Substitutes for Food Ingredients

Fresh lemon juice adds both tart flavor and citric acid to a recipe.

While improvisation in cooking and baking can lead to delicious results, there are some ingredients that are difficult to omit without detrimentally affecting the recipe. You can't just skip the eggs or baking powder in a cake recipe, for example. You can still make that recipe if you don't have a vital ingredient on hand, though, if you have the right ingredients to substitute.

Baking Powder

You might be tempted to use baking soda instead of baking powder when a recipe calls for it, but don't: Sodium bicarbonate -- baking soda -- is only one ingredient in baking powder, and using soda alone won't achieve the same results, especially in baking. To substitute, blend one part baking soda, one part cornstarch and two parts cream of tartar, or add 1/4 tsp. baking soda to 1/2 cup milk that's been soured with 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar, and use 1/2 cup less liquid in the recipe.

Eggs

If you're short an egg for a recipe that calls for three, you can add 1 tbsp. cornstarch in place of the third egg. This won't work if you have no eggs, however. Reconstituted dried egg or purchased egg substitute are the best alternatives, but in a pinch you can combine 1 tbsp. water, 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar and 1/2 tsp. baking powder per egg. Unflavored gelatin, softened and beaten with 3 tbsp. hot water, is another option.

Buttermilk

Depending on the recipe, it may be just fine to swap regular milk for buttermilk. If you want to maintain the flavor and texture of the original recipe as much as possible, substitute sour milk for buttermilk. Sour milk is made by adding 1 tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup regular milk. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes. Plain yogurt or sour cream can also be used in place of buttermilk in baking.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice adds both a tart flavor and citric acid to a recipe. It can sometimes be omitted entirely with a loss of flavor, but if the tartness or the acid is vital, vinegar is interchangeable with lemon juice in many cases. Vinegar adds a subtle tartness in small doses, but if you need a substitute for a larger amount of lemon juice when the flavor is important, use lime juice instead.

Cream

When a baking recipe calls for cream, it's usually okay to use milk, preferably whole. If you need just a small amount of cream or don't want to lose the richness of the original recipe, substitute 1 cup cream with 3/4 cup milk mixed with 1/4 cup butter. Reduce the amount of salt in the recipe if you use salted butter. The butter/milk mixture works for baking only; it can't be whipped.

Lard

If you want to make an old recipe that calls for lard, solid shortening can be used in an equal amount. Butter can also be used as a substitute for lard, but not in an equal amount: For every 1 cup lard, add 1 cup plus 2 tbsp. butter.

Corn Syrup

Other sweetening syrups such as honey and molasses can be used in place of corn syrup, but the flavor of the finished product will change. If you don't want to add any extra flavor, mix 1 cup white table sugar with 1/4 cup of the liquid used in the recipe until it's syrupy.

References

• Colorado State University Extension: Ingredient Substitutions
• Joy of Baking.com: Baking Ingredient Substitution Table