Tasty Tuesday: altering a basic cake recipe

Last week I shared a little about the evolution of my cooking skills. My main partner throughout this evolution was the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook (1989 edition). This is a very basic cookbook, filled with all sorts of nifty tips and helps. I learned a lot from it and still use it the most out of all my cookbooks. The recipes are basic and easy to alter, but there are some not-so-basic recipes as well, which have added a good variety to our cooking adventures.

Many of the recipes are now just used for ideas; today I am going to show you one example of how this works.

Here is a page from the 'cake' section of the book:

As you can see, it's well worn and loved! Dirty, stained (it should be near-white in color) and crispy from years of use. From this basic yellow cake recipe on the right I have made several other recipes to suit our tastes and needs. The basic recipe is:

3c flour
2c sugar
1T baking powder
1 1/2c milk
1/2c margarine or butter, softened
1 1/2t vanilla
2 eggs

Let's break it down ...

FLOUR
3c of flour is 3c of flour. I will sometimes use a mixture of flours, but it's always 3 cups. When using different flours in recipes other than all-purpose or whole wheat, you must keep in mind that different flours do different things. You can get away with substituting some of the flour with rice flour or oat flour for example, however if you use too much of the alternate flours your cake will be really heavy and will not rise properly. For this reason, I generally stay away from any flour that does not contain gluten, and if I use a lower gluten flour I will often times do half wheat, half lower gluten (like kamut, spelt, or rye). 100% kamut or spelt work just fine too, but the cake will be a bit dense. So ... if it's texture you are after, be careful not to over-do the alternative flours.

A final note on flours: if you do choose to use non-gluten flours, be sure to add xanthan gum, a binder and a thickener. 

SUGAR
No way am I going to use 2 cups of sugar in a cake!! That is way too much sugar!! Several years ago as an experiment I began cutting the sugar in every recipe I used in HALF and no one seemed to care. In fact, it seemed like the other flavors in the recipes came out stronger with less sugar. And then about 5 or 6 years ago I discovered stevia. In recent days I learned that there is some controversy around the safety of stevia use (apparently there is a concern that using stevia may cause miscarriages, among other issues). I'll leave the research up to you, however before I even learned of potentially harmful side effects of stevia use I had already drastically cut my stevia use down to probably a teaspoon or two a month for the whole family 'just in case' there is an issue. We really did not use much before, but what I started to do is use 1/4 the amount of sweetener called for in a recipe and add in 1/2-1t powdered stevia. Over the last year or so, I stopped using stevia in cake recipes; so for the recipe listed above I will use 1/2c honey.

You will have to experiment to see what works for you and your family. Keep using less and less, noting the changes each time, until you come to a point where you think "this is not enough" ... and then go one step higher. Keep in mind too that fruits (dried, pureed, whatever) can be sweeteners as well.

We use honey exclusively now. This is affordable for us because our sweets are quite low. I'll make one or two dessert type things a week - we have dessert with supper on friday night and also there is usually something to pack in the boys lunches.

LIQUID
This recipe calls for milk, however any other liquid is just fine. If you are making a chocolate cake, use coffee for the liquid. An apple cake, use apple juice. An orange or lemon cake, use orange juice or even lemonade if you want to. You can even just use water. It really does not matter and it all depends on your tastes and what kind of cake you are making. Usually I just use water since it's always on hand. Sometimes I'll use part water and part something else. Sometimes I'll use all coffee or all juice. It just depends on what I'm making and what I have on hand.

Sometimes I'll use a can of crushed pineapple or applesauce or home-canned apples - the additional liquid must then be adjusted accordingly. I guess or read my previous notes.

FAT
I prefer butter, coconut oil or olive oil for the fats. In a cake, it is just fine to substitute a liquid fat for a solid. The solid fats give a richer texture, but the liquids work well too. I usually cut the amount of fat called for in half. For this recipe, I use 1/4c instead of 1/2c. The type of fat depends on what kind of cake I am making. I prefer coconut oil (virgin ... has lots of flavor) for chocolate/carob cakes, carrot cake and spice cake. I use olive oil for the rest. We do not seem to notice the distinct flavor of olive oil in the cake, so no one cares.
As a side note, some studies show that a very low saturated fat diet is best for those with MS ... but then of course others studies show the absolute opposite. If you are of the 'no saturated fat' camp, you can play around with substituting bananas, applesauce, or even prune puree (my favorite) 1:1 for the fat. It will not be as rich, but it will still be good.

EGGS
Believe it or not, eggs can be left out of cakes altogether with no substitutions. Yes, there will be a difference in the texture, however it works just fine without them. But, we use the amount of eggs called for because we have egg producing machines in our backyard. :~)

If you would like, an egg substitute can also be used ... but once again, it works without it too. 

OTHER STUFF
Leave the leavening the same. The extracts will depend on what you are making. Vanilla is always a good option, however maple tastes really nice in carrot cake, lemon in blueberry cake, orange in cranberry cake, and so on.
For some reason this recipe does not include salt. I always add 1/2 to 1t of salt; it really helps to bring out the flavors.
Other spices and seasonings can be used as well - like cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and so on.

Now for some examples!

Apple Cake
I made home-canned apple slices last fall. Turns out it works perfectly to eliminate the liquid and just put in a whole quart of sliced apples, liquid included. This makes a wonderfully moist cake! I also add 2t-1T cinnamon to the dry ingredients. The rest of the recipe is the same: 3c flour, 1T baking powder, 1/2t salt, 1/2c honey, 1/4c olive oil, 2 eggs, 1 1/2t vanilla.

Chocolate/Carob Cake
To the basic recipe listed in the apple cake above, add 1/2c carob powder. Substitute coconut oil instead of olive oil. Use brewed coffee for the liquid.  If someone does not like coffee, they will probably never know there is coffee in this cake ... the coffee flavor really makes the cocoa or carob stand out. Be careful however for those who are sensitive to caffeine.

Pineapple Coconut Cake
Add one 20oz can of crushed pineapple (do not drain), 1/2c coconut flakes, omit the liquid. You might need to add 1/2c of water or pineapple juice too. Coconut oil instead of olive oil.

Carrot Cake
Use the same recipe as the pineapple cake above except add 1c of packed shredded carrots, an additional egg and 2t cinnamon. Raisins and/or nuts may also be added. If the raisins are hard, it's good to soak them in some water for a few hours before using. The soaking liquid can then be used in the cake or in something else. This cake is best with an additional half cup of oil - so 1/2c coconut oil total.

Squash Cake
Add 2c of runny pureed squash. If it's thick, then only use 1c and add some water. I know on my photo I have a note with a few instructions for squash cake, however I no longer follow them. This is good with a combination of spices like 1 1/2t cinnamon, 1/2t each of ginger and nutmeg and a 1/4t of cloves. Coconut oil is good with this as well. The rest is the same (unless you would like to also add 1t of maple flavor).

There you have it! I do not frost my cakes, so I will not be including any frosting recipes here. Sometimes I will mix up a little cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle over the top before baking. This is a nice substitute for frosting and it uses hardly any sugar.