I've been using the high-ratio shortening but then I also found Spectrum shortening which is NOT made w/ hydrogenated oils. It's hard to escape them but I try! So I'm going to start trying to make buttercream w/ the Spectrum shortening. You can get it at Meijer stores or at health food stores sometimes.... the Spectrum website has a locator on it.
I also like the French buttercream.
And yes there are chemicals everywhere - I try to avoid what I can. For instance, I can't afford an air filter right now but I know they are important - especially b/c I have allergies which may be causing my sleep apnea..... but I DO use a whole home filter, a shower filter, and a countertop filter for my water and I refuse to drink tap water. I worked for a company for a little while that sold these products and after all the research I did I'm staying as far away from tap water as I can! I'll use it in a desperate moment if I have to but I don't like to do it. I'll even try to use filtered water or bottled water for my customers that I make things for b/c I don't want to give them that either. So I figure I'm doing pretty well w/ the water thing... air is next and dust mites..... and I try to eat healthy most of the time. I also have a problem eating all of my frosting!!!
BTW - did you see that the coffee creamers have hydrogenated oils in them?? Totally sucks...... I just tried and LOVE that vanilla caramel cake recipe using the coffee creamer in white cake.... 
Guess I just gotta eat that one in moderation!
I agree that everything in MODERATION is okay. Now, if I were eating spoonfuls of Crisco, I'd be worrying. (Note to self: stop eating frosting by the spoonful) 
My concern with SMBC and IMBC is using raw eggs. I think the risk of salmonella is a greater risk than some trans fat in Crisco. I'd highly suggest using the egg whites that are pasturized instead of raw eggs when using these recipes. The last thing you want is for everyone to get food poisoning from your cake!
I saw the show yesterday, too, and I really like Dr. Oz and the information he provides.......but, here is my take on it. I think we all know that most cake is made from REALLY BAD stuff. REALLY bad for you but it tastes REALLY good. I don't know that there is a way to make a really terrific, great looking cake without somehow using Crisco, butter, powdered sugar, regular sugar, corn syrup.....you get the picture. We all know it's possible to make a cake without this stuff but the reality is it's part of making a cake.
I have come to the conclusion that it's really okay to use this stuff, just don't eat it all the time!! People that buy cakes from us are buying them for a very special occasion and I believe that it's okay to eat ALL THINGS in moderation. Sure, stay away from it 99% of the time, but enjoy yourself the other 1%. My grandma lived to be 98 years old and she ate things like butter, bacon, white bread and other "bad" things her entire life. I think life is too short to NOT enjoy the things we love every so often. I am always on a journey to get more fit and keep my weight at a healthy place but I ain't turnin' down some great cake every now and then !!!
I totally agree. I have this little saying, "I don't bake low-fat. If you are on a diet, have a really, really small piece" How often are we eating cake anyway? For me, its on special occasions....once or twice a month. It the daily stuff that is in our diet that will kill us.
I realize we are talking more about health then anything and I understand & repect the truth behind that, but let's face it, Crisco is merely the beginning....if we started disecting every little thing we put in our mouths, the only things that would get thru would be organic veggies. 
Now I am the first person to admit I have no willpower or self-control of any kind, so all you slender, dedicated daily-gym-visitors make me want to GAG (in a jealous 'Oh-how-I-hate-her-because-she's-so-damn-skinny' kind of way).
I respect the dedication it takes to eat only healthy but I just don't think it's the occasional piece of potentially crisco-based cake frosting that made that liver fat and unhealthy. It was the overall, day to day bad eating habits of people....pre-packaged EVERYTHING, fast food, junk food and all this 'diet' crap that is loaded with more chemicals then my kitchen sink cleanser.....IMHO, of course.
** BTW, I totally am talking about myself in the above sentence.... Lord, how I love my junk-food!
Me again........
JoanneK, my very last memory of my beautiful Grandmother was of my sister's and I feeding her frostening from her birthday cake with my poor mother in the background warning us that we would ruin her dinner.
