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Substitutions · 5 dishes here use it
Lift, on a clock. It starts working the moment it is wet and again in the oven, so a batter that sits on the counter has already spent half of it.
Everything below is judged against that job. A swap that covers it is a swap; one that only looks similar is not.
Functional substitution system
For baking powder, the page's working definition is: Lift, on a clock. It starts working the moment it is wet and again in the oven, so a batter that sits on the counter has already spent half of it. The swap cards below are judged against that job rather than visual resemblance.
Job → candidate → side effects → small test → correct.
1 · Job
What is the missing ingredient doing?
2 · Candidate
Choose the shelf item that replaces that function.
3 · Side effects
Check water, fat, salt, acid, sweetness, and texture.
4 · Small test
Change a spoonful or small portion first when possible.
5 · Correct
Taste again and move only the axis that is still wrong.
Instead · 1
a quarter teaspoon of soda and half a teaspoon of cream of tartar per teaspoon of powder
Instead · 2
a quarter teaspoon of soda per teaspoon of powder, and swap some liquid for buttermilk
Instead · 3
swap the flour entirely and drop the powder and the salt
What none of them do
There is no swap that gets you lift without a chemical reaction. If there is no soda and no powder in the house, the honest move is to make something that does not rise.
These need it and are short enough that nothing hides: 4 required ingredients or fewer. Make the swap a decision rather than a repair.
The company baking powder keeps in this library, counted off required ingredients. A swap that argues with the top two is the wrong swap, whatever a chart says.