Trans fats and Trex ?

Folio

oOops pressed send before I had finished......ingredients list is just vegetable oils and the sell by date on my pack is November 07...Hope that helps.

Penelope_Penguin

I took a look at Trex and Cookeen in the shops yesterday. They both state that they are 100% fat, and contain no trans fats.

However, Cookeen contains:
47% saturated fats
37% monounsaturated fats
11% polyunsaturated fats

Trex has similar proportions, but both only add up to 95%.

What's the other 5%?

Penny. x

morganlefay

Lets hope it's water ?

Penelope_Penguin

But it clearly states 100% fat.

Penny. x

morganlefay

Urrghj ! It's no good - I'm going back to butter, or lard and butter and knowing that my pastry will be shrunken and a bit chewey. That one batch of perfect Trex mincepies I made will linger in the memory, but, sadly, not on the tongue again in my house. Always a small fly in the ointment of life, eh ?

squeaky

Just spotted this article...

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070116131545.htm

npsmama

On a similar note, does anyone know if making cakes with lard would work?
I'm trying to use only unprocessed ingredients.
Of course butter is marvellous but I'm getting through a lot of it!!

thriftlady_2

Yes, you can make cakes with lard. I have some old recipes somewhere. But, the flavour is definitely different I think, not unpleasant though. I suspect using half butter and lard may be a good solution. That's what I use for pastry

npsmama

Thanks.

For pastry I use all lard with this wonderful recipe:

1 cup lard, very soft
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup boiling water
3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:
Place the lard and salt in a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the lard and blend.
Stir in flour and form the mixture into a ball. It'll have the consistency of playdough - don't panic, this is normal.
Chill several hours or overnight.
Remove from the fridge 30 minutes before rolling out.

You get a tender, melt-in-the-mouth pastry for very little effort! :j

I make it in batches of 12 portions and freeze them. The proportions for bulk quantity are 6 cups (3 lbs) lard, 2 tbs salt, 3 cups boiling water and 18 cups (about 5 lbs) flour.


I've also used Trex in this recipe with great success.

I've made it with wholewheat flour with nice results too.