Straus Family Creamery

Dana’s pound cake recipe calls for salted butter but she has unsalted butter. How do you substitute unsalted butter and vice versa when baking?

  • When recipes are written with just “butter” and do not specify salted or unsalted, you want always want to use unsalted butter. As a general rule, most professionally developed recipes call for unsalted butter.
  • When baking a cake, you will usually get the best results by including salt as an ingredient. If your recipe does not include salt as an ingredient, or if your recipe calls for salted butter and you are using unsalted butter, then you should add salt to your dry ingredients.
  • Use 1/4 tsp of salt for a 1 stick of butter recipe and 1/2 tsp. of salt for a 2 stick of butter recipe. Mix the salt with your dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cornstarch, again, it depends on your recipe) and you’ll be good to go.

You want to use salt in your baking for flavor, to control leavening, and generally, you just won’t get the best results on these two fronts when you bake with salted butter.

~ Chefs Cary and Kevin

Similar Posts: