of it. Here are two substitutions for this sticky situation.

1. Yogurt or Sour Cream

The most simple solution: just substitute plain yogurt, cup for cup. Lately most recipes will say “buttermilk or yogurt” anyway. Sour cream works as well.

2. Sour Some Milk!

I can only hope that you at least keep lemon juice in your refrigerator. It’s one of the most useful things that lasts forever in the fridge, so I WOULD keep this stocked. If you don’t have any, vinegar works also. The recipe is simple:

1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar

Combine ingredients and let stand for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, mix well and use as buttermilk in any recipe.

If the recipe calls for less than half a cup, half this to 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 T. lemon juice/vinegar. I have personally only done with with lemon juice, but have heard of others using vinegar with no problems.