In order to reduce the fat in your baking, you must first identify where the fat is coming from. The main sources of fat in desserts are butter, margarine, oil, eggs, sour cream, whipping cream, chocolate, nuts, and cream cheese. Don't try to eliminate the fat entirely. Instead we suggest that you try to reduce the amount by using substitutions that will still result in an excellent dessert. Nobody's interested in eating a dry or rubbery, tasteless dessert.
You can successfully reduce approximately 50 to 75 percent of the fat in a traditional dessert recipe using substitutions. But since fat is needed in dessert recipes for flavor and texture, you can't eliminate it all.
Good substitutes that will lower the fat in desserts are plain low-fat yogurt, low-fat or nonfat sour cream, buttermilk, low-fat evaporated milk, puréed fruits such as bananas or pineapple, or cooked puréed fruits such as dried dates, prunes, apricots, applesauce, and figs. A combination of low-fat ricotta or cottage cheese and a small amount of light cream cheese can replace high-fat cream cheese.
Since all of the fat (5 grams per egg) is carried in the egg yolk, lower-fat baking requires a reduction in the use of whole eggs. For each whole egg in a recipe you can use two egg whites. We suggest keeping some of the egg yolks in a recipe for flavor and texture. Too many egg whites will make a cake tough and rubbery. We suggest using one whole egg plus two egg whites for every two eggs.
Egg substitutes can also be used in breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, and puddings. Don't use egg substitutes in cream puffs or popovers as the cream puffs or popovers won't puff or pop. Try different brands of liquid egg substitute - they don't all taste the same. Settle on the brand that you think gives a flavor closest to the "real thing." One-fourth cup liquid egg substitute equals one large fresh egg. For recipes calling for egg yolks, use three tablespoons egg substitute per yolk.
Instead of buttery piecrusts, use cookie crumb crusts held together mostly with water and just a smidgeon of canola oil.
To make delicious crunchy toppings, use quick-cooking oats or a crunchy cereal like Grape-Nuts to replace the nuts traditionally used. Sometimes keep a few nuts for taste - always toasted to bring out their full flavor.
Instead of using whipping cream for mousses, use beaten egg whites in combination with a ricotta base, which gives wonderful volume and texture without excess calories and fat. A small amount of gelatin helps to hold the texture of the dessert. For safety, only use the reconstituted powdered egg whites or the pasteurized egg whites that are sold in a carton in the dairy section of your supermarket.
Using low-fat evaporated milk or low-fat condensed milk instead of heavy cream gives the dessert a creamy, rich consistency.
Cream cheese is a rich, soft cheese made from fresh milk and cream. A Kraft's low-fat variety, Philadelphia Light Cream Cheese has a similar taste and texture to regular cream cheese, at half the fat, and is excellent in baking. Fat-free cream cheese is greasier, doesn't have the same flavor, and should never be heated. As another substitute for regular cream cheese, use yogurt cheese (you'll find a recipe on www.diabetic-recipes.com). You can also substitute non-fat or low-fat cottage cheese that has been drained and pressed dry in a strainer, then whipped smooth in a food processor or blender.
Cheese, frequently used in holiday cooking, is also a source of fat. Reduced fat cheese has about half the calories and fat of regular cheese. We've found excellent brands of low-fat mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss, goat cheese, and feta cheese. Again all brands are not the same; experiment until you find one that you like. Low-fat cheese melts in the same way as mild regular cheese, but will toughen with high or direct heat. Use low heat, and if adding to a sauce, stir in only one direction, adding a smidgen of flour or cornstarch to the shredded cheese before adding it to the sauce. Fat-free cheese will not melt smoothly. We serve it cold or add it to cooked dishes knowing that we'll get a change in texture and loss of flavor. You can also mix low-fat and fat-free cheeses when cooking to reduce calories but still retain some of the melting capability and taste.
Chocolate seems to be synonymous with the holidays. To reduce fat, and particularly saturated fat, in your holiday baking, use as little solid chocolate as possible. To give the illusion of chocolate, we suggest grating a little on top of a dessert, and using cocoa powder as a substitute for chocolate in the actual dessert. Since it's used for flavoring, use the best brand of cocoa that you can afford. To substitute cocoa powder for solid unsweetened chocolate, use 3 level tablespoons (24 g) of cocoa powder plus 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of canola oil per each ounce of chocolate.
Another good way to cut back the fat in holiday cooking and baking is to cut out or cut back on the nuts that you use. Although they impart a unique flavor and texture to cooking and baking, nuts are high in fat - 64% calories from fat in walnuts and 65% in pecans. If you use nuts at all, stick to almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, and walnuts. Absolutely do not use Brazil nuts, cashews, and macadamia nuts. Sometimes to give the illusion of nut flavor, you can substitute a nut oil for part of the oil in a recipe-we keep almond, hazelnut, peanut, and walnut in our pantry for such uses. Keep coconut to a minimum, if used at all. If you want a coconut flavor, experiment with light coconut milk, which contains 75% less fat than regular coconut milk.
To maintain the desired texture in baked goods, you can use fruit purées in place of some of the fat-applesauce, prune purée, and mashed bananas. To make up for the tenderness contributed by fat that you replace in an original baked goods recipe, sometimes using cake flour in place of unbleached all-purpose flour will help, but cake flour absorbs less moisture than all-purpose flour so the amount of liquid used will need adjusting. To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour, use 1 cup + 2 tablespoons of cake flour for each cup all-purpose. When adjusting the liquid, that will take some experimentation.
Lower-fat baking is possible. As a starter, look at our recipes on www.diabetic-recipes.com. Then, keeping the many substitutions available for your use, you'll soon be able to lower the fat in your family's favorite holiday recipes with good results. Happy baking!
FTG
