The First Taste Test

Since I have put baking from scratch on the back burner for a while, I decided to start testing different dessert mixes and make them low-fat/low calorie and then create a list of which brands taste the best. My first test was Pillsbury Devil’s Food Cake Mix. My reason for picking the Pillsbury mix first, you ask? It was buy one get one free at Publix! I got a reduced sugar yellow cake mix for free, but I won’t make it until I have tested more brands first.

The ingredients needed to make the cake the regular way are:

-3 eggs

-1 1/4 cups of water

-1/2 cup of oil

What I used to make it low-fat:

-6 egg whites and 1 egg

-1 1/4 cups of water

-1/4 cup of applesauce and 1/4 oil

Made the regular way, it is 250 calories per serving and about 7 grams of fat. The way I made it, using the ingredients above, it is 204 calories per serving and about 3 grams of fat. That’s a difference of 46 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving.

How did it taste? The cake itself was pretty good, it was a little dry at first, but the next day it tasted even better. It was light and fluffy. I also put Pillsbury chocolate frosting on top for added flavor, which has about 120 calories per serving. If you are really looking to cut calories the frosting isn’t necessary, but I have also used Jell-o pudding (pre-made cups or the mix) and that has no fat and 100 calories total and tastes just as good.

Next up: Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookies. Stay tuned…