Now let’s be honest here, how many of us have started baking and missed out on 1 essential ingredient, in baking and in food preparations, I kid you not, once I baked made a whole batch of banana bread, and forgot to put in banana, or have started full speed on flapjacks and scones and ended not having a single pound of butter in my house.
Sound familiar?…
Yes sure we can use substitutes, I actually have a blog post dedicated to just that, but come on, butter…it’s the most basic ingredient.
And when it comes to baking, which is scary enough for most people out there, I decided I will give you some of the ingredient I thing should always be on hand in your panty.
Let’s start with the Main thing always Needed:
- All-Purpose Flour: It is the less expensive and most easy to Find Flour out there, most grocery stores has it and can be used in most baking. This is most definitely the the one to always have on hand. I buy them in bulk and put them in my freezer.
Second to this is Cake Flour: This is a bit of a lighter flour with a lower protein content than other flours and usually used in your white cakes and some yellow cakes. It’s also easy to make cake flour if the recipe really calls for that by adding in a little Cornstarch
Now this might not be an essential but it has come handy quite a few times in my home, so this one is totally up to you…
2. Baking Powder: An absolute must have is baking powder, in the baking world it is called a leavening agent, but I just think of it as needed when I need stuff to rise. Just remember to not buy this in bulk as I do with my cake and all purpose flour, as baking powder, much like yeast, has an expiry date and can leave your baking flat as if it was never added in the first place. Buy this in smaller batches, but enough to always have for a next time. Those sachets just won’t do.
3. Baking Soda: This is sometimes not used at all or only used alone like in my Red Velvet Recipe. But also a product that needs to be fresh and bought regularly. They only last about 6 months at the most.
4. Salt: I am a bit embarrassed how many times my could not believe me when I ran out of Salt, it doesn’t expire for about 5 years and we only use a little at a time, but man do you miss it when it’s not there. So this inexpensive little product is on my Essential List for sure!
5. Cocoa Powder: This to have in your pantry is always a good idea, as you can use this in cakes, cookies and even make drinks hot and cold with, lots of health benefits here too, I have to admit that having a good quality cocoa powder is a good idea as store bought at the chain stores feels to me like it always needs a bit of more taste. But that is only my opinion, and if that is the only you can find, it sure will work too.
6. Vanilla: So good vanilla is priceless in most of your baking, there is vanilla bean, vanilla been paste, all great to have but a little super expensive , so good old Store Vanilla work perfectly, I buy mine in one liter glass bottles which helps lots.
7. Butter or Margarine: Now I know, a lot of you are going wide eye wondering why on earth would Margarine be in here, well my friends, lets not joke around, have you seen the prices of Butter in South Africa?…It is crazy expensive, and even tho I only lately started using more Butter and plant based butter than I ever did, I will still tell you it is okay to have Margarine if you can’t afford Butter. I baked most of my baking up until very recently with it and it works just as darn good. I just went over because of more health benefits.
8. Vegetable Oil : and Yet again…. I used sunflower and canola oil right from the start with no fail, just tried one cake very recently with Extra virgin olive oil. Way to expensive to always have on hand tho, but as long as you have sunflower and canola, you will be perfectly fine in the baking world. Just try and stay away from the blended stuff, they do tend to smoke a lot when frying …
9. Buttermilk: This helps cakes and scones be so fluffy and moist but if you can’t have the original, do not worry, making buttermilk is as easy as adding a table spoon vinegar or lemon juice into a cup of full cream milk…yep that is all it takes…. and you are sorted in this number 9 point….
10. Eggs : Lastly, and by all means never ever be without eggs!!! This is the very important to have, I try to stick to large or extra large but not at all a worry if your crate ended up being to small, my mom always told me to just add one more egg, the batter doesn’t know if it was two small or one extra large egg, so the baking will be just fine either way.
I hope these tips and essential ideas will help you keep in mind always what you need at home to be prepared and ready for your next baking experience.
If you have an essential you would like to share or add, let us know in the comments below, what essential can you never go without in your pantry.
Happy Baking Everyone
Be Safe, Be Kind and Stay Happy
All My love
Yolandie
YOLANDIE OLECH 
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