Baking spread equivilent in the US
I trying to find out what I could use to substitute "Baking spread"? It is in a British recipe and in the US, where I live, I've never seen this.
Best Answer
"Baking Spread" is what used to be Margarine, before most of the ingredients of margarine were banned [predominantly the hydrogenated vegetable oils & trans fats].
In the UK, the most famous baking margarine was Stork, which still exists in a new form. It is owned by Unilever, who publish this data on its formulation - Unilever: Stork
Ingredients
Vegetable oils in varying proportions (70%)(rapeseed, palm, sunflower), water, salt (1.5%), buttermilk, preservative ( potassium sorbate), emulsifier (mono- diglycerides of fatty acids), citric acid, flavourings, vitamin A and D, colour (carotenes).
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Quick Answer about "Baking spread equivilent in the US"
But Earth Balance is widely available in the U.S. and seems to be a one-to-one substitution for British baking spread.What is baking spread in US?
What is this phenomenon? Baking spread is essentially a substitute for butter typically composed of bovine fat and other ingredients with low water content sometimes used in baking.Is margarine the same as baking spread?
So, what's the difference between margarine and spreads? Margarine must have a fat content of 80% or more (similar to butter). Spreads are similar to margarines, but with less fat. This is why Flora is called a spread \u2013 it contains less fat than margarine.Is butter the same as baking spread?
The baking spread is a substitute for butter. It is not butter, but rather, a butter-like spread made of bovine fat and other ingredients. Stork butter, on the other hand, is not butter either but is margarine that is manufactured by combining water and palm oil.BAKE WITH MARGARINE| FLORA SPREAD V STORK SPREAD
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Answer 2
According to Richard Makin (School Night Vegan, in a post for Olive Magazine, The secret to vegan cooking:
Not all vegan butter is ideal for baking. Most dairy-free spreads are similar to margarine in texture and tend to contain more moisture than traditional butter. Look for a product called baking block (or baking fat) on the supermarket shelves. It’s vegan and behaves like butter – it even works beautifully in laminated pastry doughs such as croissants and pain au chocolats.
That said, I've had reasonable luck baking with a "vegan butter" called Melt which is readily available in the US (at least in the Pacific NW).
Answer 3
Many "spreads" in the U.S. contain more water than traditional butter or margarine, which is what makes them easier to spread. However, I compared the fat content of Flora, a popular baking spread brand in the UK, with that of Earth Balance Buttery Sticks in the U.S., and they are the same (79%) so that seems like a suitable substitution. For non-baking use I like Smart Balance, but it only has 64% fat content so it doesn't act the same in all applications as higher fat butter or margarine.
Although Smart Balance is available in stick form with the same fat level and advertises itself as being good for baking, I wouldn't use it in British baking recipes calling for baking spread unless I add a bit of extra oil to the recipe and slightly reduced the amount of other liquid.
When shopping in the U.S., look carefully at the product packages to see what the fat content is (this doesn't seem to be required and not all brands/products show it). But Earth Balance is widely available in the U.S. and seems to be a one-to-one substitution for British baking spread.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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