DEAR HELOISE: I have a very old "Instant Chocolate Cake" recipe from the '60s or '70s that calls for 11/4 cups of instant flour. You mix it directly in a square cake pan. I can no longer find "instant" cake flour. Can you suggest a substitute?
-- Dorothy D.,
Hutchinson, Kan.
DEAR READER: Generally, you can use all-purpose flour, cake flour or pastry flour in most recipes. Instant flour is a very fine powder, and it dissolves quickly in hot or cold liquid. You can try cake or pastry flour and see how the cake turns out. However, you will have to stir more than normal to remove any lumps.
P.S. For my readers who are interested in instant flour, look online or at your closest big-box store. Share it with a neighbor or co-worker if you have to buy a large quantity.
DEAR HELOISE: You know how you buy a bag of marshmallows to use in the sweet-potato casserole and every year you use only about a cup of marshmallows and stash the rest away for the next year? And when you go to use them, they are a congealed mass, no matter how carefully you sealed them up?
I learned a secret and used the same bag of marshmallows for three years, and they were still as fresh and nonsticky as the day I bought them. After using them, I squeezed out as much air as possible and placed the bag into a zippered plastic bag and into the freezer. I figured I had nothing to lose. The next year, I was delighted when I opened the bag and out tumbled the marshmallows, just as powdery and nonsticky as the day I put them in the freezer. Not a high money savings, but every penny counts, and there is no wasting of food.
-- Lennie W., Durham, N.C.
DEAR HELOISE: I have found a great hint for spreading peanut butter and jelly when making sandwiches: Forget the knife, and use the back of a spoon. This keeps the bread from tearing apart. You also can use the spoon for other condiments during sandwich preparation.
-- Jim K., Omaha, Neb.
DEAR HELOISE: I make a lot of banana bread to give as gifts and also to take to work. I started using a fluted cake pan to bake it in. Instead of the typical loaf, I think it makes the bread look more special.
-- Diane L., via email
Send a money- or time-saving hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000; fax to (210) 435-6473; or email
Food on 02/22/2017