ingredient equivalents A common baking quandary a recipe calls for chopped hazelnuts, but your grocery store only sells them whole. How much to buy? This chart gives you the answer, as well as weight and volume equivalents for common baking ingredients like flour and sugar. Ingredient Almonds, slivered Almonds, whole & shelled Butter Chocolate Chips Chocolate, chopped Cocoa Powder Cornmeal, fine Cornmeal, stone-ground Cornstarch Cream Cheese Eggs Flour, all-purpose (unsifted) Flour, bread (unsifted) Flour, cake (unsifted) Flour, whole-wheat (unsifted) Hazelnuts, whole & shelled Kosher Salt Lemon Lime Orange, navel Parmigiano Reggiano Peanuts, whole & shelled Pecan Halves Sugar, confectioners Sugar, granulated Sugar, light brown Vegetable Shortening Walnut Halves Yeast, active dry Volume or Count 1/2 cup (1 stick) 2/3 cup 3/4 to 3 Tbs. 2 oz. 1 large 1 Tbs. 1 medium 1 medium 1 medium (firmly packed) 1/2 cup 2-1/4 tsp. (1 package) Weight 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 oz. 5 to 5-1/2 oz. 3 oz. 4-1/2 oz. 5 oz. 1 oz. 1/4 cup 2 oz. 4-1/2 oz. (4-1/ sifted) 4-1/3 oz. (3-3/ sifted) 5 oz. 5 to 5-1/2 oz. 1/ (Diamond Crystal Brand) or 1/2 oz. (Morton Brand) 5 oz. 10 oz. 1 oz. 5 to 5-1/2 oz. 3-3/ 7 oz. 6-1/2 oz. 1/ Approximate Yield coarsely chopped; plus 2 Tbs. finely chopped, 1-1/4 cups ground 1 Tbs. yolk, 2-1/4 Tbs. white coarsely chopped; plus 2 Tbs. finely chopped, 1-1/4 cups ground 4 to 5 Tbs. unstrained juice; 2 Tbs. lightly packed zest** 3 to 4 Tbs. unstrained juice; 4 tsp. lightly packed zest** 6 to 7 Tbs. unstrained juice; 2 Tbs. lightly packed zest** (rasp grater); 1/2 cup (box grater); 1/4 cup (food processor)* coarsely chopped; plus 2 Tbs. finely chopped, 1-1/4 cups ground 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped; finely chopped; ground 3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. coarsely chopped; finely chopped; ground * Finely grated, lightly packed ** When grated with a rasp-style grater.
emergency substitutions Ingredient Baking Powder (1 tsp.) Buttermilk () Cottage cheese Chocolate, semisweet (1 oz.) Chocolate, unsweetened (1 oz.) Cornstarch (1 Tbs.) Corn Syrup, light () Corn Syrup, dark () Cream, heavy () Crème Fraîche () Currants Eggs (1 large egg) Flour, cake () Flour, self-rising () Lemon juice Mascarpone Milk () Salt, table (1 tsp.) Sour cream Sugar, granulated (1-1/4 cups) Sugar, brown Sugar, superfine Vanilla Bean (2-inch piece) Yeast, active dry (1 tsp.) Substitution 1/4 tsp. baking soda plus 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar OR 1/4 tsp. baking soda plus 1/2 cup sour milk, buttermilk, or yogurt plain low-fat yogurt OR minus 1 Tbs. milk plus 1 Tbs. lemon juice or white vinegar ricotta or farmer cheese 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate plus 1 Tbs. sugar 3 Tbs. natural cocoa powder plus 1 Tbs. melted butter 2 Tbs. flour or 4 tsp. quick-cooking tapioca granulated sugar plus 1/4 cup water 3/4 cup light corn syrup plus 1/4 cup molasses 3/4 cup milk plus 1/4 cup melted butter (if not using to make whipped cream) 1/2 cup sour cream plus 1/2 cup heavy cream dark raisins 2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg product all-purpose flour minus 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour plus 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. salt white wine vinegar or lime juice (though if large amounts of lemon juice are called for, taste will be significantly affected) cream cheese 1/2 cup evaporated milk mixed with 1/2 cup water OR water mixed with 3 Tbs. powdered milk 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 tsp. kosher salt plain yogurt honey plus 1/2 tsp. baking soda (reduce other liquid in the recipe by 1/4 cup and reduce the baking temperature by 25 F) light and dark can be used interchangeably OR white sugar plus 3 to 4 Tbs. molasses (pulse together in food processor) equal amount of granulated sugar pulsed in a food processor 30 to 60 seconds 1 tsp. vanilla extract 3/4 tsp. instant yeast OR 2 tsp. fresh (cake) yeast baking pan substitutions You can substitute a different pan than the recipe calls for, as long as the capacities are the same. Just make sure your substitute pan has sides of a similar height. Avoid substitutions for angel food cakes; the tube pan is critical for proper baking. 8-cup pans 8 x 8 x 2 square 10-cup pans 9 x 9 x 2 square = 9 x 2 round = = = 10 x 2 round 11 x 7 x 2 rectangular 9 x 2.5 springform
