swapping butter for stork or marge ?

mumofthetwins

Hi Guys
can anyone tell me if most recipies scones, cakes, biscuts would be ok with subbing butter for stork or marge ?
also my granddad gave me loads of packets of lurpack for my baking that he never used but it is salted .. will this make a difference ?

Thanks again
Lisa x

[Deleted User]

You'll notice a slight lessening of richness in taste by using margarine but that's all. Margarine/stork get used for everything in this house, supermarket low fat spread for bread and stork for baking. Use the Lurpack even if it is salted it doesn't make a difference to the taste and certainly doesn't make sweet things taste salty, go for it!!!

mandragora_2

I persevered for years making cakes with butter - they were only ever ok, and tended to be a bit oily/sink at the slightest excuse. Then one day I didn't have any butter in, but there was an old tub of marge in the back of the cupboard, so I used that as a last resort. It was flipping amazing - and I've used one of the supermarket own brands ever since (the 'Butterly' clone types). Now I get requests to make cakes by all and sundry, and compliments about how light and delicious they are.

Shhhh. Don't tell anyone my dirty little secret, will you, please! The other thing I always use is golden caster sugar. These two together, and not too much mixing has been what works for me, I think.

peachyprice

Stork/supermarket equivalent in the block is great for pastry, the soft one is great for cakes. I do still prefer the taste of butter, but if I'm making a large number of cakes I just can't justify the cost.

Salted lurpak is fine for cakes too, it's far less salty than English salted butters anyway. Recipes that call for unsalted butter quite often add salt.

The only thing to be wary of with the marg is to avoid those with added water, usually the 'light' versions, they don't make good cakes!

krlyr

We grew up making cakes with Stork so I've always baked with it. It's only since moving out and making new recipes based on American recipes that I started using butter - but most of the time I still go marg.

There's some recipes you can't substitute though, so just bear that in mind. Some buttercreams, for example, may not hold together if the water content is too high. Or stuff reliant on temperature, e.g. "raw cookie dough" relies on the butter going firm when chilled, can be iffy. Some cookie recipes may spread too much with a non-butter option, sometimes a recipe calls to chill the dough and cook from chilled to help retain some shape.

I have used salted stuff for baking occasionally - it can work quite well with sme sweet stuff (think of salted caramel), but make sure you don't add any extra salt if the recipe calls for it.

ariba10

It depends on what you want. A natural or unnatural food?

Fruball

ariba10 wrote: »

It depends on what you want. A natural or unnatural food?

I agree with this. I would rather use a healthy, natural fat such as butter than a manufactured product like marg.

I am trying to get my diet back to healthy whole foods (as much as possible. Meat, fish, eggs, butter, cream, cheese, nuts etc) and marg does not fit the criteria. Also, I loathe the taste!

VJsmum

Fruball wrote: »

I agree with this. I would rather use a healthy, natural fat such as butter than a manufactured product like marg.

I am trying to get my diet back to healthy whole foods (as much as possible. Meat, fish, eggs, butter, cream, cheese, nuts etc) and marg does not fit the criteria. Also, I loathe the taste!

Same - it is said there is no difference between the product and the tub

mandragora_2

Fruball wrote: »

I agree with this. I would rather use a healthy, natural fat such as butter than a manufactured product like marg.

I am trying to get my diet back to healthy whole foods (as much as possible. Meat, fish, eggs, butter, cream, cheese, nuts etc) and marg does not fit the criteria. Also, I loathe the taste!

Well, I imagine you won't be eating many scones, cakes or biscuits, in that case, whether made with butter OR marge, which is what the OP was asking about.

JIL

I find and it may be coincidence, that if I use a margerine such as flora buttery, if I add fruit or nuts they sink to the bottom.
But if I use butter or stork they are fine. It could as an earlier post has suggested been down to water content.
I use stork mostly, interestingly the tubs work out cheaper per gram than the blocks which surprises me.
Happy baking!!!

[Deleted User]

I have been baking for over 50 years and the only time I use unsalted butter is for making shortbread.I make all of my cakes and biscuits using soft stork and if I make pastry I use half block stork, and half cookeen/lard.

For butter cream for special cakes I would probly use butter, but when making cakes on the scale I do for four ravenous grandsons they vanish like snow in the desert in my house stork is fine,and a plate of jam tarts straight from the oven and barely cool just disappear.:):):)

Growing up with rationing my late Mum couldn't afford to be that fussy.
I remember a marg coming on the market called Summer Country which purported to contain 10% butter.:)But I have used stork for as long as I can remember to bake with