Dear Jeanne: This is a recipe that I dug out of my mother's old recipe box. The recipes are very old and contain a lot of what I consider unhealthy ingredients, yet I can remember eating them as a child. I hope you can change this one so that I can once again enjoy it and not feel guilty. Thank you. —Robert Alexander, Maple Valley, Wash.
Dear Robert: In comparison with most very old recipes, this one actually isn't as bad as many of them are; however, I can still improve it nutritionally and give you back a taste of your childhood. Sometimes with favorite family recipes, I recommend that you have them only occasionally and eat smaller portions, because some tastes are just too good to give up completely, and lightening them ruins them for some people.
This particular recipe can be lightened and still taste great. In these kinds of cake/bread recipes, when I remove the fat I like to add some kind of fruit or vegetable and a bit of honey to help with the moistness. I had to guess about the amount of raisins in a "box," so I picked 8 ounces, which is approximately 1 1/2 cups. I also suggest that you coat the raisins with flour before adding them, because otherwise they all sink to the bottom.
SPICE CAKE
1/2 cup shortening ( 1/2 Crisco, 1/2 margarine)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons each: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice
2 eggs
1 box raisins
1 3/4 cups boiling water
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups flour
Icing:
3/4 box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coffee (strong and boiling hot)
Mix shortening with sugar, spices and eggs until well-mixed. Stew raisins in water for 10 minutes. Press out juices and add raisins to shortening mixture and stir well. Add 1 1/2 cups boiling-hot raisin juice to the baking soda, then add to mixture. Add the flour in portions, mixing only until all flour is mixed in. Bake in two greased-and-floured loaf pans at 375 F for 45 to 50 minutes. Set aside to cool, then remove from pans.
For icing, mix sugar, cocoa, butter, vanilla and then coffee. Ice each loaf cake.
Makes 16 servings.
REDUCED-FAT SPICE CAKE
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1/2 cup liquid egg substitute or egg whites (about 3)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1 cup canned pumpkin
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons allspice
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cocoa
2 tablespoons strong hot coffee
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray with flour, or sprinkle flour over the spray and knock out the excess. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the raisins and the boiling water, and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat the egg substitute lightly. Add the sugar, oil, honey and pumpkin. In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder.
4. Drain the raisins well and save the soaking water. Add the raisins to the flour mixture and stir to coat. Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, then add 1/2 of the water from the raisins and mix until moistened. Add the remaining flour mixture and the remaining water from the raisins, and again mix just until well-moistened.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and bake for about 55 to 65 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
6. When the loaves are cool or just slightly warm, combine the powdered sugar, vanilla, cocoa and coffee. Add more coffee if it's too thick to spread. Ice the cakes immediately. Allow icing to firm before wrapping in plastic wrap.
Makes 16 servings.
Each serving contains approximately: Original Recipe: 358 calories; 8 gm fat; 25 mg cholesterol; 175 mg sodium; 70 gm carbohydrates; 4 gm protein; 1 gm fiber. Revised Recipe: 205 calories; 4 gm fat; 0 mg cholesterol; 173 mg sodium; 44 gm carbohydrates; 1 gm protein; 2 gm fiber.
Jeanne Jones is the author of 33 cookbooks, most recently "Cooking From the Cupboard" (Rodale Press). For more information, you can go to her Web site, jeannejones.com.
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