What to use instead of active dry yeast
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Leavening a lean bread dough
The yeast feeds on sugars in the flour and gives off gas that inflates the gluten net. How much you use sets the timing more than the height.
Instant yeastRan out
3/4 tsp instant per 1 tsp active dry, stirred straight into the flour
No proofing step and the first rise runs about 15 percent faster. Watch the dough rather than the clock.
Fresh cake yeastRan out
About 17 g fresh per 7 g active dry, crumbled into the water
Dissolves instantly and rises a touch quicker. It keeps under two weeks in the fridge and dies quietly after that.
Sourdough starter at 100 percent hydrationRan out
200 g starter per 7 g yeast, then take 100 g flour and 100 g water out of the recipe
The rise takes 4 to 12 hours instead of 1 to 2. Crumb is more open, the crust is darker and the loaf keeps two days longer.
What doesn't work: Baking powder or baking soda in a yeasted dough. They release their gas in one burst in the first minutes of baking, and a dough built to trap gas slowly over an hour just sits there. You get a dense loaf with a soapy edge.
Raising an enriched, sugary dough
Butter and sugar slow yeast down and coat the gluten, so brioche and cinnamon rolls need more yeast and more time than a plain loaf to get anywhere.
Instant yeastRan out
3/4 tsp instant per 1 tsp active dry
Goes in dry with the flour, which matters here because there is little free water to proof it in.
Osmotolerant instant yeast, the gold-label kindRan out
3/4 tsp per 1 tsp active dry
Bred for sugar-heavy dough and ferments a brioche 20 to 30 percent faster. In a lean dough it behaves like any instant yeast.
Fresh cake yeastRan out
About 17 g fresh per 7 g active dry
Handles sugar better than dry yeast and gives a softer crumb. It has to be fresh, or an enriched dough will barely move.
What doesn't work: Doubling the yeast to hurry a sweet dough along. It rises fast and then smells and tastes of yeast, the crumb goes coarse and the rolls are stale by the next morning. Give it warmth and time instead.
Active dry wants a wet start in water at 40 to 46C for 10 minutes. Instant does not. That is the only real difference in how you use them.