Until I got the itch to bake I had not had butter in the house in many many years.  I just had a physical.  My Doctor says she isn’t worried, but yes, there was an increase in my cholesterol.  And I am not giving up baking. 

Question:  When I am baking strictly for the home, what healthy fats can I use instead of butter.  And If I can’t eliminate it entirely, how can I decrease butter and animal fat in my baking.  Oils? Avocado? Fruits?  What else can I do. 

Question:  When I am baking for the home, how can I decrease white flour in my baking.  Is there a formula where I can substitute any of the available flours that we are now seeing on grocers shelves like Sorghum, Soy, Millet, Quinoa and so forth.

If these are addressed elsewhere, please let me know.

Baking Course:

If I want to do it myself, without taking a formal course, should I just work through the Cake Bible and RHC, in order and make every recipe in order that they appear or is there another way?  I want to get good

I am so grateful for this website.

Thanks!

i would consider not substituting butter or flour.  instead, eat a half a cake slice, that will be EFFECTIVELY a whopping 50% low fat diet!

Hi Vera,
I would not recommend baking through in order. You should learn to master a recipe from each of the categories. Genoise, spounge, butter, for example. Start with your favorite and have fun.

Vera - 11 January 2011 11:35 AM

what healthy fats can I use instead of butter.  And If I can’t eliminate it entirely, how can I decrease butter and animal fat in my baking.  Oils? Avocado? Fruits?  What else can I do.  !

You can replace butter with shortening, but you will suffer some loss in flavor, depending on the product.  I make cookies with 1/2 butter and 1/2 butter-flavored shortening and don’t perceive a significant loss of flavor.  I’ve also used in cookies those shortening sticks that look like butter and they’ve worked well.  I haven’t made the substitution in cakes, but you might check out hi-ratio shortening, which would have to be mail ordered.  It contains the same mixture of fat and water that butter does, so it would be a direct replacement.  I don’t know where it lies on the saturated vs unsaturated fat scale, so I don’t know how much this would help.  You could also focus on cakes that don’t incorporate butter at all, but use liquid fat.  Rose has a few in RHC.

If you’re only making baked goods with butter on an occasional basis, I’d bet it isn’t making a significant contribution to your cholesterol.

I don’t want butter in the house.  Its not the cake that I am eating that raised my cholesterol because I bake whole cakes and bring them to work or to someone elses house.  Its that if you have butter in the house its too tempting to use it other ways.  And I was accustomed all this time to using Olive oil for sauteing or frying the occasional egg, but now the butter is right there because I bake.  I don’t think shortening will be good for my cholesterol.  But thanks for the suggestions.

Hi, Vera!

I keep my butter in the freezer and only take down what I need it to bake.  It freezes for a long time, and if you thaw it and don’t need it all, you can refreeze the leftover butter with no problem.

You can certainly try any kind of substitutions—and you can find them all over the place (fruit purees sub for fat sometimes, for example), but just expect some textural and flavor differences.  You might like the result just as well, even if it is different.  Make smaller “home” cakes for your tests, unless you have a willing batch of guinea pigs at work who would also be interested in the journey!

—ak

p.s.  I’ve tried subbing peanut butter for butter, and, unless you make some other adjustments as well, you will have a VERY heavy cake.  Still a good cake, though, but dense!!!  I think it was a combo of (1) the extra protein and (2) the less fat for the same weight.

Anyway, have fun!  I don’t do it much now, but it IS fun !!!
And write down whatever you do.  I swear, you’ll be sure you can remember it, and then ... it’s gone!

Vera - 11 January 2011 03:46 PM

I don’t think shortening will be good for my cholesterol.  But thanks for the suggestions.

Shortening has much less saturated fat than butter and close to zero trans fat.

I like to take a moderation approach as well (with smaller servings)—but I too have will power issues, so just having good stuff in the house is a temptation.  You could try canola or oil based cakes and also consider angel food cakes (no cholesterol there)—cholesterol is basically from animal fats—so butter and egg yolks are the prime sources in baking.  I did also find a great whole wheat chocolate cake recipe for my babe’s first birthday and I have to admit, it was very good, considering.

You also might check some of Kathleen’s posts, she bakes with whole wheat flour.  And yes, consider all the oil-based cakes, genoise can be made with oil, chiffon, deep chocolate passion, carrot/banana/zucchini.  Nut oils, like almond and walnut from La Tourangelle or other good brands, add more flavor than plain vegetable oil.

Thanks Julie