Baking Substitutions?

vivrevotrevie · February 2016

I was asked to make this specific cake for a going away party at work. IF (and that is a big if) the cake is cut into 12 pieces, the MFP calculator says each piece will be just under 1250 calories and have about 50 g of fat.....

This is a strawberry chiffon cake so I knew it was going to be calorie dense, but I didn't realize to what degree. EVIL DELICIOUS DESSERTS.

Help a girl out. Looking for alternatives to reduce the fat/calorie content without losing the flavor. Several people here are trying to maintain diets and I don't want to blow their entire day on this cake. The girl it is being made for is not on a diet, and specifically asked for this recipe to be there, I want to make it for her, but don't want people to not be able to enjoy it with her.

Substitutions for baking with:

Sugar? The cake calls for 3 cups granulated and the frosting 4 cups powdered. I am all for cutting the sugar down anyway, because I don't think it needs that much, but suggestions on substitutions people have tried that worked would be great!

Butter? 2 sticks in both the frosting and cake

Cream Cheese? I am thinking neufchatel cheese. It is a 1/3 of the fat and tastes the same

Sour cream in the cake? Maybe a greek yogurt?

this is the recipe for reference, if you are interested

https://www.babygizmo.com/vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-cream-frosting-recipe/

stmokomoko · February 2016

Isn't it something like applesauce in place of butter, etc?

...but looking at the actual recipe, there's really not a whole lot you can do. It's a pretty decadent cake.

auddii · February 2016

I'd make two double layer cakes so it would be 24 servings instead of 12. And to the requester: so sorry, I was worried the top layers were going to slide off; let me cut you a bigger piece...

vivrevotrevie · February 2016

auddii wrote: »

I'd make two double layer cakes so it would be 24 servings instead of 12. And to the requester: so sorry, I was worried the top layers were going to slide off; let me cut you a bigger piece...

haha. This might not be a terrible idea. it would be shorter, but this is a big office, so I could play the "more slices for all of the people" card as well.

vivrevotrevie · February 2016

stmokomoko wrote: »

Isn't it something like applesauce in place of butter, etc?

...but looking at the actual recipe, there's really not a whole lot you can do. It's a pretty decadent cake.

yeah... That is what I thought as well.

I was hoping there was some magical suggestion that would solve the issues....

Still looking for that magic bean. One day... haha

Lasmartchika · February 2016

OH MY GOODNESS!! I would marry that cake!! :laugh: I really like auddii's idea. Thank you @vivrevotrevie for sharing this recipe.

alikonda · February 2016

Greek yogurt instead of sour cream will help, but not that much. I think the best bet would be to either go with @auddii's suggestion or do a simple whipped cream frosting rather than the cream-cheese-buttercream thing going on in the original recipe.

misma10 · February 2016

You could substitute low-fat or fat free cream cheese as well - or make a half and half mix if you are worried about losing some of the creaminess. Applesauce really works best in place of oil in boxed mixes...not sure I would try it in this cake. You could try nonfat greek yogurt in place of the sour cream. Possibly use two egg whites per 1 whole egg on some of the eggs. If you are open to sugar substitues, Splenda has baking sugar.

But here's my two cents... I think your best bet would be the suggestion to make it a single layer. Or make the cake for her, and something a little lighter for those calorie-conscious folks. While these suggestions may lower the calories/fat a bit, I don't think it will be a drastic change, and altering many parts of the recipe could have a negative effect on the outcome. If you want to change more than one thing, I recommend making a smaller, trial batch to see how it would turn out. Good luck!

whitswilson · February 2016

Without looking at the recipe more closely, I will just say that I tend to use maple syrup and raw mashed bananas as sugar substitutes, coconut oil in place of butter and definitely greek yogurt instead of sour cream. You might even be able to use greek yogurt for half of the cream cheese too OR puree light cottage cheese with greek yogurt and cream cheese. Personally, I'd forgo the jam all together and just puree some strawberries with chia seeds for the frosting- there's SO much sugar in jam.

Sometimes granulated sugar is used to add to the dough's texture, so I wing it and throw in some finely ground flax and chia seeds when I use maple syrup and/or bananas, to make up for what volume is missing. There's no way the cake is going to come out quite as lovely as the recipe sounds... because the recipe is insanely delicious lol, so good luck!

Let us all know what you do and how it turns out!!

misma10 · February 2016

I also want to add that when I looked at the recipe, I thought the calorie amount seemed high. I just went and created the recipe - making sure to use low fat cream cheese and sour cream like the author said - and deleting the "cake" and "frosting" that was added because of the headings (but they aren't actually used as ingredients). The total came to 830 calories for 1/12 of the cake. I run into the problem with this when entering reipes - sometimes I am given thousands of calories for a spice that is like 10 calories.

100df · February 2016

I am biased because whenever I try cutting calories when baking my result doesnt taste good. I would be scared to alter a recipe I haven't made before. Especially when serving a crowd. Hard to test taste a cake. I agree with 2 two layer cakes to ensure you have enough cake. That should cut the calories enough so people's day isn't derailed by 1 piece of cake.

It looks delicious!!

stealthq · February 2016

stmokomoko wrote: »

Isn't it something like applesauce in place of butter, etc?

...but looking at the actual recipe, there's really not a whole lot you can do. It's a pretty decadent cake.

My judgement as well - unless you're willing to fundamentally change the flavor, you're stuck.

