One of the biggest perks of publishing a food blog is the opportunity and privilege to try new products or take a new look at old products. I was recently contacted by the very friendly people with I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. They wanted to send me information and a coupon to try their I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter spread. My first thought was, “Do these people (friendly as they are) realize who they’ve just contacted? I’m the self-appointed butter queen!” Seriously, it doesn’t take too long to realize my stand on butter – how many of the recipes on Get Cooking beseech you not to use anything but butter. I’m pretty sure I’ve even threatened (a time or two to hunt you down and swat your hand) if you used a substitution.
Geez, in fact, in a recent e-mail I told someone that one of the cornerstones of my cooking (in addition to a great set of knives, buttermilk, olive oil, real peppercorns….) was butter.
Then I had to go and try I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. Honesty? I expected to laugh in the face of the bright, enthusiastic yellow tub. Heck, even it’s friendly.
I whipped out my spreader and put some on a fresh biscuit. I thought, No way… this can’t be! So I tried again. My cat and I exchanged looks as I headed to the refrigerator to take out a stick of the real thing (always on hand, you know). I put some of it on a piece of biscuit and the taste was just like the one I’d just tried. Twice.
I called in my youngest daughter (the Princess of Butter). She flipped for it and said she had a new favorite “butter.”
We’ve since used it on garlic bread, pancakes, oatmeal, pasta, potatoes, and steamed vegetables. Not once have we wished for real butter because not once did we remember that we weren’t eating real butter.
So. If they taste the same, why should you be tempted to try I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter instead of butter? Glad you asked. Here’s one simple fact: Soft spreads contain 70 percent less saturated fats than butter and no cholesterol. For more interesting facts and nutritional information, please visit The Big Fat Truth!
Orange Pound Cake Recipe
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp. orange juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. grated orange peel
3/4 cup I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® soft spread
3 large eggs
Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour 8-1/2 x 4-1/2-inch loaf pan; set aside.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; set aside. Combine yogurt, orange juice and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Combine sugar with orange peel in large bowl.
Beat I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® soft spread into sugar and orange peel mixture with electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately beat in flour mixture and yogurt mixture on low speed just until blended. Spoon batter into prepared pan.
Bake 55 minutes or until lightly browned and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.
Frost, if desired (you’ll most definitely want to do this), with Orange Glaze (See Below).
Orange Glaze: Combine 1 cup confectioners’ sugar with 1 Tbsp. orange juice. Add more orange juice if needed
Find lots of outstanding recipes using I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on their website. I’ll add a few more of my favorites to the site over the next few days. Don’t forget to visit The Big Fat Truth and grab a tub or two or twenty of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter the next time you’re in the store.
This from the queen of butter.
