Baking question: margarine or butter?

valerie57

I use unsalted butter. It does make for a slightly denser cake but I prefer the taste. Cakes are a treat here; no more than once a month so I don't mind the extra cost. I have been getting the T**o butter deal of two for £2 for the last few weeks. Currently it is for country life. Having said that my MIL made a gorgeous chocolate cake with U**erly B***erly. Perhaps because it was chocolate the taste of butter wasn't so important. It was delicious and light.

miasnanny

I have just downshifted to Tessa&Co Everyday Spread and to be honest I've not noticed any difference whatsoever in taste, texture or the fact that they fly out of the tin on their own:rotfl:

bargainbetty

I use whatever cheap butter I can get, and use unsalted when making very sweet cakes (choc stuff etc). I won't use cheap orange spreads, but that's me being a butter snob. Lurpak spreadable is OK.

PipneyJane

I use butter. I'd rather eat something that didn't get its colour, texture and flavour from a load of e-numbers. If I'm baking cakes, then I sometimes replace the required volume of butter with 3/4 the amount of rapeseed oil to lower the saturated fat. This is easiest to do with American recipes because they usually give their measurements by volume. (You need less oil that solid butter.)

On a related subject: I was recently wondering what lard tastes like. Can anyone tell me? Is it a neutral, non-taste? Or does it taste pork-like? I am loath to buy some just to taste it. (I'm Jewish so don't usually cook pork.) Also, how hard is it when it comes out of the fridge compared to butter?

What sparked that thought is that I do use rendered chicken/duck/goose fat in my cooking and I was wondering about making pastry with it. However, it tastes distinctly chicken-y. Also, it is still a bit soft when it comes out of the fridge. I know you can make pastry with lard and I was wondering what the comparison is like. Any suggestions/thoughts?

rosie383

I have used Trexx with brilliant results for pastry. It is similar to lard, but completely neutral in taste and gives a great short pastry. And it's vegetarian. i think you can buy supermarket own brand vege lard too (smart price type).

Lara44

Have baked with half butter half lard for quiche bases. The main effect it has is making the pastry more "short" and flaky. It doesn't taste meaty, but it does taste a bit more rich. Good for savouries, but not sure about sweets. HTH

de1amo

This brought back memmories of when i was a kid and used to help my mum bake--she used Stork. i am not sure if it still exists?

rosie383

Stork does still exist. You can buy it everywhere.

lindsaygalaxy

I always use Stork. I'm sure its cheaper than butter(? I must check this now!) and softer to use.

Emuchops

Anything other than Unsalted, it's the Devils ointment and I have written several rants on it. Use lard-pig butter.