Don't know what to replace sour cream in baked goods with? Use other products, but consider important nuances.
Sour cream is not only a tasty and healthy dairy product in itself. Sauces and creams are made from it, and used in baking. Sour cream is found in recipes for pies and buns, casseroles, and cakes.
Read another article on our website on the topic: “What can be prepared from expired sour cream?” . You will find delicious food recipes.
The necessary ingredient is not always at hand, and not everyone likes the high calorie content of the product. If you want to bake something, but without sour cream, you have to look for another product to replace it. It is important to use it correctly. We'll talk about this in the article below. Read on.
Why do you need sour cream in baking?
Sour cream for baking
An ingredient that performs similar functions can replace sour cream without spoiling the baked goods. Why do you need sour cream in baking? This product has several properties useful for different types of flour products:
- Gives the crust a blush. Products made with sour cream acquire a beautiful, appetizing color when baked. To ensure that the crust darkens gradually and evenly, the cooking temperature should be reduced slightly.
- Makes the crust softer . Buns with sour cream always have a tender crust. This is due to milk proteins and sugars, which slow down the evaporation of water from the workpiece.
- Softens the dough . Sour cream is one of those components that makes the baked goods more tender, prevents dryness, and also gives the dough fluffiness. Like other fermented milk products, sour cream helps to loosen the dough.
- hardening
process . The fats contained in sour cream slow down the hardening of the dough, and baked goods remain soft and fresh longer. - Gives elasticity to the finished product . The sour cream dough is quite dense, and the finished baked goods do not crumble too much.
- Binds eggs and flour . These ingredients themselves mix well, but it is the sour cream that stabilizes the dough and promotes elasticity.
- Gives a characteristic creamy taste . The bright yet delicate taste is one of the main reasons for the popularity of baking with sour cream. The richness of the flavor depends on the fat content of the product.
Based on these properties, you can figure out what and in what cases can serve as a substitute for sour cream. Read on.
Risks and side effects of sour cream substitutes
If you use real sour cream, it is important to watch out for additives that may have unwanted side effects.
Common preservatives and additives found in processed varieties include carrageenan, guar gum, calcium sulfate, potassium sorbate, locust bean gum, modified food starch, and more.
If you're looking for a store-bought substitute, read ingredient labels carefully. Just because something is dairy-free doesn't mean it's healthy.
Watch out for artificial preservatives and other questionable ingredients. If you are allergic to the sour cream substitutes listed above or their ingredients, this is not a good option for you.
How can you replace sour cream in baking: options, list
The first thing that comes to mind that can replace sour cream in baking is other fermented milk products. They have similar properties and can serve as a replacement in a 1:1 . For those who for some reason do not consume dairy products, you can find plant-based substitutes, although this is not the best option. The ratio remains the same - 1:1 . So, what are the options for replacing sour cream? Below you will find a list.
Dairy products replacing sour cream:
- Kefir and other types of sour milk (yogurt, yoghurt, fermented baked milk)
- Buttermilk
- Heavy cream
- Butter
- Soft cottage cheese
- Cottage cheese
A “vegan” alternative could be:
- Non-dairy yogurts
- Cream based on vegetable oils
Worth knowing: For some types of baked goods, mayonnaise may also be appropriate.
It is possible to combine several components to achieve a better result. For example, you can mix kefir (4 tsp) with natural yogurt (0.5 tbsp). For those who are not afraid of calories, you can try adding three quarters of a cup of yogurt to a quarter cup of melted butter. A mixture of kefir with butter or yogurt with a small amount of soda is also possible, depending on what is expected from the finished flour product. Oil is added if it is necessary to increase the fat content and friability; soda is useful for adding more fluffiness.
Tofu
The second option for preparing vegetable sour cream involves using tofu:
- Grind 0.5 kilograms of tofu;
- Pour in 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a lot of water;
- Add a couple of drops of lemon juice;
- Grind with a blender until smooth.
Chill the tofu cream in the refrigerator for 1 hour. The shelf life of this product is 3 days.
There is a wide variety of sour cream substitutes suitable for various dishes. When choosing a substitute, be guided by your taste preferences and experiment to get the best result.
How to replace sour cream in baking a pie?
Pie with full-fat kefir
The choice of ingredient to replace sour cream depends on the type of dough required. How to replace sour cream in baking a pie?
- For yeast dough, it is advisable to use high-fat fermented milk products.
- With not very fatty kefir, the dough will not work as well and may turn out heavy, so full-fat yogurt or yogurt is preferable. You can add butter to kefir.
- And for chicken pie, where fluffiness and fluffiness are not so important, kefir is completely suitable.
- If you use heavy cream for yeast dough, you need to whip it a little first.