P.S. She got her cake - too.
Edited for spelling correction
berryblondeboys said:
That's why I make everything from scratch. The ONLY ready made things I buy are canned tomatoes.
I only buy organic milk, dairy products and eggs. My meats are also "organic" meaning no growth hormones, etc.
Things taste better too and really, does it cost that much more? Not really! Plus, you feel good when you know that you're giving your family the best.
This topic is so interesting to me. I am starting my 1st class this week and I have wanted to take one for a long time, but haven't done so because I truely believe that sugar and refined flour etc. are very bad for you. I finally decided it would be fun and I'm not going to change how people eat and well, I am a sugar addict I admit it.
My family and I have found that the flavor of organic products is much better. I buy it as much as possible and also find that when I cut out the junk I enjoy the good for you stuff much more. I too try to cook mainly fresh unprocessed food. My main struggle is with 2 little ones sometimes you need something fast!
On the butter issue. There is some information that says you do need some saturated fat in your diet such as butter or coconut oil. These are actually the only fats that can stand up to the high heat of baking without being damaged. I cook with both and olive oil for light sauteing and save the other oils for dressings and such.
I could go on on this subject forever but I will spare you all and I too have to check myself and make sure I am not obsessing over it and just enjoy food sometimes!!
Since I've deleted my reply like 20 times already...
This debate on the city/national level troubles me in that it really comes down to flawed statistics and people with too much time on their hands wanting to take away our freedoms to run our businesses and lives how we see fit given the information we all have available to us, it's our freedom of choice and people who think you can't make the best informed decision for your own life.
In the first day of statisics, we're taught how to get 4 out of 5 dentists to agree that brushing is bad for you and correlate cancer to the consumption of carrots. Nedia can't be blamed too much because there's nothing in Media production that requires them to learn statisics and how to rip apart research in 2.3 seconds. But, the media can be blamed for mis-quoting research. Also, who PAID for the studies and what does their group really represent (Like Hershey paying for a study on Chocolate being healthy -- uh, DUH! would YOU let research be published that wasn't complimentary to your cause?). The only statistic on the Crisco debate NOT being reported is a normalized population from 1911 to now because we've got a significantly larger population, the recording procedure is better now, health screening is better, our activity level is through the tank now as a whole, and, and, and. It all comes down to, your risk of death because of eating something cooked with Crisco is still nothing compared to what a non-active lifestyle and genetics alone will do.
P.S. I also think it's funny how restaurants are now admitting they use "Trans-fat free" products because people percieve them as healthier... Remember when McDonalds was BLASTED for using beef fat in their fries, guess if I go back there, the fries should start tasting better again...
Well- While I totally agree that we should watch what we eat and that hydrogenated oils are definitely not good for us. I don't agree with the push for organic everything. I live in California, and the organic market here is huge! At this point I think it is just a way for companies to mark up their prices. I am married to a chemist and he explained to me that chemicals are not all bad. All chemicals are essentially derived from natural sources. The reason chemicals are used in farming is to allow us to have fruit and vegetables that aren't eaten by bugs and covered with disease. If you wash your fruits and veggies, they are not all harmful. Chemicals are used in cleaning products because they get things clean, you can't kill germs with organic substances.
Anywho- I do believe we should be health concious and there are many substances we should avoid, including naturally occuring substances such as sugar, saturated fats etc..And we could definitally use to cut out trans-fats and enriched flours, but lets just rememberthat just because we don't understands chemicals doesn't mean they are all bad, in fact some are good and protect us from disease, thats why they are used.
Well- While I totally agree that we should watch what we eat and that hydrogenated oils are definitely not good for us. I don't agree with the push for organic everything. I live in California, and the organic market here is huge! At this point I think it is just a way for companies to mark up their prices. I am married to a chemist and he explained to me that chemicals are not all bad. All chemicals are essentially derived from natural sources. The reason chemicals are used in farming is to allow us to have fruit and vegetables that aren't eaten by bugs and covered with disease. If you wash your fruits and veggies, they are not all harmful. Chemicals are used in cleaning products because they get things clean, you can't kill germs with organic substances.
