I love baking.. Just for fun... I took a cake decorating class and did pretty good, my friend asked me to bake a cake for her birthday, I agreed... I could decorate... But bake?? Hell no... So I tried to change everything on the recipe to make it healthy... The cake was hard as a rock.. flat as a pancake... And tasted like crap.. . Lol.. It looked beautiful.. But not edible at all... We all got a good kick out of it, and I made a promise to myself to not ever try to change the recipe like I did... I finally learned how to bake, and now I created a monster... My cakes are so good, that all my friends ask me to bake their cakes.. And I became pretty good with the decorations too.
I learned a lesson but never got discouraged ... 
Actually, you can tweak cake recipes quite a lot, but experience is the best teacher of what parts of a recipe you should just leave be (ask me how I know!). Unfortunately, you can't just change everything, but I've learned a whole lot from failed experiments. If I'm not under pressure to deliver something, I love to just try things and "see what happens".
ooh that's unfortunate. I have a friend who used to try to make pie crusts "healthy". All whole wheat crust... it was like cardboard. ugh.
I just don't get why people have to make these things "healthy". They're desserts for a reason! What's the point of eating a treat if it doesn't taste good? It's not much of a treat then is it? 
I actually don't give out my recipes anymore tor this reason. ( plus the fact that I have taken a long time to develop them and they are one of the reasons people choose me as their decorator )
I had one person use one of my recipes and changed the ingredients for "healthy ingredients" and then told me my recipe didn't work.They also told several other people that I must have given her a bad recipe deliberately so she couldn't steal my business. Some people fail to realise that most of the ingredients are there for a reason and perform a particular function in the chemistry of the cake.
ooh that's unfortunate. I have a friend who used to try to make pie crusts "healthy". All whole wheat crust... it was like cardboard. ugh.
I just don't get why people have to make these things "healthy". They're desserts for a reason! What's the point of eating a treat if it doesn't taste good? It's not much of a treat then is it?
I do my pie crust 1/2 and 1/2 and people like it better than 100% all purpose. Wheat alone is too heavy but when ya do 1/2 wheat it not only adds a tiny bit of healthiness but also adds a little flavor
ooh that's unfortunate. I have a friend who used to try to make pie crusts "healthy". All whole wheat crust... it was like cardboard. ugh.
I just don't get why people have to make these things "healthy". They're desserts for a reason! What's the point of eating a treat if it doesn't taste good? It's not much of a treat then is it?
I do my pie crust 1/2 and 1/2 and people like it better than 100% all purpose. Wheat alone is too heavy but when ya do 1/2 wheat it not only adds a tiny bit of healthiness but also adds a little flavor
Like a fool, I gave out my all time favorite scratch brownie recipe once. That person took it, baked and SOLD THE DERN BROWNIES! I was so upset when I found out. In my eyes, it was the fudgy icing which made my brownies so good and I did not give her that recipe.
Still, it was a lesson learned.
I keep my recipes to myself, now.
Be like Julia Child who lived to the age of 92...
Use pure butter, fresh eggs, natural sugar (evaporated cane juice), good flour, milk. Healthy stuff, right?
For the icing, make a custard buttercream made with milk, flour, butter, half the usual sugar.
ONLY natural vanilla, eh?
Serve small portions with some fruit on the side. Enjoy with a cup of coffee with your friends.
How could you possible make this more "healthy"?
My sister in law exchanges applesauce for butter, and cuts down the sugar in her chocolate cake. It tastes like crap. Then she stands there and shrieks "What does the professional think?" until I tell her it's good. Blarggghhh.
A lot of people also have the misconception that making a cake vegan or gluten-free makes it healthier...it doesn't.
My sister in law exchanges applesauce for butter, and cuts down the sugar in her chocolate cake. It tastes like crap. Then she stands there and shrieks "What does the professional think?" until I tell her it's good. Blarggghhh.
The box mixes tell you to substitute applesauce for the oil for a less fattening version. I wouldn't.
My sister in law exchanges applesauce for butter, and cuts down the sugar in her chocolate cake. It tastes like crap. Then she stands there and shrieks "What does the professional think?" until I tell her it's good. Blarggghhh.
The box mixes tell you to substitute applesauce for the oil for a less fattening version. I wouldn't.
I don't use mixes so I don't know what lies they're spreading...Butter ain't applesauce!
OMG, the whole "applesauce instead of oil or butter" drives me insane. It isn't the same and the recipe will taste different (usually worse) and you will mess up the texture!
I have a friend that is learning to bake, she was in Trader Joe's and someone told her that she could use applesauce instead of butter in that brownie mix. She said "no way, they are not even remotely the same thing, I want these to taste RIGHT!" She was so excited to tell me about this, LOL! I'm so proud of her!
I actually have a friend who has a child who is allergic to apples. I would have concerns, unless I was going to eat it myself.
I am actually allergic to apples , and also many artificial sweeteners as well . I usually avoid Healthcakes for this reason.
The applesauce instead of oil works in brownies if you eat them the same day. Alice Medrich has a lot of really good recipes in her cookbook "Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts" which was written for people with medical conditions.
The use of a gluten-free or dairy-free recipe is similarly important for people with medical conditions. It takes little effort to respect these restrictions and bake up something good.
For the rest of us, "healthy" means a small portion of cake.
My sister in law exchanges applesauce for butter, and cuts down the sugar in her chocolate cake. It tastes like crap. Then she stands there and shrieks "What does the professional think?" until I tell her it's good. Blarggghhh.
LOL that's hilarious!
Recipes can of course be tweaked to make them healthier, reduce calories etc, but most of the time I really don't see the point - if you want something healthy eat some fruit or something, if you want a treat do it properly and enjoy it!!!
IMHO the only reason to alter recipes in this way is for someone who has an allergy or health condition which would prevent them from ever having a 'normal' slice of cake.
Like a fool, I gave out my all time favorite scratch brownie recipe once. That person took it, baked and SOLD THE DERN BROWNIES! I was so upset when I found out. In my eyes, it was the fudgy icing which made my brownies so good and I did not give her that recipe.
Still, it was a lesson learned.
I keep my recipes to myself, now.
I will give out recipes that I get online or from a book, but the ones that are my own.... I feel you. I think I could start a business on my brownies alone and am afraid to even give the recipe to my mother in law.
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