Healthy Baking-A Myth ?

Let us demystify healthy baking and do it together 🙂 I’m no nutritionist savant here , but if some of you have read my article: https://methodtomymadness.in/so-what-is-the-fuss-around-food/ ,you will realise where I come from- why is it that this concept of healthy baking baffles me. Just when I was happily and merrily getting deeper and cosier in my world of baking, I soon realised that as baker, I’m dealing with the most unhealthy ingredients (Sugar/Butter/APF/) and since I bake so often, almost daily, I couldn’t & shouldn’t be feeding this to my family.

I did a lot of study, experimented, some worked ,some were disasters. But all in all, I’m now in a space where I’am pretty comfortable and thought of sharing my views with you. That is substituting some unhealthy ingredients with healthy ingredients and most of all not compromising with the bakes original form. Whats the point of eating a healthy fluffy-less sponge? So get ‘the’ right ingredients but don’t compromise on the dish was something I started my journey afresh and Im still on it. And just when I was getting comfortable with these discoveries, I had another moment of epiphany. I’ll tell you exactly how. The other day I was going through a blog of a fellow baker who very patiently was explaining the vitamins and minerals in each of her ingredient individually and how these were healthy and so how her bakes were healthy. No offence here, but this article seriously got me thinking and I stumbled upon food chemistry!! And now I hope you guys don’t hate me for this as some of you may not like what I write.

Remember in school,we were all taught how raw eggs when consumed gives us 100% protein, when boiled they retain about 75%, scrambled eggs give about 50% and omelette only 25% of proteins. Well, the difference of course lies in the entire procedure of cooking, specially the temperature of cooking the eggs, as heat can denature the proteins in the eggs. Of course we cannot eat raw eggs but all in all poached eggs cooked on medium heat seems to be the most nutritious way of consuming them .

Now In elementary school we were also taught simple chemical equations:

Lets take the simplest equation: Hydrogen H2 + Oxygen O2 = H20 ( water). Im not going to bore you here with more equations,(even though I have a few up my sleeve) but this is for reference to explain to you all how we change the molecular compositions when we go around mixing ingredients, thinking that we are creating something healthy where as in reality we are not.

Let me give an example here and explain further: We all very well know that Glucose, Galactose and Fructose belong to the sugar family. Now if you were to combine two of this mono sugars ,called Monosaccharides, we would get ‘double sugar’ called Disaccharides and Lactose is the outcome of it!!! So next time when you say milk has lactose, you should know what all lactose is made up of!!! This my friends is exactly what food chemistry is all about!

Here is another super simple example: Raw vegetables when consumed as is, are the healthiest. What is the second best way of consuming them? Most would say boiling or steaming. But actually a simple addition like water destroys upto 55% of the nutrients. The best way to cook them is bake/grill/dry roast/steam. No contact with water:)🙆😇

This is the deep science of food- how mixing of foods work. From cooking temperatures to method of cooking like boiling, steaming, grilling, saute, baking, slow pot, to the kind of utensils you cook them in , to all the different ingredients you add to them to make that divine dish in your kitchen- all effect the nutritive value of your ingredients. So a lovely wholegrain cake with blueberry and rhubarb filling or an avocado and zucchini bread, and you really think that you are getting a little of those vitamins! please think again.

WHERE DOES UNHEALTHY END AND HEALTHY BEGIN. Let us understand a few things and I promise you we will be happier, more aware , having accepted as bakers where we stand.

First and foremost let us agree that the definition of healthy is something that adds health to your body.

So yes, while all purpose flour, white sugar, butter, margarine, oils preserves, emulsifiers, ready made jams , artificial colours, compound chocolate are all ‘UNHEALTHY’ and may pose serious health problems……………..Whole Wheat Flour ,oats flour, almond flour, rice flour, palm sugar, jaggery, banana and natural fruit compotes and yeast , baking soda and powder in limited proportions, natural colours, real chocolate are not doing harm to your body but neither are they adding health to your body. (In fact if you consume these also on a daily basis, they can pose health problems too) These ingredients ‘stand alone’ may be good, for eg. oatmeal as breakfast with fruits- super, but oats pancakes? Im not too sure about that. A banana by itself -wow- you are sure to get all that dose of potassium but mix in a little flour, a sugar(healthy) some few other things and bake at 180 and boom….. goes all the nutrition…. so please accept that the more procedures whisking, heating, baking ,adding,mixing, the more processed your food gets – very little or no nutrition remains. You are not consuming them in their natural forms. Always be mindful of that fact.