Ironically, I don't buy organic fruits and veggies. I wash things well, but realize that all chemicals aren't bad. I buy organic free range eggs because of taste and safety reasons, so with dairy. Pork I buy whatever, but chicken and beef taste DRAMATiCALLY diffierent when they are raised properly.
But... I believe 150% that artificial fats are bad, bad, bad... I use butter and olive oil and that's it. I buy unbleached flours and try to get things as unprocessed as possible.
With that said, I buy snacks all the time... if I could just be better about making snacks for the kids, I would feel better.... those prepared snacks are not good.
Melissa
Thanks Euphoria!!! Hug your hubby!
I grew up on a farm and it's hard for a lot of people to grasp the concept of the primary fertilizer for organic farms comes out of cattle, who are a natural carrier for E.coli... Natural doesn't always equal healthy..
It all comes down to balance. I just wish the pendulum would swing back to increasing activity levels in kids and teaching them the importance of ANY physical activity is probably more important than what they decide to eat. In other words, bring back recess, tag, marching band, and gym class (forget the shower stuff, they aren't out there long enough to get sweaty).. At the same time, I also think kids do need to understand the REALITY of where their food comes from, that it's not "from the store", and how to prepare it. The reason I say those ages is because it's where their life's path really starts to get set in terms of obesity and one's ability to keep the weight off for a lifetime in a healthy way.
You know what I find appalling? I find more and more people are so squeamish about food. I thought the first person I ran into like that was a freak, but people just don't realize where their food comes from. They don't want to touch it, or "know" about it. I think this is bad.
WE ARE meat eaters and it's VERY hard to be a healthy vegetarian. People need to get over the fact that we kill animals to eat them - period.
And agreed, yes, we need to get kids to move more. I'm hoping we've broken the couch potato trend in our home. My son loves Tae Kwon Do and swimming, so I'm hoping, hoping he'll be a lifelong "mover" unlike his Mama (me) who struggles with that every day.
Melissa
I agree that everything in MODERATION is okay. Now, if I were eating spoonfuls of Crisco, I'd be worrying. (Note to self: stop eating frosting by the spoonful)
My concern with SMBC and IMBC is using raw eggs. I think the risk of salmonella is a greater risk than some trans fat in Crisco. I'd highly suggest using the egg whites that are pasturized instead of raw eggs when using these recipes. The last thing you want is for everyone to get food poisoning from your cake!
There is a thread about this same topic. To each there own right! As far as pasturized not all brands are made to whip to peaks. It is like eating sushi or rare meat there is a risk when you consume anything.Are sunny side up eggs not Ok then-runny yolks. I have used SMBC for seven years and other have used it longer. There is no fear here of Salmonella. If ypu temp your whites then you are fine. If this were the case about food illness you might think about how often you check how hot your food that you consume is. If it is in the Temperature range of 40* to 140* F-it is prime conditions for bacteria growth.
I have worked in food service long enough to have seen far more worse things than SMBC.
No I am not on a rant but there are worse things than eating Meringue!
In Virginia, you cannot use raw eggs as an ingredient as a licensed home baker. I use eggs as a frosting true, but they are cooked over a double boiler for the frosting recipes I use. They say that 90% of all eggs are contaminated with salmonella and that's no joke.
Melissa
In Virginia, you cannot use raw eggs as an ingredient as a licensed home baker. I use eggs as a frosting true, but they are cooked over a double boiler for the frosting recipes I use. They say that 90% of all eggs are contaminated with salmonella and that's no joke.
Melissa
This is the topic-I use a double boiler also--Some believe that this is still raw even when we use a double boiler or hot syrup.
