Cake is a food that screams comfort, happiness and celebration! Cake recipes are found throughout the world and many traditional Jewish recipes are for cakes. Ethnic cake recipes usually focus on ingredients that the culture has easy access to, or that has seasonal access to, or that have symbolic meaning.
If you are just learning how to cook, or if you are trying to develop your own recipes for cakes, then here are a few tips to alter basic recipes to meet your tastes or dietary needs.
The first option that you have is to use something other than wheat flour as the base of your cake. You can use soy flour, rice flour, oatmeal, mashed potatoes or each pureed black beans. By changing the flour you change the texture and moisture of your cake. However, This alternation usually will not change the overall taste of the cake.
Finding new ways to sweeten your cake can also be fun to try. Instead of using processed sugar try using fruit juice, honey or alternative sweeteners like Stevia. You can also use artificial sweeteners that will not add calories to your cake. If you are diabetic then try a sugar alcohol like Xylotrol.
Adding items to your batter can also be a way to add texture and taste to your cake. Dried fruit is a great option. Tropical fruits like pineapple and mangoes add a punch of sweetness to a cake, as well as a chewy jewel to each piece of cake. Coconut is another item that you can add to your batter, this tastes great in chocolate cakes in particular. If you are looking for something a bit more healthy then considered shredded vegetables like carrots or zucchini.