Conversions and Substitutions

Converting of Butter to Olive Oil in a recipe.

We eat a healthy diet and I absolutely love butter, real butter, but there are amazing uses and those health benefits outlined earlier to using olive oil.  If you use infused olive oils you get an added benefit of unique flavors.  Here are some useful tips and trick for when you want to change things up!

There is not really a hard and fast rule to the right amount of oil to replace butter, but you can typically exchange about three-quarters of the amount of butter called for in the recipe. For instance, if the recipe calls for 10 tablespoons of butter, you can use about 7 1/2 tablespoons of oil. This is because the fat solids in the butter do not need to be accounted for.

Try this simple swap out in your favorite cake, quick bread, and muffin recipes to see how it compares to the original recipe--bonus points if you try a few different oils and see which flavors work best!

 

What about balsamic vinegar?

Unless you are using vinegar for a rising agent (baking soda and vinegar), you can use any balsamic flavor or traditional you want to give a try.  We used dark cherry balsamic in the chocolate cake. When fresh fruit and produce abound, step out and try a lemon white balsamic drizzled over fresh watermelon and basil or mint salad. Oh my!