There is NO WAY the recipes I use could be considered raw. You cook them over the double boiler for like 20 minutes!!! You could burn yourself terribly if you dumped this on you. Next time I'll stick a thermometer in it and prove it! LOL
Melissa
Oh I agree with you berryblondeboys!
Here is another thread that is on the topic!
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-28241.html
At some point in the last year or so someone was making a fuss over what my Great Grandma was eating because her diet isn't the healthiest. She likes cookies, bacon, white bread, cake, etc. Someone else pointed out that she's been eating that stuff her whole life and that cutting her off now to get an extra couple weeks was pointless since the woman was born in March of 1908.
We are a nation of people who hang on every negative thing the media reports to us, because we like it they always report the worst. Statistics can be twisted to show what we want and we often overlook the extra facts that go with them. They also never tell us who did the studies and that matters more than the numbers they show.
It always amazes me that so many things are so terribly bad for us yet we're all living much longer than people were 200 years ago before all these chemicals.
You another thing that drives me crazy? You know that big spinach fiasco a couple months back was ridiculously overblown. I would really like to know HOW MANY TIMES in history MORE people have gotten sick or died from contaminated ingredients. Food has had e coli forever. Food has gone rancid forever, so now I bet we have a nation full of people who will never eat spinach and it could have been ANY fruit or vegetable, really.
The US threw away Millions and millions of heads of spinach for 56 people getting sick and one death? WHAT?!?!?!?!?!
Then why don't we throw away every egg for it's life threatening probabilities. How about how poorly cows are slaughtered and contaminated with the bowels? (that's the main reason for not eating undercooked hamburgers)...
heck, we didnt even have refrigeration until very recently!!!
We are all crazy! LOL yet, I still love all natural ingredients and will stick with that, but I think we have gone overboard on scaring people to death.
Melissa
Yah know..nowadays everything is either bad for you or is gonna kill yah so I say eat and be happy.
Health food faddists were saying back in the 1960s that -
hydrogenated fats were bad for you butter is better; eat enough fiber, it keeps you regular and cleans out your system; vitamin C and chicken soup are good for a cold; don't eat too much of any one type of food a mixture is better for your body; eat more veg less meat...
NOW the mainstream media is putting all of this information out with a terrible urgency?...
Enjoy your cake, enjoy the dancing, enjoy your life...
I was alrmed at the fact that our country in the most Obese nation in the world. Has anyone ever seen Super Size me.
I don't know if other countries use the same charts we do to determine obesity but the chart we use counts Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise and Bush as obese along with several other very fit male actors.
I won't watch Super Size Me because the guy who gained all that weight and stuff did it to himself, there is no way you can expect to be healthy on that kind of diet. My second grader can tell you that eating fries and drinking pop every day isn't good for you.
Where did you find this info out?? Well the chart says I am obese and I am 5' 5" and 155 pounds. I do know that when I weighed 20 pounds less that I had a whole lot more energy day to day.
Look at it this way. Those who do go ahead and change there way of life to be healthier look amazing and feel better.
As far as Super Size me yes he did do that to himself but there are people who eat Fast Food everyday.
Other countries are healthier. Take France--All those yummy desserts yet people have the will power just to take three bites and be done with it. There is a book out about a women who changed her entire lifestyle to live the way of the French. She said that they eat to taste and enjoy the food. She will buy a dessert and take but only three bites--will power there!
Even drinking pop in general is bad-Even Diet. I serve at a local restaurant and I am so drawn to the many people who drink Mountain Dew. One of my customers consumed five 16oz glasses of mountain dew in one sitting--It made me ill.
As far food in moderations sure why not. Everyone is going to have there own oipinion on this topic. I shop by reading labels now. Not just because I saw a show but because I am less active and want to eat a lot healthier.
I just made a pact with my husband to eliminate fast food for a month. No soda Also. In the past we have done this and after a couple of weekes you could tell a difference.
