This recipe from her update book is wonderful. But so full of fat and sat fat due to the 170grams of butter!!
Does anyone have any recommendations how to cut that back- oil? oil and butter combo?
But still try and maintain taste and texture?

Hi, cenicholas!

Looking at the Banana Refrigerator Cake (RHC) vs. the Cordon Rose Banana Cake (TCB), the only material difference, if my memory is correct, is that the BRC uses oil and the CRBC uses butter (same weight).  This leads me to believe that you can, generally, sub oil for butter if you choose—of course, oil cakes are moister and have what is to me a ‘spongy’ texture, but many people love them.  However, and I may be mistaken here, I think an oil cake vs. a butter cake has more fat (because oil is 100% fat where butter is 80% fat and 20% water), but obviously, less saturated fat.

Of course, there are many things at work when looking at the healthiness or unhealthiness of a dessert—for example, refined vs. whole grains (and of course we’re using super-refined with cake flour and bleached AP flour), and the fact that fats and protein slow the uptake of sugar and the glycemic ‘hit’ of foods—and the harder that ‘hit’, the more insulin is triggered, which leads to fat production in the body and insulin resistance, generally if this is a frequent occurrence—so fat, in a way, is helpful to desserts.  Also, butter is somewhat less refined than oils, and the refining process can have many adverse health risks, so there’s that balance.  And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.  The final word is that health guidelines have changed and changed and changed, so what we ‘know’ today may be tomorrow’s ‘old misguided science.’  Take eggs and coconut—and even saturated fat is starting to becoming ‘unvillified,’ so we’ll see where that leads!

Thus, my suggestion is if you are concerned about limiting health risks, make baby cupcakes to reduce the serving size!! 

One thing you can do is make a small batch with your proposed modifications and see if its taste and texture is what you want it to be—if not, experiment further until it is!!  It’s fun to experiment, and I hope you are able to achieve your desired results.

I know one person on our forum subs coconut oil for butter for its health benefits—you get a bit of coconut flavor, which can be nice, so that’s another thought.  Someone else will likely chime in with more ideas!

Good luck, and I look forward to hearing the results and seeing your cuppies!!!!!

—ak

I agree with Anne’s suggestion to make them smaller.

Or perhaps a butter cake isn’t really the way to go, if you’re trying to cut back on butter.  There are plenty of beautiful oil cakes to choose from- chiffon makes lovely cupcakes, and you can top them with fruit (for instance, the orange chiffon topped with mandarin orange slices in the shape of a flower).  Or one of the cakes that is made with fruit/veggies and oil, like banana refrigerator cake or pumpkin cake.

cenicholas - 09 June 2011 07:32 AM

But so full of fat and sat fat due to the 170grams of butter!!

Are you going to eat the whole cake? That’s about a pat of butter per slice…not really much for an occasional indulgence.  In my view, nothing ruins a dessert more than cutting corners trying to make it healthful, particularly when you won’t really succeed.

Charles, I am with you.  the best way to cut fat on a cake is to eat half the portion that you normally would.  that is a whopping 50% off, without any sacrifice on taste/texture.

hectorwong - 09 June 2011 05:24 PM

the best way to cut fat on a cake is to eat half the portion that you normally would.  that is a whopping 50% off, without any sacrifice on taste/texture.

That requires way too much self control.   I prefer to have full-size portions much less often.  I don’t keep cakes, cookies, or ice cream around the house.

You all are great members! Anne, now I know who to ask science questions of. You others are always full of good and useful suggestions. Has anyone experimented with Earth Balance buttery spread? Kathy Freston(Veganist author) says she uses it for eating and baking. I am tempted to try it, but the price/lb. is daunting in the event I don’t like it.

@Kyle:  I have used EB Buttery STICKS in Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” and as far as texture and baking—much the same as butter.  However, there is a slight aftertaste, but not horrible.  It’s likely as close as I will get to buttery baked goods without dairy.  I don’t think I’d use it for things in which butter flavour is a main component—say, buttercreams…  As far as EB Buttery Spread, I use it on toast, etc. but it too has a bit of aftertaste.  Haven’t tried baking with it though.  Surprised to find the EB sticks are about same price as premium butter here—actually a bit cheaper.  Suffice to say, butter is a difficult flavour to replicate.  Now if only they could come up with a decent dairy free “cheese” substitiute—that’s a real challenge!

I used EB to make IMB one time. My daughter did not like it. The taste was so weird and salty, also the texture of the icing was hard to work with.

Ok, so I’ve decided to try 1/2 butter (85g) and 1/2 Oil (85g) but found that the cupcake cases are absorbing excess oil and therefore as the cool they fall away from the cupcake! Also, the cupcakes didn’t rise as much- and I have increased the baking powder to 1 tsp and kept the baking soda at 1/2.

Anyone have any expertise in subs some oil for butter? The irony is the taste and texture is GREAT! Can hardly tell there’s half the butter!! I just have to fix the appearance!

One last thing… I want to try and add mashed banana to this recipe… what implications does that have on my baking powder or baking soda measurements??

Check out these web site, maybe you can find some info

http://www.egglesscooking.com/2009/02/16/whacky-vegan-chocolate-cake/

Sub olive oil for butter

http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/substitute-olive-oil-for-butter.html

Maybe you can compare a banana cake to your recipe and see how it’s changed.  Or simply make the Banana Refrigerator Cake—it uses all oil, sour cream and has mashed banans!!  It might be just what you’re looking for!

As to the wrappers, maybe you can forgo them and make them ‘muffin style’?  The oil cakes stay very moist, so they’d be less likely to dry out.

If you want higher domes, just let the batter sit in the pan for about 25-50 minutes before putting it in the oven.  That expels some leavening, which strengthens the structure, and lets them dome more.

Good luck!

—ak

@bean2002- thanks for the olive oil website- it has a chart that is exactly what I’m looking for! The oil I have is a canola/red palm fruit oil blend (so very low sat fat and high in antiox) but I think it’s quite heavy. It says to use it like an olive oil but I most def used too much then. I’ll test it again today and hopefully they rise a lot better!

Anne- if all else fails, I will try the refridg banana cake!