Cake from scratch - very fattening

[lilblu]

I have a recipe for a basic yellow cake. I added up all the calories, fats, etc. in it and determined it's worse than just using Betty Crocker (or similar) cake mix. The cake from scratch has nearly twice as many fats. It has three times as many calories (3690 compared to 1080).

Everything is higher except for the cholesterol which is the same at 660mg.

Apparently things go very wrong at the 1/2 cup of Crisco. That's 1760 calories and 192g of fat right there. What can I use in place of the Crisco? Would something like applesauce work?

Of course, it's a little late now. I've already made it.

I hope the frosting is less fattening than the store bought stuff.

 

[strange_wings]

Well, you don't plan on eating the entire thing by yourself, do you?

For people that can handle it, a little indulgence - in moderation, is fine.

I've never made cakes from scratch.

Mostly because every time I eat more than a couple bites of a homemade cake I get sick. Now I know it's all the fat! (I can't digests fats very well)

Unless you know everyone you're feeding that cake to is perfectly healthy, you may want to give them a heads up that it's richer than any mix cake.

 

[weldrwomn]

IMO, it is a common tradeoff between made from scratch foods and pre-made foods.

When you make something yourself, you know exactly what goes into it. It may be higher in calories and fat, but I bet that you can pronounce all of the ingredients.

When you buy cake mixes or any other pre-made food, it may be lower in calories and fat, but in a tradeoff, you are consuming generally unpronounceable chemicals.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by WELDRWOMN

IMO, it is a common tradeoff between made from scratch foods and pre-made foods.

When you make something yourself, you know exactly what goes into it. It may be higher in calories and fat, but I bet that you can pronounce all of the ingredients.

When you buy cake mixes or any other pre-made food, it may be lower in calories and fat, but in a tradeoff, you are consuming generally unpronounceable chemicals.

My feelings exactly. The pre-made foods are so full of additives and preservatives that I would much rather have less quantity of the quality scratch product. You can freeze cake as well so you could always freeze it in serving sizes to have one one of those days you are craving.

 

[pushylady]

I don't think applesauce would work as a replacement for Crisco. Personally, I would use butter as the main fat, which I know is not healthy, but by golly it tastes good!

 

[ut0pia]

It probably tastes better than pre made cake though, richer and creamier

I second the suggestion to use butter in place of Crisco- the crisco stuff is terrible for you IMO.

 

[weldrwomn]

If you are watching your cholesterol, use Crisco instead of butter.

 

[yosemite]

Crisco is a vegetable oil so I don't think it will make a big impact unless you are planning on wolfing down the whole cake.

I tend to think there is a reason why different recipes call for shortening versus butter so tend to use what is recommended.

 

[ut0pia]

Isn't crisco hydrogenated vegetable oil though??

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Isn't crisco hydrogenated vegetable oil though??

Honestly, I have no idea. I don't get into all that stuff. I eat everything in moderation - love veggies but not overcooked, fish, chicken, pork and beef, not a lot of sweets but do enjoy them. I make everything from scratch, i.e., I do not buy instant anything so our food has no preservatives and additives. Except for my lungs which I've fried with smoking, hubby and I are both in excellent health and have no weight issues (with the exception of the few pounds I've put on the quitting smoking and taking prednisone - mostly the prednisone). My philosophy is that what grandma fed us is better than what folks these days eat. Even lard is better for us than margarine. If we eat out, which isn't often, it will be at a good restaurant for if we want "fast food", it will be Swiss Chalet and yes, the crispy skin is the best part for me.

We don't eat frozen or canned vegetables - it's always fresh.

 

[cococat]

I wouldn't use Crisco in anything. I do make a lot of things from stratch. Applesauce works well here as a substitute for oil. So do mashed up bananas if you like the taste. Or you can always do half a healthy oil (for instance, organic, not hydrogenated, like canola or extra virgin olive oil, etc.) and then the other half applesauce or what you choose. Or you can always just use a little bit less and tweak the recipe.
I like using real foods so when recipes call for butter I use real organic butter, but not as much and make substitutions.
Here are some different types of oils
http://www.spectrumorganics.com/?id=6

 

[ut0pia]

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Honestly, I have no idea. I don't get into all that stuff. I eat everything in moderation - love veggies but not overcooked, fish, chicken, pork and beef, not a lot of sweets but do enjoy them. I make everything from scratch, i.e., I do not buy instant anything so our food has no preservatives and additives..

