a baking question....oleo?

Hi, I've seen people on here before talking about baking so I thought I'd pose my question here. I have an old cookbook that calls for oleo in a number of recipes. Would that be like butter or margarine, and if margarine, what type-they make it now in soy, and non-hydrogenated vegetable oil and stuff now.....I usually use Imperial for cooking and Becel for toast-would one of those work better than the other? 

 Here's the recipe: Hurry Up Chocolate Cake

11/2C. flour                         1C cold water

1T. cocao                           1T.vinager

1/2t.salt                              6T.oil

1C.sugar                             1t. vanilla

1t.soda

Sift dry ingredients into 8x8x2pan. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth. Bake at 350 for 20-25min

Frosting:

1C.sugar                             2T.cocao

1/4C oleo                            1/4C milk

Mix all well in saucepan. Bring to full rolling boil. cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat. When lukewarm, beat until thick enough to spread over top of warm cake. store in covered pan.

Oleo was a soft spreadable margarine. I hated it lol. Anyway since you are making frosting and the main point is the best taste (not lower calories) I would definately use real butter.

It's just margarine.  I grew up hearing it called "oleomargarine" and it was supposed to be a healthier version of butter, but it's really not all that good for you as it's made with all the bad fats and your body can't digest it.  You can use regular margarine sticks or butter in your recipe. 

Imperial or Blue Bonnet are what I use in baking cakes, but I'm starting to use real butter in cookies. Most of my baking recipes are from my mom and that what just about when Oleo came out, a substitute for butter. But I will say, real butter is better any day!

My mom always called it oleo. If you're going to use margarine in baking, use Blue Bonnet sticks and not low-fat whipped or anything like that. For the most part, low-fat margarine has too much water in it and you're not going to get decent results....at least I don't think so.

I use butter. Plain old unsalted butter. I used to use Blue Bonnet sticks, but several years ago, I switched over to butter and have never looked back. We have low-fat whipped margarine that we use on bread or something like that, but for baking? It's butter....unsalted.

I'm guessing "oleo" may have been a brand of margerine that came to be use generically, but isn't it just the Italian word for "oil?"  I know that the technical term for the part of a plane's landing gear that telescopes and serves as a hydraulic shock abosorber is an "oleo strut."

My mother used the term generically for margerine, so I would guess this is a pre-WWII term for margerine.
 

mrblanche said:

I'm guessing "oleo" may have been a brand of margerine that came to be use generically, but isn't it just the Italian word for "oil?"  I know that the technical term for the part of a plane's landing gear that telescopes and serves as a hydraulic shock abosorber is an "oleo strut."

My mother used the term generically for margerine, so I would guess this is a pre-WWII term for margerine.
 

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Wasn't oleo a surplus food thing, too? When we were young kids (late 50s/early 60s), I remember that my parents got a box of some kind of surplus food and there was a really, really crappy kind of butter-margarine type stuff, along with some kind of bread and some cheese product kind of thing. I don't remember everything in the box, but I do remember that margarine-type stuff. You have to bear with me here; it was a long time ago and my parents are dead now, so I can't ask them. But I believe my mom called that margarine stuff "oleo".

And somebody told me quite some time ago, that true margarine in its pure form is--or used to be--black? They add yellow food color to it to make look appealing  to people. Don't know if that's true or not. (But I think that's right around the time I switched over to butter.)

Ok, so based on consecus then, I'm going to go with Blue Bonnet(if I can find it here) or Imperial marg isf I don't have unsalted butter.

 Thanks everyone, you've been a great help I love this recipe book, but it's a 1963 edition from a US church group...so some of the brand names aren't even sold any more and I have to find out what they are before I can use the recipes. 

Does anyone know what KARO is?

KARO is a very sweet corn syrup that is found in most supermarkets and grocery stores. You can find Light Karo (which is a clear-type syrup) or Dark Karo (which is a brownish syrup). Dark Karo is a bit stronger than the Light. Look for it in the baking aisle, right around the bottles of molasses and such. It should be right around there.

If the recipe calls for Dark Karo, you can use Light.....or vice versa. However, keep in mind that if you're using Light, it won't have the stronger taste that Dark Karo has. My MIL uses Dark Karo for her sticky buns, but I always use Light Karo. For the most part, they are interchangeable.