cakes Cake batter looks curdled. Either the ingredients weren t the same temperature or they were too cold. Don t worry too much: the cake may not rise as much, but it should turn out fine. Generally, all ingredients should be at the same temperature for the best volume. Layer cake falls. The most common reason is an overfilled pan: if the batter reaches the top of the pan and still needs to rise, it will collapse. Stale leavening may also be a cause. Either the ingredients were too cold, or enough air wasn t incorporated during mixing. The usual culprit is either undermixing while creaming the fat and sugar, or overmixing once the flour goes in. Never fill layer cake pans more than half full and leave an inch at the top of loaf pans. Always start with fresh leavening (6 months for baking soda and 1 year for baking powder). Start with room temperature ingredients, cream the fat and sugar for the time specified, and beat in the eggs one at a time. The creamed mixture should look light and fluffy, and if all ingredients are at room temperature, when the eggs are added slowly the batter will not curdle. Add dry and wet ingredients alternately, always beginning with dry. The fat coats the flour first, preventing too much gluten from forming once liquid is in the mix. When the last ingredients have been added and the batter looks relatively homogenous, stop mixing. If the recipe calls for cake flour, don t substitute allpurpose and certainly avoid bread flour. Remove the cheesecake from the oven while it still has a good amount of jiggle in the center. It will continue to cook after it s out of the oven. Be sure your measurements are accurate and don t skip draining carrots if the recipe says to. If you still get a gummy texture, either reduce the fruit or dairy, or add more egg and flour to compensate. You can look for a recipe that uses a higher proportion of flour or eggs, but the crumb will not be as moist or delicate. Cake has poor volume. Cake texture is grainy and coarse-crumbed. Cake has tunnels. Either the batter was overmixed after wet ingredients were added or the flour was too high in protein. In either case, too much gluten has formed. It is overcooked. Cheesecake forms cracks in the top. Top the cheesecake with glazed fruit to cover the crack. Cake is gummy or has a rubbery layer at the bottom. Too much buttermilk, fruit purée, sour cream, or yogurt can all make a cake gummy. Inadequately drained carrots or zucchini can also be the cause. The cake is still too warm to cut. Layer cakes often have more sugar, liquid and fat and less flour and eggs than sturdier cakes, like pound cake. This makes them more delicate. Layer cake is too fragile to cut or assemble. A quick chill in the refrigerator should slove the problem, since cold cake is firmer and easier to slice and frost.
pies Pie dough is still dry even after adding all the water specified. Pieces of fat cut into the flour were left too large OR flour required more hydration because of dry environment. First try mixing the fat into the dough with your fingertips. If it s still dry and crumbly, add more cold water, 1 Tbs. at a time. When it starts to come together, knead briefly to form a cohesive mass. Small pieces of fat should still be visible. If there are many cracks and the edges seem dry, gather into a ball, chill for 20 minutes, and try again. One or two cracks can be fixed by brushing with water and rolling the edges together to seal. Chilled pie dough cracks when rolled out. Dough is too cold or not kneaded enough, making the edges of the disk ragged and dry. Let the dough warm up slightly before rolling out. Baked pie crust is tough. Dough was needed too much after the water was added. Fat and flour were overmixed in the dough. Stop mixing as soon as the dough just begins to come together after the water is added. Stop cutting in the fat when most of the pieces are pea size. When baked, these pieces will melt, leaving air pockets behind, which makes the crust flaky. Let the dough rest after rolling and before fitting into the pan; this relaxes the gluten and prevents shrinking. Gently push the dough into all corners of the pan if it stretches, it will contract during baking. Line the cold pie shell with dried beans to give the crust support until its structure sets. Let ice-cold fillings warm a little before adding them to the pie shell. Baked pie crust is crumbly and mealy. Blind-baked pie shell is misshapen, puffed on the bottom, or the sides have caved in. Dough was not allowed to relax before being fitted into the pan, or was stretched when fitted into the pan. Or the crust was not weighted during initial blind baking. Pie is getting too brown on the crust but the filling is not fully cooked. Bottom crust is soggy and pale. The heat is not penetrating to the center of the pie before the edges are set. Cover the edges of the piecrust with foil to prevent burning. Not enough heat is getting to the bottom crust. Fruit and sugar are releasing juices onto crust before baking. For custard pies, the shell was not adequately prebaked. For crisp crusts, bake pies and tarts on a preheated baking sheet. Don t let the fruit and sugar mixture sit for more than 15 minutes before baking. Prebake (blind bake) the crust for custard pies whenever possible. Remove the pie from the oven while it still has a good amount of jiggle in the center. If it still cracks, reduce the starch in the filling by one quarter. Pumpkin pie cracks while cooling. The filling was overbaked or contained too much starch. Cover the crack with whipped cream or other garnishes.
