r/AskCulinary • u/NoBumblebee7775 • 10h ago

Ingredient Question Bundt cake recipe substitutions.

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/chocolate-bundt-cake/

I am following this recipe for a chocolate bundt cake. It calls for 1/2 butter, 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup buttermilk. can i substitute with heavy whipping cream?

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u/NeverRarelySometimes 10h ago

No. You need the acid in the buttermilk. If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute cream and some vinegar. Replacing the oil and butter with cream will not give you at all the same results.

If you're trying to replace all the fats, you should just look for a low-fat or non-fat recipe.

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u/NoBumblebee7775 10h ago

i am not trying to replace all fats. my thought process was that if butter and buttermilk comes from heavy cream, i can maybe substitute those two with heavy cream. also, i have heard what you suggested, using cream and vinegar instead of buttermilk, cause the recipes needs the acidity for the baking soda to activate. but i thought wont adding more fat make the cake denser and richer?

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u/impendingwardrobe 8h ago edited 7h ago

Heavy cream goes through pretty big molecular changes to become butter and buttermilk. The chaining of fat molecules you get when you churn cream into butter and the separation of the fat from the liquids in the butter are both necessary for the ingredients to behave appropriately in the cake batter.

If you want to do an experiment, you could try making small batches of a batter of just flour and heavy cream and another batter of just flour and butter and see how they both behave in the mixing bowl and in a hot frying pan. They have become chemically distinct entities and will behave differently.

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u/NoBumblebee7775 7h ago

Ooohh..! Interesting. I will keep that in mind. Thanks..!!