Welcome to Kitchen Queries, where the nigella.com team will answer your cooking or food related questions.  We’d love you to submit some of your recipe problems, dilemmas or queries for us to get our teeth into!

Please note, we are only able to answer questions selected for publication and aren't able to enter into personal correspondence.

• SOUR CREAM SUBSTITUTE (& heavy cream)

  HELLO, I live in Venezuela, south america, and we do not have sour cream here. What can I use instead when baking? yogurt, whipping cream? Thank you very much! Flaviaelena

  Hello, Can u advise me an alternative for sour cream & heavy cream. Leeta

  Posted by FLAVIAELENA. Answered on 15th Feb 2011 at 12.00

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• Guinness Gingerbread dessert

  By all accounts and reviews, this recipe sounds absolutely delicious and I am going to attempt it as soon I get the ingredients. However, I would like to ask if this cake is moist enough to serve hot as a pudding with custard or cream, and secondly could I substitute buttermilk for the sour cream? Many thanks for a lovely website. Softique

  I made this cake last night as the first thing I have made from the book and am very disappointed with the result. The cake is extremely heavy and doughy - not pleasant at all. I did have to cook it for longer than the recipe said - probably about 10 minutes longer but I tested with a skewer and it came out clean. There were quite a lot of ingredients and I feel I want to throw it away. Have a regular ginger cake recipe I use which never goes wrong - so a real shame. Lester27

  Posted by Softique. Answered on 14th Feb 2011 at 12.00

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• Clafoutis - alternatives to a copper pan

  This recipe from Nigella Express book uses a copper tart tatin dish which I don't have. Would I get the same results if I were to use a stoneware pie dish or should I rather consider investing in a proper tart tatin one?

  Posted by MadamM. Answered on 13th Feb 2011 at 12.00

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