Holiday OR Anytime Cake Tips for Dieters

Can you really have your cake and eat it too? Sure you can - with these mouth-watering tips that slash calories and fat while keeping the flavor locked inside. On that note, let's begin with our first cake tip.

Leveling the Cake, Levels Flavor & Moisture

One of my favorite things is looking at all the tasty-looking items at a bakery, and I'm always amazed by the creations that can be spun with a bit of flour, sugar and fat. Bakery cakes can be absolutely beautiful, but no matter how beautiful they are, they just never taste as good as homemade. Here are a few reasons why.

- Although chefs won't decorate a cake until they take the top off, removing the 'skin' that covers the finished cake produces a tougher, less tasty cake. The covering serves to lock in the moisture and once removed, the cake begins to immediately dry out. So if you want a level cake, remove the top and shape the cake using a sharp knife. But if you want a tasty, moist cake - lopsided is a-o-k. Some of the most tasty cakes I've had in my lifetime were quite ugly.

- Commercially produced cakes, whether in a bakery or in a box, contain preservatives. Given the preservative issue, a cake baked from scratch will almost always render a more delectable cake.

Unfortunately, preservatives are a necessary thing and without them it would be virtually impossible to feed the world. And take note that all preservatives aren't taboo - such as Vitamin C.

Oh the Ways With Flavorings & Frostings

A moist cake can stand on its own, so why pile on those extra sweet calories that are many times laced with fat?

If more sweetening powers are desired, simply grab a paper stencil or doily and sprinkle on powdered sugar OR sprinkle powdered sugar on free-handed.

Or, go nuts. Sprinkling chopped nuts or laying whole nuts on the top of a cake creates a beautiful presentation that breathes 'back to nature'.

Diet Perk: Nuts are a plant food and high in beneficial fats. Nuts are also a significant source of plant proteins, vitamins, minerals and the all-important fiber.

Opting for 1/2 sugar and 1/2 Splenda is another great way to slash calories.

Frost the cake with light whipped topping and candy sprinkles. Or, mix up a batch of sugar-free, no fat pudding and carefully fold the light whipped topping into the mixture.

And don't forget the myriad of flavorings and extracts that exist on the market today. Try adding marshmallow flavoring to white frostings created with Splenda and odds are, you'll never miss the 800 calorie's worth of sugar that wasn't part of the frosting recipe.

Diet Angel or Diet Devil

One large hunk of angelfood cake contains approximately 200 calories while the same size of devil's food cake contains more than twice the calories.

Other cakes that tend to be pricey in calories include those with cream cheese frosting, fudge filings & frostings, caramel laced, fruitcakes, coconut topped cakes and those created with whipped cream.

Cake Tips - The Inside Out

To cut calories in the cake batter, one must target the sugar and fat ingredients. Applesauce substitutes well for butter and oil, as well as dried fruits. As to the sugar, grab the Splenda - or use less sugar.

For cakes containing eggs, opting for egg substitute is a great way to not only cut calories but cholesterol as well.

In Summary

There are times when only devil's food will do - as well as times when only a heavily-frosted cake will do. When those times arrive (generally during the holidays), enjoy WITHOUT guilt and compensate for those calories within your daily diet to lock out unwanted pounds.

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