KarenNC Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Does anyone have a good recipe (or suggestions for a source like a grocery chain) for low/no sodium cupcakes that also doesn't involve potassium chloride? We are planning an 80th birthday party for my stepmother who has just been put on a very low sodium diet due to liver issues, and says she is also supposed to limit her potassium intake. Obviously, we'd like to find something that tastes as good as possible given those restrictions. For the frosting, we're thinking of just sprinkling confectioner's sugar or maybe buttercream using unsalted butter. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 The Today show had some interesting recipes yesterday on sweets for certain diets. One had a cupcake with avocado icing. Maybe take a look and see if any fit or can be modified more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 King Arthur Flour's website has a lot of cake recipes. I'd pick one and cut the salt in half. For most recipes that would mean a half teaspoon of salt divided among 24 cupcakes. Probably 80 mg of sodium, which is still low. If you have time you could try a batch with no salt at all, but I think you'll feel it's bland. I think we've all made a recipe and forgotten the salt! You can use unsalted butter to make buttercream and that would be tasty. If you want to jazz it up you could add a puree of fresh strawberries to the buttercream to flavor it. The KA site has nutrition info so you can see the sodium amount. They are also really good about answering questions you might have. Hope she has a great birthday! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 King Arthur Flour's website has a lot of cake recipes. I'd pick one and cut the salt in half. For most recipes that would mean a half teaspoon of salt divided among 24 cupcakes. Probably 80 mg of sodium, which is still low. If you have time you could try a batch with no salt at all, but I think you'll feel it's bland. I think we've all made a recipe and forgotten the salt! You can use unsalted butter to make buttercream and that would be tasty. If you want to jazz it up you could add a puree of fresh strawberries to the buttercream to flavor it. The KA site has nutrition info so you can see the sodium amount. They are also really good about answering questions you might have. Hope she has a great birthday! We have to cut sodium for dh but not to ultra low levels. And while reducing the amount of salt is good, the problem is going to be the leavening agent. Baking powder and baking soda both have significant sodium. For our basic chocolate cake in an 8"x8" pan (probably not even enough for 12 cupcakes), there is 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt will have at about 2430 mg sodium total. If you can get 12 muffins, that's 200 mg per cupcake which is okay for my dh but may not be worth it for someone limited to 700-800 mg/sodium per day. But if that amount is okay, here is the recipe (sometimes called War Cake as it dates back to when eggs were rationed. It's vegan if that counts for anything.) You might be able to reduce or eliminate salt, but I've never tried it with this recipe. 1 1/2 cup flour 1 cup sugar 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 6 Tbs. oil 1Tbs. vinegar 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup cold water Sift dry ingredients together 3 times and then put in 8"x8" pan. Add wet ingredients and mix with fork until completely blended. Bake at 350° for 35-45 minutes. You can dust with powdered sugar before serving or it's easy to make buttercream frosting low sodium. Another possibility is just to do a totally different dessert. Ice cream you can totally go low-sodium! Maybe cheesecake? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Tons of pound cake recipes don't call for salt or any rising agents. My phone is being a twerp and constantly pasting the same link no matter what I copy, so I can't link. There's a Southern Living Million Dollar one that's pretty classic and turns out well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 We have to cut sodium for dh but not to ultra low levels. And while reducing the amount of salt is good, the problem is going to be the leavening agent. Baking powder and baking soda both have significant sodium. For our basic chocolate cake in an 8"x8" pan (probably not even enough for 12 cupcakes), there is 1 tsp of baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt will have at about 2430 mg sodium total. If you can get 12 muffins, that's 200 mg per cupcake which is okay for my dh but may not be worth it for someone limited to 700-800 mg/sodium per day. But if that amount is okay, here is the recipe (sometimes called War Cake as it dates back to when eggs were rationed. It's vegan if that counts for anything.) You might be able to reduce or eliminate salt, but I've never tried it with this recipe. Many cake recipes use 1 t of baking soda or powder and can be made with 1/2 t salt with no noticeable taste issue. Ad that gives 24 cupcakes, so with your estimate of 2430 mg of sodium that would be about 101 mg of sodium. Not super low but worth it for an 80th birthday splurge. But like zombie mentioned, pound cake (or angel food) might be a good choice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 (edited) We do the war cake (our recipe calls it wacky cake) frequently, but I'm hoping to go even lower to give her more latitude in other food choices at the meal. I may have found a local source (Publix) for a brand of sodium-free baking powder, so we might try this one http://www.sodiumgirl.com/low-sodium-cupcake/ It looks like the sodium would be from: eggs (71 mg per egg---need 3) 213 cocoa powder (1 mg per tbsp--need 2.5) 2.5 ap flour (3 mg per cup---need 1/2 c) 1.5 vanilla extract (1 mg per tbsp--need 1 tsp) .3 (online info is saying bittersweet chocolate, unsalted butter, sodium-free baking powder, and sugar don't have any) so 217.3 for the recipe, divided by 12 is 18.1 mg per cupcake if I'm reading it correctly Edited January 31, 2017 by KarenNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 If you don't want to use baking powder, you can look for a recipe that uses yeast as a leavening agent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cecropia Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Does she like lemon cake? Lemon helps to mask the absence of salt. You could top the cupcakes with sweetened whipped cream at the last minute/when serving. Just cream, vanilla, sugar. http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vanilla-whipped-cream-5625 25 mg sodium for 1/3+ cup (whipped) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Do people really notice the absence of salt in a cake? Huh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 some subs for the baking soda: http://www.livestrong.com/article/547044-low-sodium-substitutes-for-baking-soda-in-baking/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoobie Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Do people really notice the absence of salt in a cake? Huh... Yes, and definitely in frosting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Yes, and definitely in frosting. I doubt I'd notice. I find everything tastes excessively salty. I don't add salt to almost anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Do people really notice the absence of salt in a cake? Huh... Sugar tones down the flavor of salt, so most people can't tell that the thing that's missing is salt, but they can tell they're not as good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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