Category Archives: substitutions

Natural Icing

by baking, questions, substitutions

A recent question on a forum that I belong to concerned what to use for icing/frosting colors so as to avoid artificial colors which are not good for you.

We use India Tree natural vegetable coloring. According to the website it's a concentrated vegetable liquid colorant. I do know that it only takes a tiny bit to color a bowl of frosting. The set is sold in a three pack of primary colors which can be combined to make any color you want.

If you want to switch away from petrochemical colorants this is a good alternative.

Creamer And Meatless Meals

by legumes, protein, questions, substitutions, tomatoes

My friend Karen recently asked me what she could use for a substitute for vanilla cinnamon Coffeemate creamer.  She would like to give up the artificial ingredients in the creamer.  The best substitute that I can think of is to flavor a half pint of light cream with the amount of vanilla and fresh ground cinnamon (which will be stronger than the already ground stuff).  Mix it all together and keep in the fridge until you need it.  A half pint is 8 ounces and should remain good for approximately 10 days.  The cream really is not that bad for you if you are simply using a small amount for flavor and smoothness.  Of course if you are one of those people who take a little coffee with your cream this is not going to work.

Another question was what is a legume and how can she incorporate more meatless meals into the family diet.  First the definition of a legume:  Legume refers to plants or their fruit of the leguminosae family.  The simple answer is lentils, beans, peas and peanuts.  There are others such as alfalfa, carob, etc but let's stick with the first four.
Making meatless meals is very easy, just substitute a bean or lentil for the meat in a recipe and you're good to go.  In one of my previous posts I mentioned our favorite vegetarian shepherd's pie which is an excellent and tasty dish for a meatless dinner.  We also make taco salad substituting black beans for the meat with taco seasoning, crush tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl and everyone dresses their own salad with diced tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, shredded cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa; it's a very tasty dinner.  Another great choice is a baked potato bar, I prefer to use sweet potatoes, with broccoli, beans, other vegetables and sauces to taste.  
Of course if you are looking for new recipes rather than converting recipes you already have there are some great resources on the web.  These can be found at:

  • AllRecipes twenty-for-twenty – a great list of 20 ingredients that combined create 20 dinners
  • Vegetarian Times – a neat feature here is the ability to use checkboxes to define your search by season, cuisine, meal-type, appliance and more
  • Recipe Source – formerly the SOAR, this is a list of the vegetarian recipes in the archive

    • I'm sure there are many others but these are the ones that I like the most.

    Comfort Food

    by recipes, substitutions, ,

    Every now and again there's nothing like a pudding for comfort food.  Creamy and sweet, it hits the spot.  The other day I was in the mood for comfort food and decided that tapioca was the order of the day.  Honestly it's not the quickest comfort food to prepare, but it tastes so good that it's worth the time it takes to make it.

    I tend to have tapioca on hand not only for making pudding but so that I can grind it up into a flour when I am experimenting with gluten free mixes.
     
    Tapioca comes from the cassava root and in other parts of the world is referred to as yuca or manioc.  Although native to South America it has spread around the world and is the third largest source of carbohydrates for human consumption.  There are several different types of cassava root and many of them are poisonous if eaten directly (and like rhubarb, the leaves are completely inedible to humans) but with processing it becomes safe to eat.
     
    Many cultures around the world eat cassava root in various forms, as grated root cakes, using the flour to make thin flat breads, as a stew, to thicken soups,  and more.  In this country it is most commonly used to make tapioca pudding.  To prepare the root for making tapioca it is shredded, soaked and exposed to heat.  As it dries it forms pellets that are referred to as pearls.  The larger pearls are often used in tea drinks such as bubble tea while the smaller pearls are used for making pudding or ground into flour.  Cassava root is very high in calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C but has very little protein.
     
    In rummaging around my kitchen to make pudding I realized that I had very little milk on hand.  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention.  I was in the mood for pudding, didn't want to go to the store and certainly didn't have enough milk.  Having coconut milk in the pantry I decided to try it as a substitute.  I'm so glad I did because I've come up with a new favorite way to enjoy tapioca pudding.  Try it, I think you'll enjoy it too.
     

    Coconut Tapioca Pudding

    Print Recipe Pin Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    • 1/2 C. tapioca pearls
    • 1 C. water
    • 2 C. coconut milk

      note:  coconut milk is sold in 15 oz cans.  If you like you can use 15 oz coconut milk and 1 oz of another milk to make the two cups.  It occurs to me that almond milk might be a nice addition

    • 2 egg yolks, beaten
    • 1/2 C. evaporated cane juice crystals
    • pinch of salt
    • 1 t. vanilla
    • 1/2 C. grated coconut, toasted

    Instructions
     

    • Place tapioca pearls in water and let soak for 4 hours
    • In a pan gently heat grated coconut, stirring frequently, until light brown
    • Drain tapioca
    • Place in a sauce pan with coconut milk, egg yolks, cane juice crystals, and salt
    • Heat over medium high heat stirring constantly until mixture begins to thicken
    • Reduce to low heat
    • Continue to  stir until pearls are translucent and pudding is thick, about 20 minutes
    • Remove from heat and let cool 15 minutes
    • Add vanilla and let pudding cool completely
    • To serve spoon pudding into a bowl and sprinkle with toasted coconut
      Enjoy!

