On this page, I will be showing you how to make your own baking ingredients at home. These tips are especially useful when a recipe calls for ingredients which are hard to find in your locality.

(1) Baking Powder

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To make baking powder, combine 1 part baking soda with 1 part corn starch and 2 parts cream of tartar. For example, to make 4 teaspoons of baking powder, combine 1 teaspoon of baking soda with 1 teaspoon of corn starch and 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar.

(2) Cake Flour

flour

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make 1 cup of cake flour, measure 1 cup of all purpose or plain flour. Take out 2 tablespoons of flour and replace them with 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Sift the mixture together.

(3) Buttermilk

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To make 1 cup of buttermilk, place 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice in a cup and top the cup up with milk. Allow the mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Buttermilk can also be made from whipping cream through this procedure.

(4) Butter

Butter

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make butter, whip whipping cream until the fat solids separate from the cream. The fat solids is butter while the remaining liquid is buttermilk. Read more about how to make butter here.

(5) Self-Rising Flour

flour

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make 1 cup of self-rising flour, add 1-1/2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to 1 cup of all purpose or plain flour.

(6) Caster Sugar

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To make 1 cup of caster sugar, place a cup of granulated white sugar in a food processor and process for a couple of minutes.

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135 comments on “Homemade Baking Substitutions
  1. Jennifer says:

    You re darling, thanks!

  2. abiola. olutayo says:

    Thank you bros

  3. teakay says:

    Thanks terry

  4. ada says:

    Wow…Thank you Terry..I really want to start baking and these are very helpful.

  5. Iny says:

    Thank you so much Terry. If I want to make chocolate cake but can hardly find chocolate bars for cooking here in PHC can I substitute with cocoa powder and can I use cocoa powder to glaze a doughnut?

  6. Lexx Leovia says:

    I love all the detail teachings. U re the main man.

  7. Lynwabs says:

    U’re amazing man. Tnx so momentarily can’t wait to practise des tips. God bless u Terry. Tnx tnx tnx! I luv dis.

  8. Lynwabs says:

    Oga Terry I did try ur tips on home made cake flour n it came out after baking perfectly ok. God bless u more. u’re great blessing to ppl like me. I cherish, value, appreciate n luv u. Tnx for sharing wtout collecting any kobo. Ur rewards are heavenly. Help will never be far from u for u are very kind n generous wtout reserve. God bless u more for me. Tnx!

  9. Chinyere Onyero says:

    Thanks Terry, this is so helpful.

  10. Abiodun says:

    I need help on this Terry,
    To make a chocolate cake,for example if I want to use 2kg of flour for my cake,please what measure of cocoa powder and icing sugar with milk do I need to add to make my cake come out sweet without any form of bitterness from the cocoa powder and if my ingredients are wrong please educate me because what my tutor taught me,though it was somehow tasting bitter after trial.
    Thanks.

  11. ngozi says:

    You re too much Terry. Always willing to impact knowledge on beginners like us. Remain blessed.

  12. bibi says:

    Hi! Terry…going through your blog and all I can say is you are simply amazing… Thumbs up! I plan baking a cake for my son’s 2nd birthday and sure will try out your recipes… Thank you.

  13. Oladimeji Oluwatosin says:

    Pls can corn starch be found in Nigerian mkt,since u sed it’s nt d same with corn flour?

  14. Tricia says:

    Thanks Terry for sharing your knowledge. Very helpful.God bless you.

  15. Tolu says:

    Hi Terry. I’m a bit confused. Is Cake flour same as self raising flour? Many thanks

  16. Kemi says:

    I really appreciate your tips and willingness to share your knowledge of the cake craft.I was kind of wondering why, you didn’t respond to Abiodun’s question; I would like to learn from your response. Thank you

    • Terry Adido says:

      Hi. I did not answer because I do not have an answer to it. Like I have stated time and time again, I bake only with recipes. So if you wanna bake a chocolate cake, I would advice you look for a chocolate cake recipe (I have 3 on this website) and multiply the recipe to arrive at the quantity you need.

  17. Olubanke says:

    Thanks Terry for amazing information. God bless you.

  18. Iy Cakes Odebode says:

    I appreciate your kindness Terry. God bless and enrich you

  19. Tee says:

    you are doing a great job here. God bless you real good. Will love my cake to be very airy and light. will grinding my granulated sugar help achieve that. just like powdered baking sugar. It now very common in Nigeria people use emulsifier like excel sponge and cake softner to make cakes soft, but it dosent work for me, whats your take on this?

  20. Omotayo says:

    Hello Terry, you’re simply awesome, your recipes make bakinfo easy, keep the good work up.

    Please I need to clarify, is corn starch same as corn flour?

    Thanks

  21. sandy says:

    Thanks so much boss. you are really doing a great job here.

  22. You Are indeed a blessing

  23. ebele says:

    How can one get corn starch

  24. ebele says:

    Thanks for this dear

  25. Lois Ekeoma says:

    Terry, please could you make a ‘talking drum’ cake and post the steps? I would really love to know how it’s done. Thanks a lot.

  26. Iyayi Oarhe says:

    Thanks Terry, I just followed the baking substitute of cake flour on a cake I just made and it’s so well moist. Thank for been generous with your ideas…. *Hugs

  27. sonia says:

    I’m soooo glad I found this blog. you are doing a great job.Baking is the one thing I know i love doing but after sometime my cakes started faults. I almost gave up,thanks for inspiring me to continue baking.

