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When Alanna sent me a note to let me know about a Lifehacker post on making low-fat cupcakes, I knew I would have to give it a try out of sheer curiosity. After all, Lifehacker is not exactly a food oriented site and to take a break from their regularly scheduled content to mention cooking seemed to be a sign that their technique was worth trying. Notice that I said technique and not recipe.
These light cupcakes are sort of a food hack (or a diet hack) using two ingredients: cake mix and diet soda. If you're not curious, or are so put off by the ingredients that you don't want to hear how the cupcakes turned out, you may as well stop now. Otherwise, read on...
Basically, the way that the cupcakes work is that you replace all the wet ingredients normally called for by a boxed cake mix with one can (1 1/2 cups) of diet soda. I used a Betty Crocker Super Moist Yellow Cake Mix and a can of Diet 7-Up to make my test batch and followed the baking directions for cupcakes on the box. As strange as the ingredients sound, the cupcakes actually tasted surprisingly good. They were very light, moist and unbelievably very tender, since they lacked the binding power that eggs normally contribute to a cake. I used a simple glaze of powdered sugar, vanilla extract and a few tablespoons of milk to make the frosting.
Any kind of diet soda and any standard cake mix should work, though you'll want to try to match up the flavors for the best results. Diet Sprite or 7-Up would work well with a Lemon or White cake mix, Diet Coke would probably turn out a good chocolate cake and Diet Root Beer would add little something extra to a Spice Cake mix. The cake is not really stable enough to hold up to something larger than a cupcake size, so stick with individual desserts if you're going to try this trick.
I'm not saying that I would abandon any of my "real" cake recipes to make these cupcakes, but if a weight-watching friend was coming over for dessert, I would definitely consider making them again, perhaps pairing a white cake version with some balsamic vinegar-marinated strawberries for a light variation on strawberry shortcake.
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8-30-2006 @9:19AM jbd said... I just did this. See kissthehem.blogspot.com for step-by-step photos!
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8-30-2006 @12:45PM Sara said... I just had to try this and used what I had on hand. I used Pillsbury Chocolate Fudge cake mix with diet black cherry vanilla coke. For the frosting I spooned 1 tbs of marshamallow fluff on top of each cupcake right out of the oven and put them under the broiler until the marshmallow turned brown. I sprinkled each with a tiny bit of semi sweet chocolate shavings. Under 200 calories each and they are wonderful!!!
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8-30-2006 @2:18PM B said... Baking a cake with 7-Up isn't a new idea. Not to say it's a praticularally good idea, either:
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/sevenup2/5.html
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8-31-2006 @1:29PM Lynn Fero said... I have a question...if you're using a prepared cake mix...isn't the evil stuff already in there...i.e. the flour and the sugar? So all you're really replacing is the a couple of eggs and milk/water? That's not much of a calorie savings...maybe I'm wrong? Set me straight...
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8-31-2006 @12:03AM Nicole Weston said... Lynds - Depending on the mix, you're replacing about 3 eggs and up to 3/4 cup butter or oil. It's a significant savings in terms of fat. Each of these cupcakes had (if I recall correctly) about 170 calories and 2 grams of fat, but that would vary according to the mix you use.
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8-31-2006 @1:31PM Lynn Fero said... Ahhh, so there is butter/oil in the mix then...I stand corrected, thank you!! I've got to give this a try. I'm new to this site and I love it!
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