Eating cakes as part of a healthy diet isn't a problem, but it's virtually impossible to be certain that cakes are healthy unless you make your own. That way, you know exactly what's in them and can enjoy them, knowing there are no unhealthy fats or additives lurking. There's nothing unhealthy about a cake made with whole-wheat flour, organic butter, free-range eggs - as long as you don't eat the lot at one sitting. The taste and texture will be far superior to anything you can buy at the supermarket.
1. Home-made cakes generally contain far less sugar than commercial cakes. Inspect the labels of bought cakes, and you'll find all sorts of food additives that you'd probably rather not eat, especially the spectacularly unhealthy trans fats and hydrogenated vegetable oils, present in many manufactured cakes, which have a proven link to the development of coronary heart disease.
2. Home-made cakes are good value for money. Bought cakes are often very meanly sized. A home-made cake usually goes a lot further.
3. Be selective about the recipes you use, and go for healthy cake recipes. Save the chocolate fudge cakes or cakes with thick frostings for special occasions. Look for recipes that use fruit, nuts or carrots. It's a good way of getting extra fruit and veg into your diet. When you're choosing which recipe to make, think of banana cake or carrot cake.
4. Use good, wholesome ingredients for truly healthy cake recipes. Choose organic when you can for ingredients such as sugar, flour, oats, fruits including candied and dried fruits, milk, eggs, butter.
5. Use whole-wheat flour instead of some, or all, of the flour in your recipe.
6. Beware soft margarines sold specifically for cake making. These are often made with hydrogenated vegetable oils, and will render your lovely home-made cake as unhealthy as a greasy take-away muffin. Softened organic butter works fine in most recipes, or use a soft spread made from healthy olive or sunflower oils.
7. Replace some of the sugar in recipes with fruit puree. Use apples, prunes or apricots. Stew in a little water until tender, blend, and use to replace an equal volume of sugar in your recipe.
8. You can also replace some of the fat in the same way. Try replacing half the fat and half the sugar in a recipe with pureed apple. It's very successful, and adds moistness and a subtle fruity flavor.
9. Traditional frosting or icing is high in fat and calories. Use low fat cream cheese in frosting recipes, or top your cakes with a sprinkling of toasted nuts instead. Try coating a cake with desiccated coconut before baking. The topping will bake to a delicious brown, crispy finish.
10. Cake making is very satisfying, and if you choose simple healthy cake recipes, it's also very quick. Making a large cake takes about 10-15 minutes to get the mixture together, plus baking time. Not long, for something that's so much pleasanter to eat, and so much better for you than manufactured cake.
11. Cakes made from healthy cake recipes have a habit of disappearing. Before offering them, cut them into squares, or mark them out into slices, depending on the shape.
Baking and eating - a healthy homemade cake is one of life's pleasures. Don't deny yourself - cook up a healthy cake recipe today!