  28. folakemi says:

    Thks so much Terry, I must say you’ve really blessed my soul,God bless u greatly.but pls can I use peak evaporated milk wen making my buttermilk?

  29. Funmilola Wale-akindele says:

    Pls terry what kind of milk am i expected to use when making my buttermilk if not evaporated…pls im confused here

    • Max says:

      Mu mother uses milk powder yo bakes and it comes out fine. If you can find fresh milk though, I believe that is what Terry is referring to.(in Plateau state Nigeria Farm fresh sells fresh milk not sure where you are, but most malls in Lagos have a supermarket or two that carry fresh milk)

  30. ETIESE UKO says:

    great tutorial. doing a great job here

  31. Ad a Osakwe says:

    Thanks Terry. This is really helpful.

  32. ogy says:

    God bless u terry. Thanks a lot.

  33. hawaeeoj says:

    So happy I found this site through @foodace! This is so amazing! Am learning a lot from going tru ur site!

  34. Rita says:

    Hi, pls wen u 1tbsp,or 1 tsp etc, shd it be levelled or heapful, which r u referring to pls?

  35. evelyn says:

    Am really trilled finding this.thank you so much for all the caaake info you are sharing.God bless youm

  36. abiola says:

    When I talk to people about you now, I refer to u as the cake wizard, you are indeed a blessing to our generation, we plenty wey dey rep you for naija(hope u got d pidgin part winks!)

  37. Edirin Bob says:

    Terry, just want 2 say u are too much. Thanks

  38. Uche says:

    Hi terry u r amazing.just tried ur white butter cake recipe snd it came out beautifully well.kissess and hugs

  39. mz jessica says:

    I just love you…ur a darling..bless your soul

  40. Tolu Giwa says:

    Thanks so much for sharing!

  41. Grace says:

    Hi Terry, pls are u referring to the popular milk tin we use in Nigeria as ur measuring cup?

  42. mohaven says:

    i stay in lagos but everybaking shop i went to said corn flour is the same as corn starch….I’m a bit confused

  43. Laura Nze says:

    Thank you soooo much Terry.

  44. Echies says:

    I had searched the web all day for answers to baking questions and am glad i hit this button.. Thanks so much for being generous with your talent

  45. Boye says:

    What would we do without terry faithfully guidance, what would I do without these useful tips. You really are an angel.

  46. Victoria Ejimofor says:

    Wow! You are good! May God bless you more abundantly.

  47. Patiswa says:

    Hi Terry can i add cornflour to my premix cake flour…or normal cake flour cos i just added e cup of corn flour to 3cups of premix cake flour and it was folling apart?….thanx in advince

  48. Pearl says:

    U are simply awesome

  49. Felicitas.azeta azeta says:

    Thank so much learnt alot today.

  50. Eno says:

    I can’t believe I’m just discovering you (website n all)!! This is so helpful. Thank you so much Terry.

  51. Bukola says:

    Thank you so much for this. God bless you. Now my favorite website 🙂

  52. Winnifred Oben says:

    Thank God I found you,Terry you are God sent.
    Thank you for your selfless service, to self taught bakers like myself.

  53. Kenyena says:

    Woow. Good tips here. Thnx Terry

  54. Ije says:

    Hello Terry! Pls can one use cornflour instead of cornstarch? Can’t find it out here in Lagos. I saw on the cornflour pack I purchased that it can be used to lighten flour just like cornstarch

    • Terry Adido says:

      The challenge is that both terms are sometimes used interchangeably. As long as the cornflour you are referring to is the very light flour (lighter than icing sugar), it should be fine. The corn flour used for tuwo would certainly not work.

      • Nevi says:

        Good morning Mr Terry… Indeed your website is absolutely what I needed these past few years… Just stumbled on it few days ago and am glad I did. The corn flour here is very light. Like you said its lighter than icing sugar. It is usually used for making custard and also used for rolling fondant. I don’t know wot they use for tuwo though so I can’t compare. But I believe it would be like amala, were plantain is simply dried and mealed. But the corn flour in our market ain’t just mealed,its been processed, so I think that’s what the corn starch might be, just a little wrong use of words. Please I have a personal question, in the absence of a processor how can one obtain caster sugar.

  55. Sweta says:

    Please can you suggest me what to use as substitute to eggs in ur cake receipes for eggless version.

  56. Smilz says:

    Mr, TERRY you are blessed. People like you are rear. Thanks once more

  57. Oge Onyia says:

    Thank you so much Terry! Numbers 2 & 3 were really helpful for my baking over the weekend.

  58. Anthonia says:

    I just don’t kno how to appreciate u enough for what u re doin Terry am self taught too,through reading and u tube though not easy as dome of those r not explanatory enough a couple with some materials re hard to get but stumbling on ur blog makes everything look sooo easy for me and u clearify on the recipe. Recently having problem with my cakes at they come out dry and crumby not sticking togethe and almost getting discouraged but ur blog is making me to believe in myself more and more as my cakes re improving . Thanks a lot Terry u re God sent

  59. Joy says:

    Hi terry pls can I get a link on ur blog on the effect or importance of all d ingredients for baking a cake ? Eg sugar ,butter ,eggs and flour etc

  60. Elizabeth says:

    Is cornstarch same as akamu?

  61. Oladayo says:

    Wow. ThankS
    You are such a blessing

  62. Ogechukwu Amaike says:

    Your post have been quite helpful, tnks alot

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