A creamy, yummy cake, it melts your heart before you even take a bite...You shamelessly lick the cake box just to make sure you get all the cream out. Cake is an impeccable medicine to the soul and drug to our hearts. No words will ever be enough to describe these sweet and creamy baked products.
But do you really know what's in/on your favorite cake/dessert? How much do you know about your favorite online/local baker?(apart from the fact that they post pictures of really nice cakes that 'they' have baked, or the cakes that make you salivate right from the shelves). This is going to be a true eye opener to some of you who? Here's why.
In the culinary department, chefs and bakers will sometimes always have to substitute some products they use for similar ones. Most of the time it is never big of a deal, until the product used as a substitute becomes a health hazard. If you're wondering how that is possible (because you substitute brown sugar for white sugar + molasses, or self-rising flour for all-purpose flour + baking powder and salt, and nothing terrible ever happens), then have you ever tried substituting shortening (margarine or butter) with kimbo, cowboy or any other vegetable cooking fat?? (I will be referring to kimbo mostly because it the one that is widely used)
Ingredient Substituted
Shortening
Can either be margarine or butter.
Isn't it obvious that most actually all girls hope to eat as much cake as they want without gaining weight (not possible). Some bakers (mostly the ones greedy for money) have found a very effective (unhealthy) way for you to add that extra kilo. They use kimbo, which is a vegetable cooking fat (found in most retail shops & supermarkets in Kenya), instead of margarine or butter.
Still wondering how??? Keep reading...
Cake Preparation
This is especially done using the creaming method of baking a.k.a the 'sugar-shortening' method , and also in the rub-in method. In a scenario where the recipe states 150 g of margarine/butter is required, the baker might decide to use 100 g of kimbo and only 50 g of the required shortening.
Cake Decoration
Buttercream recipes.
Simply put, buttercream is a combination of fat (like butter) and sugar (white sugar or powder sugar).
In this case, instead of using butter in preparation of the buttercream, the baker might decide to cut their cost of production by using, again, our precious kimbo, instead of the required butter.
Why is this type of shortening harmful?
Kimbo is a form of trans fat formed when manufacturers turn liquid oils (mainly vegetable oil) into solid fats. Trans fats are manufactured through a process called hydrogenation. Hydrogenation is a process by which vegetable oils are converted to solid fats by adding hydrogen atoms. This process was invented to increase the shelf life of oils, of course, at the cost of human health. But how?
Trans fats raise 'bad cholesterol' (LDL - Low Density Lipoprotein), which is thought to form plaque, or a layer inside arteries' diameter, thus leading to blockage, therefore causing heart attack or even stroke. Sad, right?
This does not mean that you cannot enjoy healthy cakes. Just look for trusted bakeries and always ask for feedback from people who have bought cakes from such shops. Remember, price does not necessarily mean quality (i don't mean you start buying cheap cakes). The more you bargain, the lower the quality will be. Fact! :-)