- Pies, buns and Easter cakes can be baked with buttermilk and soft cottage cheese. In the latter case, it is important not to overdo it, so as not to make the dough heavier, and to use the product in smaller quantities than sour cream.
- Shortbread dough will require ingredients with high fat content.
- Butter or unsweetened yogurt will make the finished baked goods quite loose and crumbly, with a delicious aroma.
If you follow these tips, the pie will turn out tasty and tender if it is yeast dough, and vice versa, crumbly and crispy if it is shortbread dough.
Vegetable sour cream
This option is for vegans:
- Combine 1 cup of pre-peeled raw sunflower seeds and 3 cups of boiling water in a deep bowl.
- Add 3 teaspoons of vegetable oil (such as corn or olive oil). Add salt to taste. Add a couple drops of lemon juice.
- Place ingredients in blender bowl. Beat for a few minutes until the mixture is homogeneous. You can also use a hand blender.
- Transfer the finished product to a separate container. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. Vegetable sour cream is stored for 3 days.
How to replace sour cream in cake baking?
If you plan to bake a classic sponge cake, you can use kefir or cream instead of sour cream. They should be lightly beaten before adding to the dough.
When baking cake layers from other doughs, you can follow the general rules for these types (yeast dough, shortbread dough), or you can experiment with a rich curd dessert. This will make the baked goods juicier.
WORTH KNOWING: You need to take a third less curd product than indicated in the recipe for sour cream.
Mayonnaise
If you're looking for a sour cream substitute, mayonnaise is another option that can usually be used in a 1:1 ratio.
Mayonnaise instead of sour cream works best in sauces and dressings. It's not as spicy as most mayonnaises including eggs.
Avoid store-bought mayonnaise that contains processed oils (which they often do) such as sunflower, safflower or canola oils. Look for ones that contain healthier oils, such as olive oil and organic, cage-free egg yolks.
How to replace sour cream in cupcake baking?
Ryazhenka cupcakes
Ryazhenka or kefir is the best choice for tasty and aromatic cupcakes. This is an excellent replacement for sour cream in this type of baking. To increase the fluffiness, you can add a spoonful of starch to the dough with kefir. Any fermented milk products, be it yogurt, kefir or buttermilk, are also useful for other types of yeast-free baked goods. You can make muffins, juice cakes, and cupcakes with sour milk.
Conclusion about sour cream substitutes
Sour cream is a dairy product made by fermenting cream (this can be done naturally or processed). It is commonly used to make savory recipes, baked goods, sauces and dressings. It is also used as a general seasoning. For many reasons, people often look for substitutes because they simply don't have the recipe or are on a special diet. There are many things that can replace it that are also dairy based but contain more protein and contain the most nutrients such as yogurt and kefir.
You can use cashews or coconut milk to create a vegan sour cream that is also dairy-free.
How to replace sour cream in a recipe if you cannot eat dairy products on your diet?
It is most difficult for those who are contraindicated to consume dairy products. They are joined by those who want to lose weight, who monitor the caloric content of their food, as well as vegans who fundamentally reject all dairy products. How to replace sour cream in a recipe if you cannot eat dairy products on your diet?
- The best (if not the only) option for replacing sour cream would be vegetable yogurt or cream.
- Made with a coconut or soy base, these products are suitable for people who are lactose intolerant.
- They are purchased in specialized stores, but they are also found in large supermarkets.
- Plant-based yoghurts are similar in properties to milk yoghurts; the 1:1 remain the same when replaced.
- They make good cupcakes, muffins, biscuits and cheesecakes .
- Cottage cheese casserole can also be made with vegetable substitutes.
There are many substitutes for sour cream, and for different types of baked goods it is easy to find the most suitable option. There is no sour cream in the house - another fermented milk product will be used in the dough, the diet does not allow you to eat fatty foods - vegetable cream will be used. There are no overly strict rules for substitution; you can experiment with different products and their combinations. It is enough to know the properties of the ingredients to get no worse, and sometimes even better, results than with sour cream. Bon appetit!
Buttermilk
Buttermilk is traditionally made from the liquid leftover churned butter from fermented cream. Made in this traditional way, buttermilk is rich in probiotics but low in lactose.
Made conventionally, buttermilk is created by adding bacterial cultures (such as Lactococcus lactis or Lactobacillus bulgaricus) to regular milk.
How about using regular milk to replace sour cream? This won't help because cow's or goat's milk itself has no odor.
You can combine a cup of whole milk mixed with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to substitute it in baking recipes. This is a common sour cream substitute for beef stroganoff recipes.
What to replace kefir with in different recipes: 5 options
The basis for fluffy baked goods is liquid, acid and something protein. Kefir can be successfully replaced with yogurt (sometimes regular or sour milk), fermented baked milk, natural yogurt or an analogue with additives, as well as sour cream.
