Baking can be a fun hobby to get into. You can start simple with some easy recipes and then progress to some surprisingly complex baked goods that will impress all of your friends and family.
There is also a science to baking that many people who take to the hobby find fascinating. The manner in which certain ingredients react with one another can completely make or break a recipe. Understanding that science is what mastering the art of baking is all about. However, what happens when you happen to be fresh out of an ingredient that you need for a certain recipe?
While you might be able to run to the store some days, there are going to be some occasions on which a store run isn’t possible. In this such instance, it is good to know how to concoct the recipes that you are missing on your own.
1. Almond Paste
There are many baked goods that require almond paste as a key ingredient. It is typically found in certain pastries as a sweet filling. It can also be used as a filling for chocolates if that is more your style. Smooth and sweet, this ingredient can be made as long as you have almond flour, powdered sugar, eggs, almond extract, and salt.
2. Powdered Sugar
Powdered sugar is a type of sugar that has a fluffy soft consistency. This is a type of sugar that goes by a variety of names depending on where you are. It is referred to as confectioner’s sugar, icing sugar, or even 10X sugar. You would generally see powdered sugar on the recipe list for things like icing, candy, or frosting.
If you are short on powdered sugar, though, you can easily whip some up yourself as long as you have granulated sugar on hand. Thankfully, you don’t need anything else other than a blender, food processor, or coffee grinder. Just add some regular table sugar to your blender and blend for about 20 seconds or so.
3. Cake Flour
Anyone who has embarked upon the quest for the fluffiest cakes will be familiar with cake flour. That being said, it doesn’t have too many other applications in the kitchen in general. This can lead to a shortage of cake flour right at the moment that you need it the most. The good news is that as long as you have some other staple baking ingredients in your pantry, you should be able to make some cake flour yourself.
You just simply sift corn starch and regular flour together until you have the desired amount of cake flour. Just use two tablespoons of corn starch for every cup of all-purpose flour in order to get the consistency that you are after.
4. Buttermilk
Are you in the mood for the fluffiest pancakes you’ve ever tasted but completely out of buttermilk? Since this is a perishable ingredient that doesn’t find its way onto too many ingredient lists, you likely won’t have it on hand. It is incredibly easy to make as long as you have some regular milk, either vinegar or lemon juice, and a few minutes to spare.
Leave a Reply