Well, vegetable oil does not naturally stay solid at room temperature, and although I am not sure because I've never used it- crisco is solid... And the only way to make a vegetable oil solid is to go through a chemical process that forces hydrogen gas to react with the vegetable oil, changing its chemical structure.. and from what certain research shows- it causes a rise in bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol and causes weight gain.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Well, vegetable oil does not naturally stay solid at room temperature, and although I am not sure because I've never used it- crisco is solid... And the only way to make a vegetable oil solid is to go through a chemical process that forces hydrogen gas to react with the vegetable oil, changing its chemical structure.. and from what certain research shows- it causes a rise in bad cholesterol and lowers good cholesterol and causes weight gain.

Don't know! I have both solid and oil in Crisco and use both depending on what I need it for. For muffins which usually are heavier than cakes, I use the liquid oil, otherwise the solid.

To keep my cholesterol low I also usually have some kind of pickles with my meals - the vinegar cuts the bad cholesterol. My girlfriend was told by her doctor to have a tsp. of vinegar a day because she didn't like pickles. There again it goes back to grandma. We always had some kind of pickle with every meal when we were growing up, mom made mustard pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled beets, cucumber relish and of course every fall we made a barrel of sauerkraut which we had with pretty much every meal all winter long. It was added to the table as a condiment every day.

 

[ut0pia]

I just looked up crisco and according to wikipedia it is a vegetable shortening- which means it is semi solid ..that's what I thought from what I've seen at grocery stores and how it's packaged-but crisco is just the brand name, if you use liquid vegetable oil then that doesn't fall in the same category, the only thing to watch for is anything that is a vegetable product but stays solid at room temperature.

Originally Posted by WELDRWOMN

If you are watching your cholesterol, use Crisco instead of butter.

It is a common misconception that eating foods that are low in cholesterol reduces your cholesterol, when the cholesterol in your foods doesn't always affect cholesterol in your blood- cholesterol in your body is produced by your liver and is not affected by how much total cholesterol you eat- but it is affected by obesity and the types of chemicals that go in your body with food in a sense that these factors affect your liver and its "decisions" on how much cholesterol to produce. Trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are both foods with 0 cholesterol but are known to cause high cholesterol in your blood. This is all up for debate though, but these are my own conclusions based on the research I've read about.

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I just looked up crisco and according to wikipedia it is a vegetable shortening- which means it is semi solid ..that's what I thought from what I've seen at grocery stores and how it's packaged-but crisco is just the brand name, if you use liquid vegetable oil then that doesn't fall in the same category, the only thing to watch for is anything that is a vegetable product but stays solid at room temperature.

Yes I buy the liquid Crisco brand then as well as the solid Crisco brand.

It is a common misconception that eating foods that are low in cholesterol reduces your cholesterol, when the cholesterol in your foods doesn't always affect cholesterol in your blood- cholesterol in your body is produced by your liver and is not affected by how much total cholesterol you eat- but it is affected by obesity and the types of chemicals that go in your body with food in a sense that these factors affect your liver and its "decisions" on how much cholesterol to produce. Trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are both foods with 0 cholesterol but are known to cause high cholesterol in your blood. This is all up for debate though, but these are my own conclusions based on the research I've read about.

That would explain to my friends who cannot believe that we have no cholesterol problems even though I cook most things with butter and make cream sauces for many different meats/meals. I use 1 litre of coffee cream per week just for me in my coffee at home and that doesn't count what I use at work. I also use 1+ lbs of butter per week at home.

 

[addiebee]

About the question re: applesauce or fruit puree instead of fat. Yes -you can do that but it will yield a more dry product. Do a little googling and I am sure you can find a recipe to get proportions, etc.

 

[pushylady]

Huh, I didn't know that about the applesauce subsitution. You learn something new everyday on the Cat Site!

 

[carolpetunia]

Yes, applesauce will do great in place of Crisco, and I use it instead of eggs, too. Canola oil is also much better for you than Crisco or any other hydrogenated fat. (If it's solid at room temperature, you don't want it!) Plain yogurt is another good replacement.

 

[starryeyedtiger]

I substitute applesauce for sugar sometimes when I bake

If I just have to use a sweetner though, I use ONLY sugar, no artificial sweetners! / I also use the country crock light butter instead of crisco. / If a recipe calls for cream cheese, I typically use the lighter versions (but NOT fat free...that has 0 flavor!)

If a recipe calls for oil, depending on what it is I will use Canola Oil. As far as cooking goes I use a lot of Olive Oil and Whole Wheat pastas instead of heavier oils and enriched pasta/bread. I also substitute light white grapejuice sometimes when I cook instead of full calorie wine (just depends!) Hopefully that'll give u some ideas to play around with!

 

[skippymjp]

I don't bake; but I do a lot of ordering from a somewhat famous Kentucky "scratch bakery". They are directly responsible for about 8 pounds of my "excess weight".

http://www.mageesbakeryfarm.com/articles/home.asp