Eating Healthier
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So, one cup of granulated sugar should be equal to about one teaspoon of monk fruit or stevia extract.
Since I will not be using granulated sugar, how is this likely to affect any cake I bake?
When sugar molecules meet water molecules, they form a strong bond. This union of sugar and water affects the texture of baked goods in two important ways. It keeps baked goods soft and moist. Granulated sugar will make baked goods more crisp while brown sugar will create chewiness and a more moist texture.
By the way, white sugar leads to crispier cookies than brown sugar or other sweeteners do. That's because white sugar lets out a lot of water as it bakes, resulting in crispier cookies. However, it's the yolks that make cookies chewy, while the whites lead to crunchier cookies.
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These four recipes were all over the map when it came to the baking soda and baking powder. However, healthline.com says that swapping baking powder for baking soda won't require additional ingredients. However, baking soda is much stronger than baking powder. Thus, you likely need around 3 times as much powder as you would soda to create the same rising ability. So... I guess I'll use 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1½ teaspoons of baking soda.
I mashed up 16 pitted Zahidi dates after heating them in the microwave for 30 seconds. I then mixed in the vanilla to make the paste more fluid, and then only 1 teaspoon of monk fruit extract, since I'm supposedly already sweetening the cake with the dates. After that , I mixed in the baking powder and baking soda.
Two of the recipes said to use two eggs and the other two recipes said to use four, so I decided to whisk up three eggs and added those next.
I then added almost ¾ of a cup of cocoa. After that, I dumped in a cup of whole wheat flour. However, the bowl I was using was too small for the rest of the ingredients, so I shoveled the mix into a bigger container, and then I added the other half of the flour along with ½ cup of vegetable oil.
I added the milk half of a cup at a time to make sure I didn't overdo it, but that wasn't a problem. I was going to check before I put it in the oven to make sure I didn't leave out any ingredients, but I forgot to do that. Fortunately, I didn't overlook anything.
(The cake wasn't done after 30 minutes, so I cooked it for the full 40.)
Two of the recipes said to use two eggs and the other two recipes said to use four, so I decided to whisk up three eggs and added those next.
I then added almost ¾ of a cup of cocoa. After that, I dumped in a cup of whole wheat flour. However, the bowl I was using was too small for the rest of the ingredients, so I shoveled the mix into a bigger container, and then I added the other half of the flour along with ½ cup of vegetable oil.
I added the milk half of a cup at a time to make sure I didn't overdo it, but that wasn't a problem. I was going to check before I put it in the oven to make sure I didn't leave out any ingredients, but I forgot to do that. Fortunately, I didn't overlook anything.
(The cake wasn't done after 30 minutes, so I cooked it for the full 40.)
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The purpose of making this kind of cake is to remove any temptation to eat sugar by satisfying the desired sensation of having topped off dinner with some type of sugarless dessert. In this sense, it gets the job done. However, it was definitely not overly sweet, so next time I bake a cake, I plan to try using two teaspoons of stevia extract instead of one. Also, the cake could have been lighter, so I plan to maximize the leavening by using 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 2 teaspoons of baking soda. (I should probably also test the baking soda to make sure it's still active, since it is more than 30 days old.)
To remove this top properly, you have to push down on it and line up its notches on the inside with the grooves on the plastic cover underneath, then unscrew it while maintaining pressure so the plastic covering underneath twists off along with the top as it comes off (to expose the built in "eye-dropper" component).
I used two teaspoons of monk fruit extract and the cake was still nowhere near being overly sweet, so two teaspoons it is. (Should I experiment with three?)
I also used two teaspoons of baking powder and two teaspoons of baking soda, which definitely caused the cake to rise a lot more in the middle, but its density was probably more along the lines of what I would expect of a cake, so I'm likely to stick with these amounts as well.
Compare and contrast continued...
- In the first recipe, the cocoa powder and powdered blend total 1 cup and 2 tbsp.
- In the second recipe, the cocoa powder and granulated Splenda total only 4 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons (or ¼ cup and 2 teaspoons). Perhaps this is why it also calls for ⅓ cup of heavy whipping cream rather than just 1 or 2 tablespoons, along with 2 ounces (⅓ cup) of unsweetened melted and cooled chocolate.
- In the third recipe, the cocoa powder and confectioner total 1½ cups and 2 teaspoons. (it also calls for ⅓ cup sugar-free chocolate chips.)
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