Today was a puja (prayer) for my cousin's daughter and my niece, sweet little Naia. This prayer hosted at my aunt's house was a celebration for Naia's first birthday which occurred last month. Since today was a religious gathering, I felt it was only suitable for me to bake an Eggless cake.
The day started off with my hubby waking me and surprising me with bed tea - FINALLY - I eventually got out of bed only to realize that I didn't have any butter at home. WHAT? WHEN? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN? Due to lack of time I was in no mood to go to the grocery store so I challenged myself and improvised with the ingredients I had on hand - condensed milk and oil. I searched and searched the Internet for an eggless recipe with condensed milk and oil with no luck.
And then I did what a professional amateur cook does best, create a new recipe. 🙂 A few months ago I posted Eggless Condensed Milk Vanilla Cake (FULL FAT with Butter), I basically used the same recipe, but used Low Fat Condensed Milk instead of regular, and used oil instead of butter. I kept my fingers crossed and hoped for a miracle and luckily all turned out okay. Last time if you recall, my cake sank, yet tasted amazing. Preeti from Cakelicious suggested I add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to prevent this eggless cake from sinking - worked like a charm, so thank you, Preeti! 🙂
Now I only wished my sweet baby Naia tried this cake, her mom took some home so here is to hoping she tries it and loves it! 🙂 Happy Birthday Naia, and this is only PART 2 of all your celebrations! Love, hb!
TELL ME: Do you enjoy eggless cakes? Do you have a recipe you'd like to share with us?
NUTRITION: In the future, I do plan on using Whole Wheat Pastry Flour to increase the fiber and protein per serving - I just didn't have any on hand.
MODIFICATIONS I MADE:
- Compared to the original, I used Low Fat Condensed Milk instead of Regular.
- I replaced ½ cup of butter with ½ cup of oil, this increased the fat, however it lowered the saturated fat which is really bad for you.
- Instead of ¾ cup of cold water, I used ¼ cup of water and ¼ cup of Reduced Fat 2% Milk - this added more creaminess since I removed the butter.
- I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (WWPF) in the original recipe, however I didn't in this one since I didn't have any on hand, however in the future I plan on using 3 parts White Flour and 1 part WWPF.
APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 24 squares)
- Calories: 128 cals
- Fat: 5.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.8 g
- Carbs: 18 g
- Protein: 2.3 g
- Fiber: 0 g
EGGLESS CONDENSED MILK VANILLA CAKE (REDUCED FAT) (find original here)
~ yields 24 squares @ 350 degrees using a 9" x 13" baking tray
~ fat increased by 9%; saturated fat reduced by 76%; calories reduced by 0.4%
As stated above, I used oil instead of butter in this recipe, since oil contains more fat than butter, the fat content did go up, however the saturated fat drastically went down by 76%. Although the low fat condensed brought down fat and saturated fat, the fat still remained higher due to the oil. Keep in mind, a decent amount of fat is okay, it is the saturated fat you want to avoid.
INGREDIENTS:
NOTE: if you have Cake Flour on hand, use 1 ½ cups of Cake Flour instead of White Flour & Cornstarch.
- White Flour - 1 ¾ cups + 2 tbsp
- Cornstarch - 2 tbsp
- Baking Powder - 2 tsp
- Baking Soda - 1 tsp
- Salt - ¼ tsp
- Canola Oil - ½ cup
- Sugar - 2 tablespoon (if you prefer more sweet, add another 1 to 2 tbsp; else this was just right)
- Eagle Brand Low Fat Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1 14 oz. can
- Pure Vanilla Extract - 2 tsp
- Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
- Cold Water - ¼ cup
- Reduced Fat 2% Milk - ¼ cup
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9" x 13" baking tray with 2 teaspoon of Canola Oil.
3. In a small bowl, sift the dry ingredients... white flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, combine oil and sugar.
5. Mix for 30 seconds or so until blended.
6. Pour low fat sweetened condensed milk.
TIP: I find the low fat version hard to find, luckily I found them at Stop and Shop close to my mom's. Check the Eagle Brand website to find the Low Fat version at a location near you.
7. Blend on high speed for 3 minutes.
8. This is what you should have.
9. Add vanilla extract.
10. Add vinegar. Blend.
11. Now add flour and water/milk in 3 parts, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Combine, but DO NOT OVERMIX! So it should go like this... add flour, add water, add flour, add milk, add flour.
12. This is how your batter should look.
13. Pour into your baking tray.
14. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (more or less), mine took 30 minutes exactly.
15. Remove from the oven, see how pretty, it didn't sink. 🙂
16. Look how gorgeous the texture is... see all those air bubbles - I LOVE THAT, I knew right away this cake would be awesome!
Cut into 24 squares. Honestly, I made more than 24 squares since I had to serve a party of 50-60 people!
OVERALL RATING: 4.5 / 5
Without sounding full of it, I did receive quite a few compliments... hehe! My husband, nieces, cousins, aunts, everyone seemed to love this cake. Of course the original tasted better because it had butter in it, however considering the saturated fat has been reduced by 76% in this recipe, I thought it tasted pretty darn good. This cake would go so well with a cup of tea or coffee.
Texture: The texture was just right, there were little air bubbles, and the cake rose perfectly. Since there was no butter used, the cake wasn't dense, it was light and airy which I loved.
Moistness: I thought the cake was moist, however it wasn't as moist as the original. While touching the cake, there was no grease left behind on my fingers and this is obviously due to the lack of saturated fat in this recipe.
Quite honestly, if my family loved it, so will you, I'm tellin' ya, they are a tough crowd to please!!!
TELL ME: Do you enjoy eggless cakes? Do you have a recipe you'd like to share with us?
briarrose says
Looks yummy and so pretty with a dusting of sugar across the top. It's kind of fun when you get to think on your feet in the kitchen and come up with solutions....keeps the creativity flowing. 😉
MyMansBelly says
Necessity is the mother of invention isn't it? Nice job!
manjari says
Instead of canola oil i used refined oil same measure, maybe a lil less(i use the same oil for my cakes and they turn out fine). i substituted the cornstarch with custard powder same measure. Baked for 50 min in a round oven. It rose beautifully, yet the cake was not done afetr 50 min! It was all soggy, gooey and not palatable! Your advice please!
Honey says
@manjari - I don't think you can substitute custard powder for cornstarch. If you look up in red, it clearly states to use cake flour OR use all purpose flour and cornstarch as a substitute. Cake flour helps produce a more tender cake and helps the cake rise. Hope this helps.
Anonymous says
Hi there,
I made the cake and it turn out great- a bit dry though. Luv all your recipes and the rest of the interesting information found in your blog. One request though-if you could kindly change the pink font to a darker pink or some color that stands out:) It will be just easier on the eyes.
Brocade blue says
I followed the exact recipe and divided it into 2 pans. The one in my non stick cooked faster than the one in the cheap aluminum tin pan. The difference was so much and so visible. After the 30 mins mark I removed them both since they came clean with toothpick test. Nedd less to say I threw away the cake from the tin pan because it was way undercooked in the middle and had sank. It was a complete coagulated dough mess. Meanwhile the one in the non stick was perfection and it looked better than the pictures here. Better you had better add that it takes longer to cook in tin than in nonstick and glass.
honeywhatscooking says
Sorry about the tin version of your recipe. I usually use nonstick or glass when baking. I'm glad at least one of your cakes survived. 🙂