I’d say the “buttery” is subtle but there, and I like that there is no chance of the distracting aftertaste you get with some oils.

I used to mainly bake oil cakes up until a few years ago when I discovered butter cakes, which I generally prefer the texture of. I haven’t baked an oil cake in the last several months just because I’ve been obsessed with Rose’s butter cake recipes I do love recipes like Fine Cooking’s Hot Chocolate Cake which uses both butter and oil. It calls for Canola oil, but I use Avocado.

I haven’t done it, but think that one nut butter can generally be substituted for another. With the natural nut butters you just have to make sure it’s stirred well to mix the oil back in, which leaves you less of that lovely oil to save. The other thing to consider might be checking to make sure they have somewhat comparable fat contents?

I would not have thought to compare the fat content of oils. That is a very good point. Thank you!

I am making oil cakes because I am trying to make low cholesterol cakes but I am also making Rose’s butter cake. Actually, a cake with 113g of butter and 2 eggs is not that high in cholesterol assuming the rest of your intake of saturated fats is relatively low.

On Woody’s suggestion, I have also started bKing some vegan cakes too. The ganache on the refrigerator banana cake was taken from a recipe in Isa Moskowitz’s Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World. 

I have to go to the library and borrow Fine Cooking. The HotnChocolate Cake sounds good.

Thanks a lot!

Hi, FG!

You pear cake looks fabulous!!!

I could be wrong, but I think Georgie is suggesting comparing the fat content from one nut butter to another, rather than from one nut oil to another when substituting.  Also, as to nut butters, you probably know this, but you will want to get the “natural” almond butter that must be stirred in order to have oil to pour off the top.  There are “no stir” varieties that won’t work for “collecting” oil.

Also, my grocery store’s nut butters are thinner than “regular” ones, so even after the oil is poured off and the nut butter is stirred, they are not too thick to use in recipes.  I’ve found my store’s almond butter, though, even after it’s been poured, to be much thinner than peanut butter.  If you find the same, you could consider mixing almond flour into it (which is nothing but almonds) to make it the consistency of peanut butter.

Happy baking!!!!!!!!!!!!

—ak

Thanks Anne!! That recipe is great with pears and even peaches.

No, I didn’t understand that. I thought I was to compare oils. Actually, we never use nut butters at all. I have peanut butter which I use for baking. We don’t eat it. If almond butter would not be used in baking, I really would be better off just to buy the oils.

I should probably experiment with small bottles of different oils.  This situation has opened new doors to me. Instead of fastidiously following recipes, I am forced to be a little creative. It feels rewarding.

Happy Baking to you too

Georgie - 02 February 2012 10:55 PM

I I do love recipes like Fine Cooking’s Hot Chocolate Cake which uses both butter and oil.

George, I notice there are a lot of Fine Cooking books.  Which book has that recipe in it?

Hi Flour Girl,

I first got it from their magazine, I believe December 2009, but it is online. http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/hot-chocolate-layer-cake-homemade-marshmallows.aspx I’ve only bothered with the homemade marshmallows for the top once- at least with the cake. If you make it I’d be interested to hear what you think!

Oh! I was referring to the fat content of the nut butters. Sorry for the confusion!!

Hi George,

Thank you! That cake looks incredible! Thank you for the link. 

No problem at all about the nut butters.

I am looking for macadamia oil but haven’t been able to find it locally yet. I think the store manager would order it for me if I ask him.

I baked this cake again substituting 3 egg whites for the whole eggs and greek yogurt for the sour cream. However, this time I baked it for 25 minutes and the results were perfect.  I read somewhere that cakes with lower sugar or fat content need a shorter time to bake. My first attempt at a low-cholesterol version of this cake was good but this time the results were excellent.  Twenty-five minutes seem to be the perfect baking time for my oven.

My husband likes this cake too.

I have a lot of ripe bananas so I am thinking of baking this cake in a heart pan and freezing it to save for Valentine’s Day.

The frosting I used on this cake was from Extraordinary Cakes. It is made of vegan margarine, soy milk, confectioners sugar, vanilla and cocoa. It was very good too.

this may not be relevant for your purposes but I made this cake two days ago and used buttermilk instead of sour cream.  The top was quite brown but otherwise the cake was light and lovely.

Thank you Birthdaycake. That is good to know. I always love to try new ways of doing things. It’s also good to know this for other recipe conversions as well.

I doubled this recipe today, using greek yogurt for the sour cream, and made two 9” heart cakes which are now in my freezer. I don’t know if I’ll make a layer cake or serve them separately. It all depends on the frosting recipe I am able to find. 

Thank you for your help.