Christmas cake recipe (unsaturated fat).

Just take your usual recipe and replace the butter with a vegetable based spread. I googled your query and Tesco recommended Flora Plant Butter or Vitalite and there are similar products in all the supermarkets.

The cake will cook and store as normal. Remember to add brandy.

I think a lot of these 'eat within three days insructions are just over cautious health and safety rules. I rarely eat a cake within three days of cooking. I can have it in a tin for weeks. You only need to worry when you see mold growing on it.

Thank you for replying, Monica. I think that’s the method I’ll use, rather than trying to use oil, as oil might well spoil the balance.

The recipe I looked at that said to eat within 3 days looked as if it might be too crumbly and on the dry side, so I’m not going to use that one. ?

Saturated fats are fine for you, they do not actually cause health issues. It is the sugars and high carbohydrates that are the real problem with health. I make a lovely olive oil chocolate cake Nigella’s recipe) but I omit any sweeteners and increase the vanilla. Olive oil might work for you. It does have to be kept in the fridge otherwise it only lasts about three days, in the fridge it is fin3 for 7/10 days.

Christmas cakes should last months. I make mine in early Novemeber, ice it close to Christmas Eve and it takes us until February to finish it. I keep in a tin or on the side, Certainly not in the fridge, the icing would go horrible.

Of course Christmas cakes should contain a lot of brandy, for tis preservative function, apart from anything else.

I agree, Monica traditional Christmas cake does keep very well indeed, and feeding it is most important ?.

I was just looking into alternatives to using butter (even though I love butter, and it’s taste just can’t be replicated), because I have been advised to reduce saturated fat intake, to help reduce my high cholesterol levels, which I’m trying to do. I’m coming to the conclusion, though, that a small piece of traditional Christmas cake now and again won’t harm me - I don’t intend keeping it all to myself, though, so won’t eat the lot! ? (Just as well it has good keeping qualities).

According to my GP, the NHS website, the British heart foundation and various other reputable sites I’ve looked at, Shropshirelass, too much saturated fat in the diet can, indeed be bad for your health, and although it’s not necessary to cut it out completely, (we do need some fat in our diet), we are, generally speaking, eating too much of it which can lead to all sorts of health problems if we don’t take steps to moderate our intake. You are right that sugars and too many carbohydrates are also not good, either. It’s about balance, really, and trying to find a way through the advice is quite tricky and a little overwhelming, especially when left to do it by yourself, as I have been. I always thought I had a reasonably healthy and balanced diet, but it would seem not.

'A bit of what you fancy does you good'

I fully understand your desire to cut down on saturated fat, but i have always considered butter/margarine (to use the old description) to be entirely interchangeable when cooking.

When it comes to food, I believe there is no such thing as a an unhealthy food, just unhealthy diets. We should all aim to get a close to mediterranean diet, but any diet that cuts out whole groups of food stuffs and allows for no treats, is going to fail from day 1.

As long as you have a diet that is healthy overall, having the occasional slice of cake or chocolate biscuit will do you no harm at all.

The British Heart Foundation have a lovely recipe for a low fat Christmas Cake and it’s very tasty!