Lower cal baking substitutes... tips pls!

Mookz0r
Mookz0r Posts: 143
edited September 21 in Food and Nutrition
I love baking. I am also enamoured with my new cookbook, but slightly less so when I enter in a recipe - most cupcakes come in at around 350 cals and the amaaaaazing cakes... well. There's one that is a stonking 850 cals per slice.

Anyhow, I saw in the supermarket today that there's "diabetics' flour" which has reduced calories and of course there are also a whole host of sugar substitutes. Rather than launching into a wave of trial and error, I was wondering if anyone here had any tips, especially when it comes to the sugar substitutes.

Does the difference in bulk effect the recipe? What have you found to work best? How about frosting? Do you need to add more of x, y or z to compensate?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Replies

  • jvinsanity90x
    jvinsanity90x Posts: 10
    My wife is also a baking fanatic as well, so she can't resist the sweet temptations. But, we found our personal solutions to the high calorie sugars. Try using wheat flour instead just regular flour - we found it give's a hint of sweetness (depending on which brand you buy). And instead of sugar, try using all natural honey, agave or even all natural apple sauce.

    Hope that works out for you :)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    You can try substituting half of the oil or butter with equal parts apple sauce, this lowers fat and calories
  • frogmommy
    frogmommy Posts: 151 Member
    I am not a huge fan of sugar substitutes, but as far as fat replacement, you can usually substitute half the fat (butter, lard, shortening or oil) with applesauce or baby food prunes. The prunes work well in chocolate desserts, as does applesauce.

    My mother does not use artificial sweeteners, but usually reduces sugar by 1/4 (uses only 3/4 what the recipe calls for) and has never had an issue. That said, never try to substitute when making candy. You will have a less than stellar product.

    Another replacement is for cream. I use evaporated skim milk and typically do not have an issue.
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
    why do u guys do half?! i do all!

    k my tricks:
    oil/butter = unsweetened applesauce
    egg and some of the sugar = banana (adds flavor, sweetness and acts like an egg in baking.)
    vanilla extract adds sweetness too.
    and then i use real sugar (but half of what recipe calls for) and maybe 2 splendas. usually i dont even need to add the splenda.

    whole wheat flour or oats are always better than white flour.

    and i usually end up using fruit as my main sweeteners. sometimes i make a 2 layer cake with strawberry slices in the middle. yumm.
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
    thanks for the replies, guys!

    I have to say, I've found these recipes very sweet, but put it down to them originally being American - us Brits may well have more of a savoury tooth! I reckon I could drop 1/4 of the sugar pretty easily. I could also drop at least half the frosting these recipes call for!

    Substituting with apple sauce or prunes (or beetroot, I've done before, weird as it may seem) does make sense too, but I'd be worried you could taste it. Obviously, if the taste complemented the cake, then that's fine. Besides, you just know you're on a one way trip to calorie overload when you choose "marshmallow cupcake" out of the book!

    I'll have a tinker. The agave also sounds promising.

    Thanks again!
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
    btw. adding cinnamon also adds sweetness AND cinnamon is proven to decrease the "spike" or rise in blood sugar when added to sweets/fruits/any food that usually has that spiking effect.
  • Nicol145
    Nicol145 Posts: 7
    I always use whole wheat flour for baking and making and I have used many different substitues when baking cookies and cakes.

    Not too many things work as well as real sugar when it comes to baking but I have used half regular sugar and half splenda in many recipes.

    I like to make frosting by using Lite 8oz. cool whip mixed with 8oz. lowfat cream cheese. Of course you need to keep it cool but it is yummy as frosting for most cakes.

    I did try these vegan recipes especially the carrot cake it is pretty good....http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegancakerecipes/r/sugarfreecarrot.htm
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
    btw. adding cinnamon also adds sweetness AND cinnamon is proven to decrease the "spike" or rise in blood sugar when added to sweets/fruits/any food that usually has that spiking effect.

    that's interesting! All the more so that we use a lot of cinnamon in our hugely calorific Christmas cakes and puddings!
  • happy_jax
    happy_jax Posts: 289 Member
    btw. adding cinnamon also adds sweetness AND cinnamon is proven to decrease the "spike" or rise in blood sugar when added to sweets/fruits/any food that usually has that spiking effect.

    that's interesting! All the more so that we use a lot of cinnamon in our hugely calorific Christmas cakes and puddings!

    Oh Christmas cake...droooools!! :love:

    Probably one of my biggest weaknesses! Hmm, just a month or two to go till we can start making those!
  • Mookz0r
    Mookz0r Posts: 143
    btw. adding cinnamon also adds sweetness AND cinnamon is proven to decrease the "spike" or rise in blood sugar when added to sweets/fruits/any food that usually has that spiking effect.

    that's interesting! All the more so that we use a lot of cinnamon in our hugely calorific Christmas cakes and puddings!

    Oh Christmas cake...droooools!! :love:

    Probably one of my biggest weaknesses! Hmm, just a month or two to go till we can start making those!

    Yeah, I ought to enter my recipe for that into the builder. I'm sure it's going to be horrendous!

    I love Christmas pudding too though... they look so innocent and small (well, they do to me at least!) and then I look on the pack of the shop-bought ones and keel over - you've meant to have a wafer-thin slice and not "a quarter" like I do! ... and even that's something like 50 million calories.
  • TrainingWithTonya
    TrainingWithTonya Posts: 1,741 Member
    You can try substituting half of the oil or butter with equal parts apple sauce, this lowers fat and calories

    I actually replace all of the oil with apple sauce. You have to make sure you are watching when you buy applesauce though, that it is all natural and no sugar added.

    I also use only egg whites, no yolks, because the yolks hold all the saturated fat.

    For a sugar substitute, I use honey. I buy local honey so that the local bees use local pollens and over time it helps my allergies. Honey is still 4 calories per gram, just like table sugar, but at least I'm getting some health benefit from it. :)
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