Perceptions differ from person to person. For someone a shift from APF to WWF is a major tranistion however ask a gluten free expert? He may think that cheese cakes is a healthy option to regular cakes – (APF/WWF)makes no difference. But then again how healthy are cheese cakes now that I have told you the composition of lactose? Another school of thought suggests using greek yogurt instead of cream cheese for frosting and so on. Sugar, coconut palm sugar and jaggery all increase the glycemic index similarly in the body. Yes white sugar is bleached and chemically processed so it is harmful and a total NO-NO. But is consuming jaggery and palm sugar in cakes healthy? It is , but if consumed stand alone and in minute quantities. Im not sure if baked mushroom pasta in APF versus WWF is going to make any difference to your health- it is still pasta: using whole wheat as a substitute adds a happy feel, guilt -free factor- thats it.

This infinite world of baking gets more & more complexed with choices to bewilder any sane person.

Not only do we call our bakes healthy , to top it, we eat huge portions of healthy bakes and defeat the very purpose of substituting healthy ingredients.

The harsh reality of life is that we cannot eat these things on a daily basis and even if do, they have to be really moderate portion size.

We are in an ever thriving, droolicious industry with increasing choices and confusing fads, and then there are some baking realities we need to be cognisant about and not fool ourselves in any way.

This does not mean we stop our journey of constantly educating, experimenting, reinventing ourselves and our skills.

Accepting the above and baking with this acceptance will certainly make us more responsible as bakers.

Good news is that: I still very strongly feel that as long as we are cooking and baking at home, we are way better than many. (no commercial bakery will forego using preservatives ever,+home bakers have the patience to reinvent and experiment which will only contribute to the ever growing industry)

For some of you who may not be comfortable getting deep into food science and would be happy in their healthy bakes , that is also ok, but I have a suggestion …lets call them Neutral Bakes.

Atleast I prefer to call my bakes Neutral bakes. And some of the changes that have worked really well for me and may work for you too.

Cakes/Cupcakes/Muffins- Fluffy and Spongy (with eggs): Ghee (clarified butter) instead of oil/butter + A mix almond flour & oats flour/Rice Flour/Coconut Flour instead of APF and raw cane sugar. (There are other flours too, but I personally find their flavours overpowering, like ragi/amaranth and many more, you are free to take your pick)

Pie crusts: Almond flour instead of APF with ghee (clarified butter)

Frosting: SMBC with egg whites/custard powder/ raw cane sugar (reduced by 30%) OR Ganache made with Pure Chocolate & dairy Cream

Macrons: Raw cane sugar

Cookies: Mix of various flours+ ghee+ rock sugar

Brownies: Jaggery+ almond flour+lots of pure chocolate

Note: The above is only my recommendation after years of experimentation. But these are limited and others may have had different experiences

As a family there has been an overall shift in experience/habits and overall lifestyle changes and the items we eat. Fully frosted indulgent cakes reserved for birthdays! Tea time cakes /pies/and brownies as weekend bakes. Cookies/caramel custard or puddings /home made dark chocolate with liquor/flavours/ Home made Indian mithai/for daily quota of sweets. No dessert immediately after meals or after 5pm in the day- are some other rules we try to stick to and abide by.

And lastly & perhaps the most important- MODERATION is the key!

Hope this post was useful for you all. I may have missed out on a few items ,please feel free to ask the replacements. Meanwhile do leave your suggestions if any. I’ll be happiest to hear back from you ; your take on this and your experiences!!

Continue Baking, Experimenting and Sharing until my next!!❤️

Author: Bhavna Gupta Patel

Note: I have no copyrights over the images used. These are not mine.