Oil rather than butter/marge in baking ...

MimiJane

Hi all,

I'd like to pick your brains please ...

Hubby's on a no-sugar diet and has also been told to avoid butter/margarine. I'd really like to bake him something nice in the form of individual "puddings" I can put in the freezer for treats. He can eat eggs, wholemeal flour, olive oil and "natural" (i.e. not dried) fruit. Although told to also avoid sugar substitutes where possible, I've sent off for some natural sweeteners from the Internet which can be used sparingly.

I've thought of muffins and carrot cake, which you can make with oil, but am stuck as far as puddings go. His favourite is apple/fruit crumble, but I wouldn't have thought you could substitute the margarine for oil.

After any ideas from all you lovely people ...

ariba10

We use Olive Oil instead of butter in the bread making machine, no problems.

mummysaver

When my older two children were little (about 10 years ago) you used to be able to buy a cake mix in a bottle shaped a bit like a plastic milk bottle, you added normal veg oil and water and shook it for a couple of minutes, it made really light fluffy cakes, and my children thought it was great fun, and it made much less mess when they were tiny than scales and bowls! So I should imagine that you can use oil pretty much instead of butter for cakes - I've tried some American recipes in the past, and these have used oil instead of butter, generally they've been "all in one" cake recipes.

Perhaps you could try puddings like pineapple upside down cake, sponge pudding, a crumble with an oaty topping, how about fruit jellies/blancmange type puddings, like creme caramel.

Sarahsaver

I would not use olive oil but sunflower oil is ok. I use oil instead of marg just becase its easier to mix in;)
If you don't mind me asking what is his health condition?
I have had a stroke so have to have low fat/low salt, and mum is diabetic. Grew up hardly ever having pork or butter anyway cos dad was on the same diet as myself.
All oils alter their state when heated to some extent, so you may find some fat free recipes on american websites especially.

MATH

Does using oil affect the taste of sponges etc? Using oil sounds so much easier than using butter. I never remember to take it out of the fridge early enough. LOL

Curry_Queen

MATH wrote:

Does using oil affect the taste of sponges etc? Using oil sounds so much easier than using butter. I never remember to take it out of the fridge early enough. LOL

I've made several different cakes using oil - Nigella's yummy chocolate fudge cake and the yoghurt cakes spring immediately to mind that I've made recently - and you can't taste the oil in them at all.

I've never tried using it to replace butter in a normal sponge recipe though, but I can't see any reason why you can't. I've used both sunflower and groundnut oils but I suppose you could use whatever you have to hand, although I wouldn't personally use olive oil in a cake

MimiJane

MATH wrote:

Does using oil affect the taste of sponges etc? Using oil sounds so much easier than using butter. I never remember to take it out of the fridge early enough. LOL

When I've made muffins/carrot cake in the past, they've always been lovely and moist when I've used oil (and they freeze well). I would imagine if you're using a recipe with butter/margarine though, it's not easy to work out the quantity of oil to use ... probably all too easy to end up with a gooey mess.

thriftlady_2

I'd agree about using sunflower oil rather than olive oil in sweet baking.I think the flavour would be too pronounced(and expensive!).I use sunflower oil a lot in muffins etc.Does he have to stick to monounsaturated fats? If so I believe,but am not entirely sure that rapeseed oil is monounsaturated.This would taste better in baking I should think.HTH

moggins

would it be weight for weight the same? If so you could put a plastic sandwich bag or something on the scales and pour the oil in until you get the correct weight, then cut a corner off the bottom of the bag and squeeze it out.

Sarahsaver

If it says 4oz i just use 4 fl. oz i know its not exactly the same but its always been ok. This is where the dreaded cup measure does have its uses!

thriftlady_2

I thought 1oz was the same weight as 1 fluid oz,as in the saying 'a pint of water weighs a lb and a quarter'(20 fl oz =20 oz)