    Sugar Notes

    by recipes, substitutions, sweeteners

    Following up on yesterday's post, I received a number of questions about different types of sugar.  Rather than getting into a discussion of all the different types of sugar out there I recommend that you check this google link for the particular sugar that you are interested in.

    I did, however,  want to mention a couple of ideas about substitutions that may be helpful.
     

    Sugar

    For most baking I substitute sucanat (SUgar CAne NATural - the lowest process sugar you can get) unless I am making something more delicate like scones or lemon cookies, etc.  The substitution is one for one, ie, if the recipe calls for 1 C. sugar use 1 C. sucanat.
     
    If I cannot use sucanat because the flavor will overwhelm what I am making, I use evaporated cane juice crystals or demerara depending on what I have on hand.  Both are more processed than sucanat but far less processed than white sugar.  They are sometimes also found as raw sugar.  Again the ratio is one for one.
     

    Brown Sugar

    I am going to try using turbinado sugar.  I've been using sucanat with a spoonful of molasses mixed in but have recently learned that turbinado is moister and has less calories.
     

    Cinnamon Sugar

    I use a 7-1 ratio, 7 T. sucanat to 1 T. cinnamon.
     

    Confectioner's Sugar

    I use sucanat or evaporated cane juice crystals whirred in my cuisinart to make it very powdery.  For each C. of powdered sucanat I add 1 T. cornstarch.
     

    Other substitutions that may prove helpful are:

    Honey

    If you want to use honey instead of sugar in a recipe, use 3/4 C. honey for each C. of sugar called for.  Then reduce the remaining liquid by 1/4 C, add 1/4 t. baking soda (to help neutralize the honey) and reduce the heat by 25 degrees F (honey tends to make things darker when baked, reducing the temperature will help keep it from over-browning).
     

    Maple Syrup

     
    If you want to use maple syrup instead of sugar in a recipe, use 3/4 C. maple syrup for each C. of sugar.  Reduce the remaining liquid by 3 T. and add 1/4 t. baking soda to help neutralize the maple syrup).
     

    Finally the non-caloric sweeteners:

    I do not use and do not recommend any of the artificial sweeteners.  These include Nutrasweet, Splenda, Equal and Sweet-n-Low.
     
    While I like Stevia as a sugar alternative I have not worked much at substituting it in family favorite recipes.  The general theory is that 1 C. of sugar can be replaced with 1 t. stevia liquid/1/2 t. stevia concentrate/18 stevia packets. In baking, for every 1 C. of sugar that is replaced with stevia you need to add 1/3 C. "liquid" to replace the missing bulk. Acceptable substitutes would be yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, egg whites (no yolk because that will change the structure of the baked good), fruit puree, unsweetened fruit juice or water.
     

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    Baking Subtitutions

    by baking, oats, recipes, substitutions,
     
    I love to bake; I've been baking for decades and have made a wide assortment of baked goods for family, friends, fundraisers, and more.  As a baker, one thing you quickly learn is the need to be able to make substitutions if you don't have what you need on hand. This is a list of my favorite baking swaps. I encourage you to print this out and either keep it in a binder or tape it to the inside of your baking cupboard so you always have it handy.
     
    Note: The chart below assumes ingredients are organic, whole fat, or best quality as needed.
    Ingredient Substitutions
    Ingredient Amount Substitution
    Arrowroot Powder 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp flour or cornstarch
    Baking Powder 1 tsp 1/2 tsp cream of tartar + 1/4 tsp baking soda
    Baking Soda 1/2 tsp 2 tsp baking powder
    Brown Sugar 1 cup Light - 1 cup sugar + 1 Tbsp molasses
    Dark - 1 cup sugar + 2 Tbsp molasses
    Butter 1/2 cup 1/4 cup applesauce or Greek yogurt
    1/3 cup + 2 tsp pumpkin puree
    Buttermilk 1 cup 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp vinegar (let sit 5 minutes)
    Cream Cheese 8 oz 8 oz ricotta
    Cream of Tartar 1/4 tsp 1/2 tsp lemon juice
    Egg 1 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp hot water
    2 Tbsp arrowroot + 3 Tbsp hot water
    3 Tbsp aquafaba
    1/4 cup applesauce or mashed banana or yogurt
    Half and Half 1 cup 1 Tbsp melted butter + 1 cup milk
    Honey 1 Tbsp 1 Tbsp maple syrup or molasses or golden syrup
    or silan (date syrup)
    Lemon Juice 1 tsp 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
    Mayonnaise 1 cup 1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
    Milk 1 cup 1 cup alternative milk
    3/4 cup heavy cream + 1/4 cup water
    Olive Oil 1 cup 1 cup avocado oil or coconut oil or melted butter
     
    If you find yourself regularly making substitutions to recipes you use often I encourage you to write directly in the cookbook or on the recipe card so you always have the needed substitutions available.
     
    Don't forget to also grab a copy of my free Kitchen Conversions handout!