Substituting Potato Starch in a Meringue

[Velda Mae]

I'm thinking about Passover desserts and found a recipe for a pavlova meringue torte in Carole Walter's Great Cakes. The recipe requires 1 tsp. of cornstarch in the meringue. Could I substitute potato starch for the cornstarch?

[seanelle2]

Velda Mae, it may be too late since Pesach starts in a few hours. If you are Sephardic, cornstarch is permissible. If you are Ashkenazi, ANY PRODUCTS MADE FROM CORN ARE PROHITIBITED. This would include Cornstarch. Potato starch (Manischewitz Kosher for Passover) can be substituted in equal amounts for any recipe calling for cornstarch. Another poster inaccurately said it doesn't matter because it's "so little" an amount. That is absolutely not true, Corn is "kitniyos", therefore prohibited for Passover for Ashkenazi Jews.

CREAM OF TARTAR IS NOT, REPEAT, NOT KOSHER FOR PASSOVER. Someone below said it is. IT IS NOT!!! It is made from leavings in wine barrels, therefore from fermented products that are not kosher for Passover. There IS available Kosher for Passover Cream of Tartar. If no stores near you are glatt Kosher, for next year look online, many products can be ordered over the internet. Happy Passover! P.S. If you have questions about what products are kosher for Passover, please go to Chabad.org, or to Orthodox Union (ou.org). ou website, and Star-K website will also tell you about products that have been mislabeled as kosher when they are not, and vice versa- i.e,. something might be marked pareve, when it is dairy, or it might be marked dairy when it is pareve, sometimes container says one thing and inside packaging says another. These are helpful resources for all your kosher/kosher for Passover questions. Hag Sameach!

[williej]

Hi. I bought matzo meal, cake meal and potato starch last year for passover. I still have some left and can't find any potato starch at my local food store. Can I still use 2008 packages of these items? Thanks.

[anniemax]

I'm allergic to corn, so I use potato starch & various other starches all the time. Potato starch can almost always be subbed for corn starch, but I find the ratio is not 1:1. We've worked it out to using 1/3 to 1/2 the amount called for, as potato starch has more thickening power. Probably not as big of deal in the recipe you mentioned, since the amount of corn starch is so small to start with, but personally I would use a very scant teaspoon of potato starch.

[rockycat]

For Passover I substitute 1:1 all the time. Works just fine.

[Nyleve]

I've done it - it's fine. Wonderful seder dessert. That's just such a weensy bit of cornstarch - absolutely you can use it.

[harryharry]

I don't think you can (although I'm not 100% sure), is cream of tartar kosher? You could also try the meringue with no stablizer- the texture will be slightly different, but it will work.

[Velda Mae]

Cream of tartar is a natural acid, usually obtained from grapes as a byproduct of the winemaking process so, yes, it is kosher and KLP.