Cutting Calories from Cakes and Frostings

Author: United States Department of Agriculture-Research, Education, and Economics
Published: 2010/03/29
Category Topic: Nutrition and Healthy Food - Academic Publications

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: Delicious new cakes and frostings may someday contain less fat and fewer calories.

Introduction

Delicious new cakes and frostings may someday contain less fat and fewer calories, thanks to work by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists such as Mukti Singh.

Main Content

She's based at the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Ill.

In experiments at her Peoria laboratory, Singh is formulating low-fat cake mixes and frostings with Fantesk micro-droplets of trans-fat-free cooking oil, encapsulated in cornstarch or wheat flour. Fantesk was developed in the 1990s by NCAUR chemists George Fanta and the late Kenneth Eskins.

Singh's experiments have shown that, when making a cake with a mix that contains Fantesk, cooking oil doesn't have to be added. And, the mixes containing Fantesk produce low-fat cakes that have better texture and a higher volume.

What's more, the lower-fat frostings that Singh and Peoria chemical engineer Jeffrey Byars are creating with Fantesk have the smooth texture and spread-ability of butter-cream favorites, yet contain up to 50 percent less fat.

Read more about this research in the March 2010 issue of Agricultural Research magazine, available online at: www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar10/calories0310.htm

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

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