Hmmm so is it just women that realize all of this or just women that talk about it?? My husband has a HORRIBLE diet and has NO idea how to read a food label.... and doesn't want to learn. So I try to not bring really unhealthy stuff home.... but I really don't have time to cook and I have no clue what to bring to work for lunch so we eat a lot of lean cuisine and other frozen foods...... heck if I had money and time I'd probably buy organic everything..... but I've got not much of either time nor money so I do what I can. I do believe moderation is key.... you can have a diet soda... just don't drink 5 in one day...... my dad has worked for soda companies all of my life and I've grown up drinking at least 1 soda a day...... usually diet..... I can't say I'm the healthiest person in the world but I think I do pretty good. It's definitely true that the media goes crazy over things.... I've had bad experiences w/ the "media" and I hardly trust a thing I see on the news..... okay well enough rambling - there's a little more 2 cents from me! 
Now I'm off to eat some icing......LOL!
This is also why I try very hard to stay away from deep fried foods in restaurants. Many places use hydrogenated fats, or a combination of both natural and hydrogenated fats in their fryers... but every once in a while, the smell of grease and salt just overtakes my willpower...
Theresa
So someone give me some pointers, if you don't mind. When reading labels in the grocery store, what exactly do I want to avoid and what am I looking for?
I do agree with "everything in moderation" for sure . . . you can't go too nuts. It's like sheltering your kids from every little germ out there and having kids with totally weak immune systems. Granted, that doesn't mean you intentionally sabotage your body, but try to be good most of the time and don't sweat or fret over the other small percentage of the time.
I'd like to be able to get rid of Crisco and do all butter, but as someone asked earlier, how do you make a frosting that will withstand heat and high humidity when you use all butter? There are just some instances, I think, where you have to use Crisco based on the climate or situation.
ckkerber
So these are the things they say to avoid
High Fructose Corn Syrup
Hydrogenated Oil
Enriched Flour-Meaning they took all the good stuff out and put a little back in.
Sugar--Yeah right!!
Bleached Flour
So this is how I shop-I try to eliminate Trans fat, High Fructose Cornsyrup and hydrogenated oil.
Things that I have changed Peanut Butter, Bread, cooking oil is now Olive Oil and whole wheat Pasta.
The price is not too much depending on where you shop.
"you want to buy foods that contain less than four grams of saturated fat and less than four grams of sugar per serving.
Keep in mindpolyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats are good for you"
I feel a lot of the problem with obesity in the US is because most people have sedentary jobs. That combined with the fact that we have great access to food, but NOT healthy food is a problem.
Carbs and sugar and fat are CHEAP! and fill bellies... Until there is access to HEALTHY food at a price the average Joe can afford, there will be this problem.
oops - SORRY off the soapbox now...This is something I fight all the time.
I tend to buy Organic whenever possible. I have found that the price has come down tremendously. I just bought a bunch of healty alternatives in the form of produce.
I know I am on my Soap Box and also will get off!
I saw something the other day that makes me laugh-Children trick or treating while the parents follow along the road in the car!
berryblondeboys wrote:
In Virginia, you cannot use raw eggs as an ingredient as a licensed home baker. I use eggs as a frosting true, but they are cooked over a double boiler for the frosting recipes I use. They say that 90% of all eggs are contaminated with salmonella and that's no joke.
Melissa
This is the topic-I use a double boiler also--Some believe that this is still raw even when we use a double boiler or hot syrup.
From what I can find only 1 egg in 20, 000 eggs is contaminated, which is something like 0.005% of all eggs. Nothing like the 90% mentioned above. For myself I ignore the salmonella in eggs scare and eat them raw or partially cooked. That being said I would never serve strangers foods containing raw eggs. Too many people are freaked out over the subject and I would not want to upset them. Most of my friends do as I do, roll their eyes and go on eating dipping eggs and browned meringues. One caveat to my rather cavelier attitude towards the whole subject. Infants and small children should not be fed raw egg products. There is a slight risk factor, which more mature immune systems can deal with rather easily. With the littlest you don't take even minor risks.
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