Finding the right baking ingredients in UK shops

Katerina Galkina · EN · 07/10/2026

Match the ingredient to the recipe

In UK shops, search for an ingredient's purpose rather than only a literal translation of a familiar name. Plain flour, self-raising flour and strong bread flour are different products. Marriage's Millers explains the differences ↗: self-raising includes raising ingredients, while strong flour is intended for a different dough structure.

For a cake recipe adding its own raising agent, first check plain flour. For yeasted bread, follow the recipe's flour specification. Do not automatically add the same quantity of raising agent to self-raising flour as a plain-flour recipe requires.

Useful shopping terms

Caster sugar is fine baking sugar; icing sugar is powdered sugar. Puff pastry, shortcrust pastry and filo are different kinds of pastry. Ready rolled is generally already rolled out; a block needs preparation.

Read the weight, ingredients and instructions. Butter-based and vegetable-fat pastry can look similar but have different flavours and allergens. Chilled and frozen versions need different preparation, so allow the necessary time before starting.

Find products and check stock

The Doves Farm range ↗ helps compare flour names. In supermarkets, look under baking for dry ingredients and chilled or frozen for pastry. Sainsbury's Stock Checker ↗ gives an indication of local availability, but stock may change before you arrive.

For an unusual ingredient, save the English name and a packaging photograph. Check the required size and alternative pack sizes. Compare prices per kilogram rather than per pack; a small specialist packet can be much more expensive.

Substitute carefully

Change one ingredient at a time and record the outcome. Quark, cottage cheese and a familiar curd cheese can have different moisture levels, affecting dough. If texture matters, look for the specific product in an Eastern European grocery and read its ingredients.

For allergies, check every new package, even from a familiar brand. Wheat-free and gluten-free are different requests. Test a small batch before a major celebration rather than trying every substitution on the event day.