When making cakes (not the icing) do y'all use butter or margarine?
If making scratch then I lean towards butter. Gotta be careful though in the margarine that is used though as there are waaaay different water contents in them that will have an impact on your final product. The best margarine for any kind of baking is the bar kind, similar to a pound of butter. Only drawback is that it's far more hydrogenated than tub margarine so the trans fats are also far higher. That's another thing as well, trans fats in margarine unless you are using one that is trans free....which will alse tend to have that higher water content that you really want to avoid. Confusing eh?
Can't beat butter I guess....
For certain kinds of cakes I will only use butter. However...this past weekend I used a Pillsbury butter mix and used margarine. I found that the cake baked fine and tasted good. I have also used margarine in Duncan Hines cake mixes and found that the cake did not rise as well. I guess it depends on what kind of mix you are using. If you decide to use the margarine...I would fill your pans a little fuller with batter. Good luck! 
Butter...and I've just recently started making my own. No, not with an old-fashioned churn 
but with my new KA mixer...lol. I just want to use it every chance I get...and when I saw my heavy cream only had a few days left of the exp. date, I tossed it in the mixer and in 10 minutes had homemade butter...it was fun! lol I always use butter, except sometimes with cookies. I'll use Parkay margarine if I'm out of butter...it seems to do ok in choc. chip cookies.
For cakes and icing, I prefer butter too, salted or unsalted, just adjust the salt that is called for if using salted butter in a recipe calling for unsalted. For certain icings I would use unsalted. In a recipe that does not call for additional salt and calls for unsalted butter, stick to unsalted butter.
Avoid tub style margarines due to the humidity contents, use the Parkay type squares in recipes where you can use margarine, like some cookie recipes.
I would only use margarine in a recipe calling for either/or and even then I tend to stick with butter because of the taste.
There is also a product called Baker's margarine which is specifically designed for commercial bakeries to be used in baking. Many people use it in their icing and it works great for them. It is also used in baking. Different manufacturer's make this product.
If you substitute butter for oil the density of the cake will be affected somewhat with butter producing a more dense cake. This isn't really so much an issue with chocolate cake but it can really change a white or yellow cake making it much more compact or dense. It will still taste good but may not leave the desired consistency and in some cases may make for a more dry cake.
Hugs Squirrelly
Hey - it almost makes a person want to say.....
PARKAY!!
(just kidding.....I couldn't resist!!)
LOL Very funny! 
Wasn't there also a commercial where someone was wearing a crown? Maybe I am mistaken and dreaming of castles lol when I was a kid
[quote="susanrcp
LOL Very funny! Wasn't there also a commercial where someone was wearing a crown? Maybe I am mistaken and dreaming of castles lol when I was a kid [/quote]
yep...Imperial margerine (and Carol Burnett did a wonderful spoof of it and other food commercials on her show once....)
Oh my GOSH! Now I have Margarine commercials running through my head. "Everything tastes better with Blue Bonnet on it" LOL!!!!!!!!! Make the madness go away!!! lol
Oh my GOSH! Now I have Margarine commercials running through my head. "Everything tastes better with Blue Bonnet on it" LOL!!!!!!!!! Make the madness go away!!! lol
Butter!
My mother always said....ALWAYS USE BUTTER IN BAKING!
I always use butter with my cakes, but recently I used something called Smart Balance for cookies and my family just loved them. They said they were the best tasting cookies ever. Although they were a bit flat they seemed ok.
JennT, I'm interested in how you did the butter. HOw much did you add and did you add anything else to make it turn to butter?
to make butter from whipping cream....
just whip it TOO much. I've accidently made butter both using a mixer and when whipping by hand with a whisk.
One stroke too many and butter starts to form. At that point just kept beating it until all the butter that can form does form. You'll have little bits of butter and real buttermilk.
I then put it in a cone type coffee filter and drain off the milk.
Then take the butter bits and put in a very clean towel or piece of cheesecloth and squeeze out the remaining liquid to get a more solid butter.
It will be pale and sweet. Add a dash of salt if you like (i don't). Put in clean container and enjoy.
if you have children in the house....alternate method (tires them out!)
put cream in very clean container that has a lid you can frimly attach.
Shake ...Shake....Shake your butter! This will take longer. Similar in concept to the old butter churns.
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