Instructions: Greetings and Salutations. I have been a professional baker and am a blue ribbon winner at the local county fair, so I have a little knowledge of this subject. Butter is generally thought of as being superior to margarine because margarine has a high water content. What you use in your recipes will depend on what you can afford (margarine is cheaper), what you are used to using (most of us brought up in the 60s and 70s and such are used to margarine), and what you are baking for (a childs class party vs a wedding).

Please remember the following:
Fats are interchangeable on a measure by measure basis. One cup of butter will equal one cup of lard, shortening, or margarine. Also, depending on your recipe, think about not adding fat, but using equal measures of any of these:

applesauce, mashed bananas or prune whip. The fruit subs are great in dark cakes or cookies and brownies, but do not use them in light cakes or sugar cookies-they can affect the color of the finished project.

One more thing: when ever you want a light product, especially cakes, separate the eggs and whip the egg whites until stiff. The cake will be light as a feather and higher too. (This works very well with box mixes!)

If you would like to email yourself the recipe for later use, or share the recipe with your friends or family, enter the email addresses below and this recipe will be emailed to you and others as well.