Why isn't cake 0 calories why oh why

I love baking too and I am hoping to find a way to bake while I reduce my calories. I am a vegan so all my cakes are already butter and egg free. Look for recipes which don't need eggs and replace butter with oil or applesauce. Also fruit based baked goods are always a good option. I am also going to look into making my own energy bars.

I'm not sure if you're interested, but I stumbled across this recipe the other day whilst looking for low calorie desserts! The concept looks interesting, but I've heard it really does taste like chocolate! And as it says each piece would only be 100 calories. Too much effort for me, but seeing as you like to bake, it may be a good challenge!

http://atastylovestory.com/the-famous-brilliant-black-bean-chocolate-cake/

Diet soda works really well with a cake mix. I made one expecting that it would be awful, and was really surprised how good it was.

Also you can try substituting things out in your regular recipes -- apple sauce for oil, sugar substitutes, etc. Put the recipe in MFP so you know exactly how many calories is in the cake and cut the number of slices so you get a piece that fits within your calories. I usually freeze all the slices I don't want to eat … just in case …

Look out for recipes with coconut flour too. I've made some really low calorie cakes and cookies with coconut flour as a base. They taste great too (even though I don't usually like coconut!)

I have tried the applesauce instead of oil which works well. Pumpkin instead of oil/eggs worked also in cake mixes. (But i am not a good baker, so you may have to experiment in with your own recipes) . There is a good web site that has very good recipes that are lightened up www.skinnytaste.com. She has amazing muffins and deserts and also main dishes. Maybe you can find some good substitutions there.
Good luck.

I made diet soda cake, and it tasted fine, but aspertame shouldn't be heated, which is why they make splenda for baking, not aspertame. Plus, a couple family members have bad reactions to artificial sweeteners, so if I'm making a cake for a group of people, I don't want to say, "Everybody, dig in! Except for you and you. Have this carrot stick instead."

(Edit: aspertame isn't stable when heated, which means it looses it's sweetness.)

I've heard that just added water is fine for box cake mixes. That's how they were originally designed to work, but people thought it was too simple, so the companies added eggs and oil.

I've heard good things about brownies made from black beans, but haven't tried it. I'm afraid of the assplosion it might cause.

Sometimes I substitute the oil with applesauce or canned pumpkin. But mostly, I just make the recipe as is and enjoy all it's deliciousness because it's not something I have or make very often.

If you didn't put the cake on a plate it has no calories.

The crumbs that fall inside the cake tin as you cut have no calories. Nor does spare icing that fell off.

If you cut your slices smaller they will have less calories - which means you can have twice as much.

Cake has no calories after midnight.

Stolen cake has no calories.

Birthday cake has no calories.

Cake that you dropped on the floor has no calories.

Also, if you haven't frosted it yet, the cake is not finished and therefore has no calories.

I am a (pretty good, if I may say so myself!) baker, I do it because it's something I love; it's the best feeling when you whip out a cake you made and your friends are super impressed, and OBVIOUSLY I do it because boy do I LOVE cake!!!!!!

Does anybody have recipes for low calorie cake?? I know it wouldn't taste as good of course but it's still cake eh?

I read somewhere you can buy chocolate cake mix and replace the eggs and oil you would usually add with diet coke....does this work?

I also read about a cake made with soaked dates and apple juice....

Any tried and true recipes? Help people, this girl needs cake!

As a baker who loves cake, I can honestly say that a smaller portion of regular cake is far better than any cake modified with diet soda or anything else. Have a smaller portion less often and you'll enjoy it more. It will be a better treat. You don't need cake every day.

I've made this before and it was awesome: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/super-moist-carrot-cake-with-cream.html

219 calories per slice (assuming you cut the cake into 16 slices). I used different brands and cut into less slices and mine came to around 300 calories each.

i had a small piece of chocolate fudge cake today and included it in my calories. it was gorgeous and i could have eaten more but i knew i'd still feel good if i was around goal for the day AFTER having cake

This one is my favorite, It has 256 calories a piece... But I use " no fat cool whip" and low fat condensed milk, so mine would be less calories:happy:


Pumpkin Better Than Sex Cake

•1 box yellow cake mix
•1 – 15 oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
•1 – 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (fat free is ok)
•1 – 8 oz. tub cool whip (lite is ok)
•½ bag Heath Bits
•Caramel Sundae Sauce

Instructions
1.In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and pumpkin puree until a smooth batter forms.
2.Pour batter into a greased 9×13 baking dish, and bake at 350º, according to the directions on the cake mix box (approx 23-28 mins).
3.Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 10 minutes after baking.
4.Using the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the top of the cake.
5.Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the cake. This should fill in the holes and soak into the cake.
6.Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
7.Remove cake from refrigerator and spread cool whip over top of cake. Sprinkle on the heath bits, and drizzle caramel over top. (I didn’t think the cake needed a lot of caramel at this point so I only used about ¼ of the jar. I thinned it out first by heating it in the microwave.)
8.Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, or overnight

I'm totally with you!

Check out Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache on Amazon. It's a book dedicated to healthier cakes. I had the aubergine chocolate cake recently and it was delicious!!!!

i've made all of these: http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1543 the only one i wouldn't recommend is the yogurt one, it came out flat, chewy and hollow tasting. the rest were great.

Stick to real cake with eggs, butter, oil, sugar, etc... You're a baker and you won't get any satisfaction by trying to make a faux cake that may somewhat look like, but won't taste anything like the real thing.

Eat real foods, but just eat smaller portions. I'd rather enjoy a thin slice of something really good than a thick slice of something sub-standard. I eat full fat milk, yogurt, cheeses, butter, full fat ice cream, and real everything, but by cutting portions and increased activity I've still managed to lose about a pound a week over the last year. You don't need to eat crap to lose weight, but plenty of people seem to have bought into that.

If you're a baker, then don't compromise your art just for calories, when a smaller slice has the same net effect and all the satisfaction and flavor of a big slice. I'm a good cook, and I know when I can substitute ingredients and when I definitely can't without ruining the dish. The eggs, fat, and other ingredients are there not only for how they taste, but also for their emulsifying, solubilization, suspension, and other culinary properties that just never work as well without them.

Did you ever wonder why low fat vanilla ice cream always has artificial flavor? It's because real vanilla is fat soluble. And that's just the flavor. The mouth feel is also lacking with stabilizers added to replace the butterfat. Low fat vanilla ice cream always tastes artificial. I either eat the real thing or skip it entirely.

And, yes, it does take real self control for portion sizes and exercise, but self control is the only way that works for losing and keeping off that extra pounds in the long run. Eat better, but eat less, and others will wonder how you mange to keep your weight under control without constantly eating "diet food".