I will be making a choc cake which includes using vinegar towards the end. I usually use white wine vinegar but I have a little left and the only other one I have is the malt vinegar which is much stronger smelling. would it make any difference if I use this one?

Hi,

I have never used any other vinegar than the regular distilled white vinegar in cake recipes. Not sure if the others that you have will change the taste of yr cake bc of the other additives (if any) are in them.

I've never used malt, but have used apple cider, red wine, balsamic and regular in my red velvet and have noticed no flavor difference but got the same reaction.

If you are only using a little bit (a few teaspoons) I think you will be fine.

What recipe are you using? I'd be very interested in checking it out!

We use apple cider vinegar in most of our cake recipes.

I've always wondered what the vinegar does for the recipe. I know it usually shows up in chocolate recipes.

The vinegar combined with baking soda is a rising agent, it is especially helpful in vegan cakes since they don't have any eggs.

Thanks Jason.

Malt vinegar is fine to use.

Thanks everyone. I also have another problem. The receipe calls for plain flour (all purpose flour) but I only have self raising at home and will not have the chance to go out and buy the plain one. The receipe states to use 1.5 cups of plain four, half tsp of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of vinegar. How much do I alter these ingredients if I am going to use self raising flour?

Have a look around on google regarding making self raising flour if you only have plain. The calculations seem to indicate that in this situation (i.e: going from plain to self raising) it would probably be best to leave out the vinger and baking soda and just use the self raising flour.

Depending on what type of cake it is, if you still need it to be fluffy, you could leave in the vinegar but take out the baking soda.

thanks David. I know from previous exprience that SR flour is not enough to make a cake rise. what would happen if i used the soda and vinegar aswell? if i just use the vinegar, would the reaction that it makes with the raising agent in the flour be enough for it to rise?

I made my batter with no extra soda and just added the vinegar into the self raising flour mix and put it in the oven 40 mins ago but it doesn't seem to be rising, I am starting to get worried..

Too many changes. In the SR, you don't know the original amount of leavening.

In the future, I would make sure the ingredients are on hand, or if in a jam, look for a similar, alternative recipe on the internet using the ingredients you have. There are good recipes using SR flour you can use in a pinch. It may not be your favorite recipe, but at least the results will be a success.

I take the culinary term of "mise en place" to the next degree. In addition to reading a recipe and making sure all ingredients are ready, when I see a recipe I like, I make a little note on my grocery list for any ingredients not on hand with a notation about the location of the recipe. Sometimes my wants get a little crazy, so the note of which ingredient needed for which recipe helps me decide what I want to do next.

Truthfully, what I really do is go to the all night grocery store. If I find a recipe I really want to try in a new cookbook, I head to the store at 2am. But my kids are older and it's easy to do. I know this isn't always practical. The other day I got obsessed with making my own frozen fruit puree when I found the shipping averaged $45.00 for one pack. Off to the store I went.

I thought I had plain flour in the cupboard but infact I have about 4 packets of SR flour instead. Could have sworn I had bought plain too. I had a shopping list to go out and buy the missing ingredients during my lunch break at work but I have not been able to get out of the house the past couple of days due to my 3 year old being too ill for the nursery with a fever. Today was the only day I could have baked and it turned out to be a disaster..

sorry to hear that MissCakeCrazy. Sounds like a google fail We've had to play the subsitution game in the past and I think scp1127 hit the nail on the head. When we are in these pinches it can be best to alternate to another recipe. I think it would be worth investing time though into the calculations to find exactly what works given the situation with your child. If you get in these pickles having this information on hand will definitely save you headaches. I hope your child feels better soon - I know how hard it is when the kids are bad like that.