Tip Yogurt and curdled milk can reduce the elasticity of the dough, but this problem can be solved by adding more margarine or butter.
Curdled milk
Option one is sour milk. It is most often used to make pancakes; they turn out airy and melt in the mouth. Curdled milk is closest in composition to kefir; it differs only in the method of fermentation: to obtain it, milk is exposed to sunlight or kept in a dark place, and kefir is prepared by adding lactobacilli to pasteurized milk. Replacing kefir with yogurt does not require any special adjustments to the recipe, except that you will need a little more flour.
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Advice: Miss Clean magazine recommends that if the milk has turned sour, but has not yet turned into curdled milk, it is better to wait one day. This way the pancakes won't taste too sour.
Ryazhenka
Replace kefir with fermented baked milk. This product is made from baked milk through fermentation. Your baked goods will have a unique taste and a pleasant milky tint. Ryazhenka is closest to kefir in consistency; housewives highly praise the results of culinary experiments with this product.
Since fermented baked milk is less acidic, it is additionally recommended to quench the soda with vinegar or lemon juice.
Tip If the amount of kefir is not enough for the recipe, dilute it with boiled water.
White and sweet yoghurts
Biscuits, pancakes and crumpets with yogurt are delicious. This product is also added to dough for muffins, buns, and cakes. Choose natural yogurt - it is white, unsweetened, without dyes or flavors.
Sometimes housewives want to diversify the taste of baked goods so much that they use colored flavored yoghurts with additives (fruits, berries). This option is also acceptable, but still try to choose the most natural products. It’s also worth reducing the amount of granulated sugar in the recipe.
Tip: Yogurt is thinner than kefir, so use a little more flour. But do not exceed its quantity so that the biscuit does not turn out to be stone. It's better to use less yogurt or mix it with kefir if you have leftovers in the refrigerator.
Sour cream
Kefir can also be replaced with sour cream. If it is too thick, then dilute it with a small amount of milk or yogurt. Homemade sour cream makes delicious sweet pies, pancakes, donuts, cheesecakes, etc.
InterestingKefir in recipes is replaced with beer, mineral water, cucumber pickle, whey and even jelly.
Changes in recipes for novice housewives often lead to unexpected results: the dough sticks, does not bake, or turns out tasteless. Don't worry and experiment: with experience you will find your favorite dairy products for dough. Do not forget that kefir, fermented baked milk and yogurt from different manufacturers give different results due to differences in composition.
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Why add sour cream to the dough?
Sour cream is a universal dough ingredient that performs many functions:
- Improves taste, giving the finished culinary creation a creamy aftertaste.
- Makes baked goods fluffy.
- Increases calorie content and nutritional value.
- Replaces baking powder in semi-finished products.
- Combines eggs with flour, making the mixture homogeneous.
- Gives elasticity to the dough, making it easier to work with.
- Prevents drying of the product and the pies themselves, extends the shelf life of baked goods.
Not every housewife knows that professional chefs get a golden, soft crust on pies and pies baked in the oven using sour cream glaze.
The fermented milk product is introduced into the semi-finished yeast product after the fermentation process is completed. Sour cream with a low proportion of fat is added to shortbread dough, while sour cream with a higher fat content is added to fresh dough.
Natural homemade thickeners
At home, it is best to use natural and environmentally friendly products to prepare thick sour cream.
- Natural potato starch
. Added to sour cream at the rate of 1 tbsp per 250 ml of fermented milk product. l. starch. - Fine-grained homemade cottage cheese.
It will slightly affect the taste of the cream, but will give the sour cream the necessary consistency. Thoroughly grind the cottage cheese through a fine colander and mix 150 g of the product with 250 g of sour cream. Add powdered sugar and beat well with a blender or mixer. - Natural gelatin.
Gelatin perfectly thickens the main component. You need to dilute 10 g of gelatin in 100 ml of warm water. After dissolving it, add the cooled gelatin water to 500 g of sour cream, mix with powdered sugar and beat well. Cool in the refrigerator for 2 - 3 hours. - Butter.
This product will help make the sour cream thicker, but will add fat to the cream and add a unique taste to it. About 40 g of soft butter should be mixed with 250 g of sour cream. Beat with a blender or mixer for 2 - 3 minutes.
To prepare high-quality sour cream, you need to pay attention to the main component from which the cream is to be made. It is best to use natural homemade sour cream in the recipe. Because a store-bought product made from a powder concentrate may not be whipped to the desired consistency.
Homemade sour cream should have moderate thickness and a neutral taste. A slight sour taste is allowed. In appearance, the sour cream should be homogeneous, white in color and have a glossy surface. The matte surface and faded color indicate the unnatural origin of the fermented milk product.
