Low Fat Vanilla Cake

The classic vanilla cake is one of the more nostalgic desserts, dating back centuries.  Creamy and rich, often with copious amounts  of butter in both the cake itself and its frosting.  In this recipe, I cut out all of the butter, but still left in all of the moisture and flavor.  In fact, my whole family did not notice, and they can be very picky.  I am still working on a healthier buttercream frosting, but for now, this is an almost perfect stand in (my goal is to make it with less butter).  If you have any suggestions, please share in the comment section below.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons tightly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Healthier Buttercream (recipe follows)

Preparation:

Combine the shortening and both sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes, or until pebbles form.  Add applesauce and cream until smooth.  Add egg and yogurt and beat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until fluffy.

On low speed, stream in the buttermilk, oil and vanilla and quickly raise speed to medium-high.  Beat for 6 minutes to thoroughly combine.

In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt with a whisk and then slowly pour into mixer, and beat on low speed until just combined.  DO NOT OVERMIX!  Scrape down sides of bowl and mix to fully incorporate for no more than 15 seconds.

Pour batter into two 9-inch circular baking pans lined with parchment paper and sprayed with Pam and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until the sides spring back up when touched.  Cool completely in pans before removing.  Frost with buttercream.

Healthier Buttercream Recipe:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 6 tablespoons of butter with 2 tablespoons of white bean puree (see low fat chocolate chip cookies recipe) and beat until smooth.  Add 3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar and beat until you get a thick paste.  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk to create the right, spreadable consistency.

Using Greek Yogurt Instead of Eggs

Greek yogurt is more than just a thick white substance in a plastic cup.  In fact, greek yogurt can be used to substitute eggs in baking.  Greek yogurt contains similar acidic properties to eggs, making it perfect for replacing them.  Eggs provide moisture in baking, and more importantly, leavening, which coincidently is what Greek yogurt does too.  Not only is Greek yogurt healthier than eggs, but it also can be used in its skinniest form with no fat.  To substitute eggs with Greek yogurt, simply measure out a 1/4 cup of yogurt per every one egg.  Start off with only replacing one egg at a time to see how much manipulation your recipe can take.  Use plain yogurt when baking, because you do not want strawberry greek yogurt in your white cake (or do you?).

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate chip cookies have been a long time favorite across america.  Made from a simple, soft dough with butter (of course), eggs, sugar and flour, they are hard to beat.  The average chocolate chip cookie has a high cholesterol and butter content.  Their addictivness (not sure if it is a word) is a partner in its unhealthiness because it is almost impossible just to have one.

Most low fat cookie recipes taste nothing like their classic, fattening form.  They simply cut back on fat, and add no flavor.  This low fat chocolate chip cookie recipe is moist, chewy and chocolatey, and cuts out half of the fat of normal cookies, but keeps all of the flavor.

Low Fat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

·      1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

·       ½ cup white bean puree (recipe follows)

·      ½ cup granulated sugar

·      ¾ cup light brown sugar

·      1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·      1 egg

·      ¼ cup plain Greek yogurt

·      2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

·      1 teaspoon salt

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

            In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.

           

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the butter, bean puree, sugars and vanilla, and mix on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, or until very fluffy and smooth.

           

Add the egg to the butter mixture, and mix until smooth, then repeat with the yogurt.

           

Once the mixture is combined, slowly add the flour mixture on low speed, or until just incorporated.  Mix in the chocolate chips.

           

Transfer the dough into tablespoon-sized rounds on an ungreased cookie sheet, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

           

Bake the cookies in a 375 degrees oven on convection bake (or standard bake) for 7 ½ minutes, or until pale and somewhat done.

           

After 7 ½ minutes, slap the cookies with the flat side of a spatula until flattened.  Bake the cookies for another 1 ½ to 3 minutes, or until golden and set.  Immediately transfer the cookies to a wire rack, and then enjoy.

White Bean Puree

            In the container of a blender, combine 2 tablespoons of canola oil with 1 can of (rinsed) white beans.  Puree until smooth and homogenous.

            

Why?

I wonder how such an innocent thing like butter can cause so much distress.  Padded, schmeared, or spread, butter knows how to make an entrance in style.  The problem is, butter contains high amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol, which can effect heart health and other serious problems if too much is consumed.  A sweet tooth and butter come hand in hand.  It seems that every good dessert must have copious amounts of butter in order to be a hit.

A more sneaky offender is eggs.  Eggs seem natural, and chicken is healthy, so it only seems logical for its seed to be wholesome as well.  Although eggs contain essential nutrients like Vitamin A, each egg also come with the price of 210mg of cholesterol and and 2g of saturated fat.

The problem is that I love to bake.  Everything about it is so therapeutic, and to be able to produce such deliciousness while doing something I love is just perfect.  With great, rich desserts (my famous brownies contain 1 1/2 sticks of butter and 4 eggs) come high prices.  I learned that I had borderline high cholesterol, and that's when I learned that I couldn't afford such a high dessert intake, despite how good it does taste.  I couldn't abandon baking (I love it too much), but I could bake more wholesome desserts, with the same taste, which is when Where's the Butter? came in.  I can share my new recipes of things that I love, but with much less fat and cholesterol.  It is close to impossible to not use butter while baking, but it can be reduced with substitutes.  Not weird "eggs" in cartons or "buttery spread" in a bright yellow tub, but with ingredients found in a common pantry.  Throughout Where's the Butter, I will experiment and share my results with my healthier baking, fruitful or not, and always in detail.