That said, you really confused me that a chiffon cake could possibly be that high calorie, until I read the recipe and realized that it isn't actually a chiffon cake at all AND it's about equal portions cake to buttercream-type frosting (that would do in any cake, even angel food).

RoxieDawn · February 2016

You just can't change the scientific method of making this cake. Changing out butter for oil , using applesauce, bananas..NO.. You need to match volume of ingredients with other ingredients you change or cut in half, etc.

The only thing that you can to do is totally flip this cake and this will take out the authenticity of its make up and change it completely. Even subbing 1/2 sugar for the Truvia Baking Blend demands adding in other ingredients to make up for volume missed and again change up the cake.

Subing for fat free will not do very much at all.

I would look for something else entirely and not put this calorie killer on any guests.

I would def marry this cake too, I also would not eat anything else the entire day except a piece of bland chicken and my cake and eat it too.

kshama2001 · February 2016

vivrevotrevie wrote: »

I was asked to make this specific cake for a going away party at work. IF (and that is a big if) the cake is cut into 12 pieces, the MFP calculator says each piece will be just under 1250 calories and have about 50 g of fat.....

This is a strawberry chiffon cake so I knew it was going to be calorie dense, but I didn't realize to what degree. EVIL DELICIOUS DESSERTS.

Help a girl out. Looking for alternatives to reduce the fat/calorie content without losing the flavor. Several people here are trying to maintain diets and I don't want to blow their entire day on this cake. The girl it is being made for is not on a diet, and specifically asked for this recipe to be there, I want to make it for her, but don't want people to not be able to enjoy it with her.

Substitutions for baking with:

Sugar? The cake calls for 3 cups granulated and the frosting 4 cups powdered. I am all for cutting the sugar down anyway, because I don't think it needs that much, but suggestions on substitutions people have tried that worked would be great!

Butter? 2 sticks in both the frosting and cake

Cream Cheese? I am thinking neufchatel cheese. It is a 1/3 of the fat and tastes the same

Sour cream in the cake? Maybe a greek yogurt?

this is the recipe for reference, if you are interested

https://www.babygizmo.com/vanilla-cake-with-strawberry-cream-frosting-recipe/

I would be conservative with the substitutions as this is a special-request, going away cake.

That said, I have made these sorts of subs with no issues in the past:

Sugar? The cake calls for 3 cups granulated and the frosting 4 cups powdered. I am all for cutting the sugar down anyway, because I don't think it needs that much, but suggestions on substitutions people have tried that worked would be great! I've reduced sugar by one third in baked goods and frosting with no issues.

Butter? 2 sticks in both the frosting and cake. For the cake, I'd be comfortable subbing half of the butter with apple sauce. Wouldn't do a sub in the frosting, although you could use 4 T less (see below).

Cream Cheese? I am thinking neufchatel cheese. It is a 1/3 of the fat and tastes the same. Yup, neufchatel.

Sour cream in the cake? Maybe a greek yogurt? Yes, greek yogurt should be fine.

The frosting is basically a double recipe of the cream cheese frosting recipe in my Joy of Cooking, although that uses 2 T less butter per 8 ounces of cream cheese - you may not need all of the frosting. However, if this would cause YOU to eat the leftovers, put it all on. Or have it on the side for those who like extra frosting.

vivrevotrevie · February 2016

misma10 wrote: »

I also want to add that when I looked at the recipe, I thought the calorie amount seemed high. I just went and created the recipe - making sure to use low fat cream cheese and sour cream like the author said - and deleting the "cake" and "frosting" that was added because of the headings (but they aren't actually used as ingredients). The total came to 830 calories for 1/12 of the cake. I run into the problem with this when entering reipes - sometimes I am given thousands of calories for a spice that is like 10 calories.

yeah, I always have to adjust the garlic in recipes... It tells me that 2-3 cloves is like 1200 cals. haha

vivrevotrevie · February 2016

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think making a smaller test cake might be good. And I figured that minimizing the substitutions would make the most sense. Bringing a better calorie option for others is also something to think about.

I will let you know how it goes

Muchas Gracias

jesscran815 · February 2016

I think subbing out some sugar for Truvia wouldn't be a problem. I have always been a fan of Truvia because it's made from Stevia plants and it's fascinating to me that a leaf of a Stevia plant tastes just like sugar! It's like a sugar herb. So bizarre. That being said, it doesn't quite taste the same, though I've become used to it because I have it in everything, so maybe sub out half. There are conversion charts out there that explain how to bake with it, and I think one on the container too. I would definitely sample it if you make substitutions before the actual day (make sure you have time to bake another one if it tastes funny or doesn't work), because sometimes when I substitute it works out great, and sometimes it's just not right. There is a science to it, but I don't always follow that 100%. Haha. As for the other suggestions, I'm not 100% sure because I haven't done it unless the recipe calls for it already (such as applesauce in Sally's Baking Addiction Skinny Double Chocolate Chip Muffins).

iecreamheadaches · February 2016

vivrevotrevie wrote: »

I was asked to make this specific cake for a going away party at work. IF (and that is a big if) the cake is cut into 12 pieces, the MFP calculator says each piece will be just under 1250 calories and have about 50 g of fat.....

Why not cut it into 24 pieces instead and just have smaller servings? if the person who the party is for wants a bigger slice than absolutely.

Baking Substitutions?

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