Low Fat Baking
Fat is the backbone of any baked good making low fat baking difficult. Many of us use fruit purees to replace the fat in some of our favorite baking recipes.
The pectin in the pureed fruit acts as a film around air bubbles in the batter, much like fat. Mashed bananas, unsweetened applesauce, pureed pumpkin and prunes can all act as fat replacers. Unsweetened applesauce works the best because it contains the most pectin. Fruit purees are only successful in oil based recipes like cakes and breads. If you want to reduce the fat in a butter based recipe, like cookies, it’s best to just reduce the amount of butter slightly.
Low fat baking is very sensitive to overmixing and overbaking. Fat coats the proteins in flour reducing the formation of gluten. Gluten is formed when mixing flour with moisture. When fat is not present overmixing can cause too much gluten to form resulting in a tougher cake. To help make a lower fat cake tender measuring the flour is very important. Spoon flour into measuring cup and then smooth over with a knife or your finger. The proper amount of flour will make a difference in the tenderness of your cake. To prevent overbaking check your cake or bread 2 to 3 minutes before the time it should be done.
Low fat baking takes a lot of experimenting, but in time you will discover the right combination to make a delicious low fat cake, bread or cookie.
Published 12/14/11
