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I often get asked whether substitutions can be made in a recipe. Baking is really a sort of science
experiment, much more so than actual cooking, so while substitutions will work sometimes it is often best to simply
follow the recipe, if at all possible. I never thought to devote an entire post to the subject, instead answering
inquiries on a one-on-one basis, but Rose Levy Beranbaum finally
said what I, and other bakers, have been thinking for a long time:
Can you substitute ingredients? Yes. Should you? Usually, no.
There are many parts of recipe for breads, cookies and cakes that cannot change without fundamentally altering the final product. For example, if a recipe calls for baking powder you cannot substitute yeast. They may both be leaveners, but they are completely dissimilar. You could try to substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose, but the outcomes will not be identical because the properties of each type of flour are different. Flavorings and add-ins, like chocolate chips, blueberries, nuts or vanilla extract, can be substituted for other, similar ingredients, but the mainstays of a recipe should not be changed if you are expecting to reproduce the outcome of the original recipe. Rose suggests changing one ingredient at a time, if you really want to experiment, and watching the results. You might not get edible cookies, but you will gain a better understanding of how your ingredients work should you want to make changes in the future. Websites like FoodSubs.com can help, but if you want chocolate cake right now, try to stick with the recipe for the best results.
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3-12-2006 @8:04PM McAuliflower said... this is a really good subject. I've bonked a recipe or two playing with substituting cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate before. Even bread flour vs cake flour is an eye opening experience regarding the role of gluten in baked goods.
A coworker's kid took this and turned the idea of substituting and omitting ingredients into a killer science fair project in which she deconstructed a chocolate chip recipe. It would be great to make it a habit to break down recipes like this avery blue moon. Could be a fun blog project.
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3-13-2006 @5:32AM Miranda said... The Food Substitutions Bible by David Joachim is a finalist for an IACP Cookbook Award. Comprehensive would be putting it mildly - it lists 5,000 substiutions.
I agree that substutions are, ideally, avoided, but I've had some nice surprises when "punting."
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3-13-2006 @2:50PM Beverly Kubec said... Today was a corn beef recipe cooked in a pressure cooker. I don't have one so help me out cooking it in the oven please.
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3-14-2006 @4:20PM Alanna said... One change that can be RELIABLY made is to cut the sugar in half. The exceptions I've found in 3 years of baking 2 - 4 times a week are European recipes which tend to be far less sweet than American ones in the first place (these I cut back by maybe 1/3 to start) and plain ol' Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies! So cut the sugar and bump up the "front" flavor (banana, cinnamon, vanilla, whatever) and suddenly you'll no longer be serving one more sweet- but otherwise too-subtly-flavored thing after another but very different (becaust they're barely sweet)things.
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