subject: Baking A Healthier Cake [print this page] The words "cake" and "healthy" don't really seem to go together.
We don't think of cake as healthy. Part of our understanding of cake is that it is slightly sinful for us to eat. It's a bit decadent, indulgent. We enjoy the flavor and the richness of it, knowing that we cannot indulge often because of the possible negative effects.
When we think healthy cake, it either doesn't add up or it conjures icky pictures of vegetable cakes that aren't what we want when we are craving dessert.
In fact, if you ask your average eight-year-old if they want a nice healthy cake for their birthday, they're going to be disappointed. A healthy cake sounds like it wouldn't even be cake any more. It sounds more akin to zucchini bread, or sweet potato muffins. Sorta-dessert, but mostly a health snack.
Since we are unlikely to get over the hurdle of public opinion regarding health foods, instead we'll try to make cake 'healthier' or 'less unhealthy' rather than 'healthy'. Perhaps there will still be room for the expectation of deliciousness.
All we have to do is to consider what cake is. Cake is put together out of two components. We have the cake itself, which we bake up out of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. After the cake is baked and cooled it is then frosted. Frosting is made with butter and sugar.
If we consider each ingredient in turn, we can often think of a healthier alternative that might be feasible. Often the substitutions won't harm the texture or flavor either - vegan and health food restaurants these days bake cakes that are rich and decadent and would fool the most discriminating palate.
Instead of tossing all of your cake recipes, adapt them. Each recipe will include ingredients that you can easily change. Swap out one less healthy ingredient, such as eggs or sugar or flour, with a healthier alternative such as lower-cholesterol egg substitute, turbinado sugar, and whole wheat flour.
You will want to allow yourself some time for experimentation though. Some substitutions work better than others. Don't try a new substitution if you'll be serving the cake to guests.
