Drunk Science!

First of all -

Did we do drunk science again?

So funny! I'm sure everyone is wondering how I tie this into my actual post, and the answer is: very loosely.

After having to do the lactose-free cupcakes, it's occurred to me that there are plenty of other areas to branch out here. Gluten-free, for instance. Vegan. Raw food. Low-fat, low-calorie.

Basically, when you spend as much time baking as I do, you start to get, well, fat. Truth be told, if I didn't bake I'd probably be fatter, because I just love food, and if I didn't make it myself it'd probably be far worse nutritionally.

Which leads me to my point. Or does it? I'm not sure. I'm not sure I have a point right now. But the bottom line is I decided to spend some time experimenting. Not drunkenly, though I might not be adverse to a glass of wine (or 4), truth be told.

Here's my list of things I hope to accomplish.

1. Come up with a lower fat, lower calorie candied-apple. I'm talking chocolates here, not hard candy.
2. Find at least one, preferably two, tried and true gluten-free cake recipes.
3. Find at least one recipe-box-worthy raw food cupcake recipe.
4. Find at least one, again, preferably two, tried and true vegan cake recipes.
5. Compile a list of acceptable food substitutions for baking, to produce healthier/lower fat/lower calorie baking without sacrificing flavour.

No small tasks. Basically I want to develop a way to bake as healthfully as I possibly can (given that baking largely involves gobs of fat and hoards of sugar). And at the same time, I want everything to come out tasting amazing. Which I think is entirely possible. Not easy, but possible.

I think that we in North America (can't speak for the rest of the world) have been conditioned to find overly refined, overly preserved and mass produced foods palatable. And we miss out on a slew of phenomenal flavours that occur in nature. Of course when you're shopping at a supermarket bakery, these things need to have a shelf-life. But when you're custom baking and doing it from home, to order, or for family - I think it's completely do-able.

Lets hope I don't have to eat those words. We shall see.

This is the challenge I'm laying out for myself, check back later to see how I do. And in the meantime, feel free to drop me any comments, suggestions, or recipes. :)