Homemade Baking Substitutions
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
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
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
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
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
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
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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You re darling, thanks!
You are welcome.
u are a God sent
Thanks Uche.
Thank you so much terry.i apprecuate
My pleasure Ayo.
pls is corn flour and corn starch same
No they are not. Corn starch is lighter.
What kind of milk can be used to top vinegar up if I want to make my own buttermilk?evaporated?powdered?
Liquid. You can try diluted powder.
Thank you bros
You are welcome.
Thanks terry
You are welcome.
Wow…Thank you Terry..I really want to start baking and these are very helpful.
You are welcome Ada.
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?
You can use only cocoa powder for chocolate cakes. There are several recipes online which use only cocoa powder. I would say no to using cocoa powder as a glaze.
I love all the detail teachings. U re the main man.
Thanks Lexx.
U’re amazing man. Tnx so momentarily can’t wait to practise des tips. God bless u Terry. Tnx tnx tnx! I luv dis.
You are welcome Lynwabs. Glad I could share.
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!
Thanks Lynwabs. I’m grateful.
Thanks Terry, this is so helpful.
You are welcome.
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.
You re too much Terry. Always willing to impact knowledge on beginners like us. Remain blessed.
Thanks Ngozi.
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.
Thanks Bibi. All the best with the cake.
Pls can corn starch be found in Nigerian mkt,since u sed it’s nt d same with corn flour?
Yes Oluwatosin. You just have to look out for it.
Thanks Terry for sharing your knowledge. Very helpful.God bless you.
You are welcome Tricia.
Hi Terry. I’m a bit confused. Is Cake flour same as self raising flour? Many thanks
No it is not. Self rising flour has baking powder in it. Cake flour has corn starch in it.
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
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.
Thanks Terry for amazing information. God bless you.
You are welcome.
I appreciate your kindness Terry. God bless and enrich you
Thanks Iy.
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?
Hi. You can find a post on how to make your cakes light and airy here. Grinding your sugar would not give you that effect. I know nothing about cake softeners.
thanks for your response. cheers
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
Thanks Tayo. No they are different. Corn starch is finer.
Thanks so much boss. you are really doing a great job here.
Thanks Sandy.
You Are indeed a blessing
Thanks Jumoke.
How can one get corn starch
In stores that sell baking goods.
Thanks for this dear
My pleasure.
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.
If it ever happens that I get to make it, I would do a tutorial on it.
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
I’m glad you found this page helpful. You are welcome.
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.
Please do not give up Sonia. Practice makes perfect.
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?
Thanks. I would say no to your question.
Pls terry what kind of milk am i expected to use when making my buttermilk if not evaporated…pls im confused here
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)
Thanks for your insight Max.
great tutorial. doing a great job here
Thanks.
Thanks Terry. This is really helpful.
You are welcome Ada.
God bless u terry. Thanks a lot.
Thanks Ogy.
So happy I found this site through @foodace! This is so amazing! Am learning a lot from going tru ur site!
Thanks. I am glad to have you here.
Hi, pls wen u 1tbsp,or 1 tsp etc, shd it be levelled or heapful, which r u referring to pls?
Leveled. Always level your cup and spoon measurements unless the contrary is stated.
Am really trilled finding this.thank you so much for all the caaake info you are sharing.God bless youm
You are welcome Evelyn.
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!)
Thanks Abiola. And yeah, I sabi watin u yan.
Terry, just want 2 say u are too much. Thanks
You are welcome.
Hi terry u r amazing.just tried ur white butter cake recipe snd it came out beautifully well.kissess and hugs
Thanks Uche. I am glad it worked out well.
I just love you…ur a darling..bless your soul
Thanks Jessica.
Thanks so much for sharing!
You are welcome Tolu.
Hi Terry, pls are u referring to the popular milk tin we use in Nigeria as ur measuring cup?
No Grace, standard baking cups. You can find them wherever baking supplies are sold.
i stay in lagos but everybaking shop i went to said corn flour is the same as corn starch….I’m a bit confused
Don’t be confused. They are wrong.
Thank you soooo much Terry.
You are welcome Laura.
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
You are welcome Echies.
What would we do without terry faithfully guidance, what would I do without these useful tips. You really are an angel.
Thanks Boye.
Wow! You are good! May God bless you more abundantly.
Thanks Victoria.
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
Why are you adding corn flour to cake flour? What are you trying to achieve?
U are simply awesome
Thanks Pearl.
Thank so much learnt alot today.
You are welcome.
I can’t believe I’m just discovering you (website n all)!! This is so helpful. Thank you so much Terry.
Glad to have you here Eno.
Thank you so much for this. God bless you. Now my favorite website 🙂
Thanks Bukola.
Thank God I found you,Terry you are God sent.
Thank you for your selfless service, to self taught bakers like myself.
You are welcome Winnifred.
Woow. Good tips here. Thnx Terry
You are welcome Kenyena.
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
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.
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.
Thanks for you impute Nevi. Certainly clears a lot of things. As for caster sugar, I’d say any form of blender or mill that grinds dry ingredients.
Please can you suggest me what to use as substitute to eggs in ur cake receipes for eggless version.
Unfortunately I have no such knowledge.
Mr, TERRY you are blessed. People like you are rear. Thanks once more
Thanks.
Thank you so much Terry! Numbers 2 & 3 were really helpful for my baking over the weekend.
You are welcome.
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
You are welcome Anthonia.
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
Ok I’d work on smth in future.
Is cornstarch same as akamu?
No. It is called corn flour in Nigeria and some in packs and plastic tubs.
Wow. ThankS
You are such a blessing
Thanks Oladayo.
Your post have been quite helpful, tnks alot
You are welcome.