When you think about cake, I'm guessing that "healthy" is not the first word that pops into your mind. Cake is supposed to be rich, decadent, and slightly bad for us. It's one of those things that we have every now and then, and the pleasure that it gives us balances out the negative effects, which aren't significant when we don't have it too often.
And most likely, when you imagine a healthy cake, it doesn't sound too appealing. In fact, it's a bit of an oxymoron. If a cake is healthy, than it's not even really a cake anymore. It becomes something else-a compromise. Rather than a decadent dessert, it becomes a healthy snack.
So let's think of it this way: Instead of making a healthy cake, let's talk about making a healthier cake or, if you like, a less unhealthy cake. How's that?
The basic ingredients of most cakes are pretty simple. There's the cake part, which is made of butter, sugar, flour, and eggs, and then there's the frosting, which is mostly sugar and butter. Both elements can be made significantly less unhealthy without seriously affected the flavor. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Have you eaten at a health-food or vegan restaurant lately? If not, you might be surprised by how sophisticated they've become with their cakes.
Let's start with the cake part: All we're going to do is replace those high-fat, high-calorie ingredients with healthier alternatives. You don't even need a healthy cake recipe, necessarily. Just take your favorite cake recipe, and substitute each ingredient with something different. Of course, when you substitute things, you risk upsetting the delicate balance of the cake recipe. That's why, before presenting your healthy cake for guests or using it for any special occasions, you'll probably want to do a couple of test runs.
First of all, switch sugar with artificial sweetener. If you want my advice, use Splenda. It tastes better than the other sugar alternatives, and its measurements are the same. As far as baking is concerned, one cup of sugar equals one cup of Splenda. However, if you're not a fan of artificial sweeteners in general, try natural fruit sugars or other natural sweeteners.
Meanwhile, applesauce can replace oil (and it tastes delicious-not too fruity). For the eggs, either you can use egg replacements, or you can simply go yolk-free. If you take the latter option, be sure to make up for the volume of the yolks with an extra egg white or two.
As for the frosting, the formula is much the same. Use artificial sweetener, and replace the butter with a lower-calorie, lower-fat butter alternative. Vegan butters, for example, have great flavor without all of the unhealthy stuff.
Of course, if you want to be really smart with your healthy cake, consider not using frosting at all. Instead, use fruit. For example, strawberries with a little bit of chocolate is a great combination for white cakes. Other popular options are pineapple, apple with cinnamon, or blueberries.
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