cookies Cookie dough is sticky and difficult to roll and cut. The dough is too warm. In particular, doughs rich in butter and egg are difficult to handle if not kept very, very cold. A quick chill in the refrigerator or freezer should help. For ease of handling, roll the dough between sheets of parchment, then chill. As a last resort, add more flour to the dough. Pop the cookie sheet, cut-out dough and all, into the refrigerator or freezer until chilled. The edges of cold dough will set in the oven before the center warms, keeping the shapes well defined. Use a lighter-colored baking sheet for the next round, or stack an extra pan underneath to better insulate the dough. If the oven has hot spots, rotate the pans from the top to bottom rack (and back to front) halfway through baking. Chill the dough before baking the next round. As a last resort, stir a small amount of flour into the dough (though this will change the texture). Rolled cut-outs spread while baking, blurring their shape. The dough is too warm going into the oven. Cookies are pale on top and burnt on bottom. The culprit is one or a combination of the following: an oven that runs too hot; dark heavy baking sheets, baking on the bottom rack of the oven. Get an oven thermometer to check your oven s temperature. Chocolate chip cookies spread too much. The classic Toll House recipe is rich in butter, sugar, and egg, all of which contribute to spreading. A different brand of flour can alter spread, and a too-hot oven or too-warm dough can also be a culprit. The recipe is rich in butter and sugar, but lean on egg and leavening. Did you leave out leavening or use a smaller egg than specified? Too much flour or egg is the likely cause either measuring flour with a heavy hand or using larger eggs than called for. Chocolate chip cookies are too crisp and thin. Try chilling the dough to slow down the spread. If this doesn t work, beat in half an egg and 2 Tbs. of flour. Bake a test cookie before adding more flour. Chocolate chip cookies are too cakey and dry. Try reducing the oven temperature by 25 F on the next sheet of cookies. Be sure to use large eggs rather than extra-large or jumbo (unless the recipe specifically calls for them, which is unusual). When measuring flour, spoon it lightly into the measuring cup and use a knife to level the top. To be sure your cookies aren t cakey, hold back a few tablespoons of flour and bake a test cookie before adding the rest. If reducing the temperature doesn t help, next time substitute some lighter ingredients, like bleached flour or granulated sugar, or reduce the amount of liquid sugars (molasses, honey, corn syrup) in the recipe. Cookies brown too much but are not overbaked. An overly hot oven can make cookies brown before they are baked through, but ingredients often play a role: molasses, honey, corn syrup, dark brown sugar, milk products, and baking powder all encourage browning.
breads Dough is taking too long to rise, or doesn t rise very much. If the dough is rising, albeit slowly, the room temperature is probably on the cool side. If the dough isn t rising at all or stopped before it doubled in size, the yeast was either insufficient or killed in hot water. Pan is too small, dough was allowed to rise for too long, or too much yeast added to the recipe. For slowly rising dough, move it to a warm, humid location such as near the pilot light of the stove. Be sure to bloom your yeast in water between 110 and 120 F; water at 140 F or higher will kill it. Dough overflows pan either during second rise or during baking. If it hasn t gone into the oven yet, divide the dough in half, reshape for two smaller pans, and yet it rise again. Be aware that the texture and flavor may be compromised. Fill the pan only half full to ensure maximum rise and stability. Keep a close eye on the bread during the second rise: it should increase from 1-1/2 to 2 times in size, hold a dent when pressed lightly with a finger, but have enough spring to bounce back slightly without collapsing or tearing. Dough is too springy to shape. The dough hasn t been allowed to rest long enough after kneading for the gluten to relax. Shape roughly, cover, and walk away for 5 to 10 minutes. Handling the dough will be much easier when you return. Sorry, not even the shaped loaf is salvageable. Shaped loaf falls during the final rise or loaf caves in while or immediately after baking. Baked artisan loaf s crust is too soft. The loaf may have gone too long during the second rise, or too much yeast may have been used. Let the loaf rise at a lower temperature or for a shorter time period. Check the loaf more frequently during the final rise. Adequate heat and steam are needed for a crisp yet chewy artisan crust. Use a baking stone, preheat the stone with the oven, and start the bread at a high temperature (425 to 500 F) for the first 10 minutes. Use a spray bottle filled with water to create steam in the oven during the initial 5 to 10 minutes of baking time. Refrigerate the shaped loaves overnight. This allows lactic acids to develop in the dough, which contribute greatly to flavor. Or increase salt by at least 1/2 tsp. per loaf. Bread tastes bland. The dough was allowed to rise too quickly at too high a temperature, or it contains insufficient salt.