Frosting and Health
Frosting and health.
There are two words you don't see used in the same sentence.
We usually think of frosting as a sinfully good substance that we can put on any dessert to make it taste better, regretting it for hours after.
But do good desserts covered in frosting have to be bad for you? They can be, but they don't have to be.
In other words, you can have you cake and eat it too.
The classic image of a baker pouring sugar and cream together to create a sweet masterpiece is a common one and leads you to believe that there is no way you can indulge without going overboard.
I'm not going to lie, these ingredients make desserts taste amazing and you're not going to match their taste or texture exactly when compromising for lower calorie and fat options, but you can get damn close.
Changing ingredients is obviously the number one way of making something healthier.
The most common ingredients used in baking are flour, butter, sugar, cream, and milk.
They are all loaded with calories and they are all very important to the taste and texture of your dessert.
But there are ways around this.
Sugar is often seen as the pinnacle of bad nutrition but can be very easily replaced.
Stevia, which is currently not approved by the FDA but has long been used in South America, along with other sugar substitutes work great in baking and can help make you feel better after treating yourself.
If you need to use confectioners' sugar to thicken something like frosting up, just use a little corn starch with your sugar replacement.
Butter is another ingredient that is frowned upon in the world of health for its high caloric density and fat content.
The easy remedy for that is to replace it with margarine made from vegetable oils, just make sure they don't contain trans fats and this will make your dessert all around better for you.
Milk is yet another ingredient that can be changed up to make a treat that doesn't pack on the pounds.
The easiest switch is to go from whole milk to skim milk, quickly cutting both the calories and fat from the recipe.
If you don't mind a more drastic change in flavor you can add an alternative milk as well (almond, soy, etc.
).
Flour isn't as easy to replace.
You can replace it with many things but generally, unless you want to compromise taste, the calorie amount won't change significantly.
However, replacing bleached white flour with soy flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, rice flour, rolled oats, or oat flour will make the dessert more nutrient rich.
Heavy cream is probably the hardest to replace with a healthy option that will lower the calorie amount significantly.
If it's being used as a topping you could always whip low-fat milk to imitate whipped cream.
But if you are baking something and are looking for the fat and consistency of heavy whipping cream your best bet is probably fat-free half-and-half.
You will probably notice the change, but your dessert and frosting will still be delicious and have significantly less calories.
By following these tips to a healthier homemade frosting and dessert you can improve you cooking abilities and stay fit.
But remember, the amounts of the various ingredients needed may change because the healthier replacement ingredient may have a different consistency.
There are two words you don't see used in the same sentence.
We usually think of frosting as a sinfully good substance that we can put on any dessert to make it taste better, regretting it for hours after.
But do good desserts covered in frosting have to be bad for you? They can be, but they don't have to be.
In other words, you can have you cake and eat it too.
The classic image of a baker pouring sugar and cream together to create a sweet masterpiece is a common one and leads you to believe that there is no way you can indulge without going overboard.
I'm not going to lie, these ingredients make desserts taste amazing and you're not going to match their taste or texture exactly when compromising for lower calorie and fat options, but you can get damn close.
Changing ingredients is obviously the number one way of making something healthier.
The most common ingredients used in baking are flour, butter, sugar, cream, and milk.
They are all loaded with calories and they are all very important to the taste and texture of your dessert.
But there are ways around this.
Sugar is often seen as the pinnacle of bad nutrition but can be very easily replaced.
Stevia, which is currently not approved by the FDA but has long been used in South America, along with other sugar substitutes work great in baking and can help make you feel better after treating yourself.
If you need to use confectioners' sugar to thicken something like frosting up, just use a little corn starch with your sugar replacement.
Butter is another ingredient that is frowned upon in the world of health for its high caloric density and fat content.
The easy remedy for that is to replace it with margarine made from vegetable oils, just make sure they don't contain trans fats and this will make your dessert all around better for you.
Milk is yet another ingredient that can be changed up to make a treat that doesn't pack on the pounds.
The easiest switch is to go from whole milk to skim milk, quickly cutting both the calories and fat from the recipe.
If you don't mind a more drastic change in flavor you can add an alternative milk as well (almond, soy, etc.
).
Flour isn't as easy to replace.
You can replace it with many things but generally, unless you want to compromise taste, the calorie amount won't change significantly.
However, replacing bleached white flour with soy flour, whole wheat flour, cornmeal, rice flour, rolled oats, or oat flour will make the dessert more nutrient rich.
Heavy cream is probably the hardest to replace with a healthy option that will lower the calorie amount significantly.
If it's being used as a topping you could always whip low-fat milk to imitate whipped cream.
But if you are baking something and are looking for the fat and consistency of heavy whipping cream your best bet is probably fat-free half-and-half.
You will probably notice the change, but your dessert and frosting will still be delicious and have significantly less calories.
By following these tips to a healthier homemade frosting and dessert you can improve you cooking abilities and stay fit.
But remember, the amounts of the various ingredients needed may change because the healthier replacement ingredient may have a different consistency.
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