If you can't find Karo, I'm thinking a King Table Syrup would work, too. I have King Syrup on hand for when I make Anzac cookies. Do NOT just substitute honey for Karo.....I don't think that will work OK.

Here's a link that may help you:  http://www.karosyrup.com/faq.html  (Until I found that link, I did not know that Karo made a pancake syrup; don't use that instead of Karo Syrup!)

As for your butter/oleo/margarine.....you'll be fine with Blue Bonnet or Imperial. Just make sure that you're NOT using any kind of reduced-fat sticks.

I've always wondered what Oleo was!  I thought shortening!  My Gram had that written on all her recipes I copied years ago.  She was an amazing cook and baker! 

I started using Imperial instead of the lighter Blue Bonnet sticks at Christmas and I was impressed with the difference it made.  I don't know why I didn't just look at the regular sticks from Blue Bonnet.  

I've never seen or heard of Karo, is it possible it's not sold in Canada? Or if it is, where would I find it. What might I use in it's place if I can't find it?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm a total newbie to baking....

Originally Posted by Winchester  

If you can't find Karo, I'm thinking King Table Syrup would work, too. I have King Syrup on hand for when I make Anzac cookies.

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You need to look in the baking aisle of your grocery store......syrups should be there with molasses and such.

If you can't find Karo, can you find King Syrup? This syrup is pretty old; I remember my grandma using it in her baking from time to time.

Or.... can you go to your supermarket and ask somebody there what would be a good substitute for Karo Syrup? Or what kind of corn syrup the store carries? Since you're Canadian, maybe that would be your best bet.

Thanks a lot, I'll do that...I appreciate you taking time to answer all my questions

I used to add a TBS of Karo syrup to my chocolate chip cookie recipe to make them a little more soft and chewy. Yum!

Matts mom said:

Thanks a lot, I'll do that...I appreciate you taking time to answer all my questions

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You're very welcome....I just wish I could help you better.

smitten4kittens said:

I used to add a TBS of Karo syrup to my chocolate chip cookie recipe to make them a little more soft and chewy. Yum!

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I do, too. And a couple teaspoons of white vinegar.....I swear.....helps to cut the sweetness of the chocolate, but yet it adds to the chocolate flavor. Got the idea from King Arthur. It really works.

I have a recipe for them that calls for sour cream. I guess it does about the same as the vinegar.  I also add a packet of vanilla pudding mix and they stay so soft and yummy.  I also add some golden raisins to mine and man oh man I cannot keep out of them.

I think the Karo is on the top shelf at our supermarket.

Winchester said:

You're very welcome....I just wish I could help you better.

I do, too. And a couple teaspoons of white vinegar.....I swear.....helps to cut the sweetness of the chocolate, but yet it adds to the chocolate flavor. Got the idea from King Arthur. It really works.

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That's  interesting, I'll have to try it sometime. One time The New York Times did an article about the best chocolate chip cookie recipes. One of their tips was to top the cookies with a tiny bit of course sea salt. It's delicious! Like eating a choco chip cookie and a chocolate covered pretzel at the same time. They had lots of good tips but I am getting really off topic here. Maybe a chocolate chip cookie thread is in order.

I add a bit of sea salt to some of my nut brittles; the combination of sweet and salty is simply delicious. I'll have to try that with chocolate chip cookies.

Let me post the recipe for King Arthur's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies when I get home tonight. It calls for 3 full cups of chocolate chips (most recipes call for only 2 cups), so the cookies are nice and chocolatey! If you like chewy CC cookies, these are it.

I had to go look; the cookies I've been making also use sea salt.  It's a martha stewart recipe. http://www.marthastewart.com/326616/soft-chocolate-chip-cookies  I think mixing semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips helps too.  

This recipe had less salt in the recipe itself and said to sprinkle a little bit of course ground sea-salt on top. More like a pretzel.

Now I'm starving for one  I also like to refridgerate the dough ahead of time. The flavors blend more and because they go into the oven cold the edges cook slightly crisp while the middle stays soft and chewy. I like to use pure Madagascar vanilla and I add a little extra. I love using semi-sweet chocolate chunks instead of chips. Ghiradelli chunks are my favorite