Alice Taylor advises on cheap substitutes and shares her recipe for a delicious $3 apple cake.
As a pastry chef, of all the ingredients that have crept up in price, butter and eggs are the ones that sting the most. A $9 block of butter is steep to say the least, and eggs have gone from kitchen staple to luxury item for many families.
Something I’ve become known for online is testing and recommending substitutes that allow home bakers to still enjoy what they love without blowing the grocery budget. Baking should be inclusive and flexible, not exclusive and rigid. The truth is, there are plenty of ways to make it work without the expensive stuff. Here are some of my favourite ways to do just that.
It's easy to make a cake without butter
Let’s start with butter. While it’s a beautiful ingredient that gives richness and depth to baking, it’s also one of the easiest to replace, especially in cakes.
The best substitute is oil. Not only is it cheaper, but it is better.
Oil keeps cakes softer and moister for longer, which is exactly why it’s commonly used in commercial and professional kitchens. It also allows the other flavours to shine through. Take a lemon cake, for example. When you use a neutral oil, the lemon takes centre stage. With a traditional New Zealand grass-fed butter, which has a strong flavour, you might find yourself competing with that richness rather than enhancing the citrus.
Tips for substituting butter
Don’t do a straight swap. Butter is around 80 percent fat and 20 percent water, while oil is 100 percent fat. You need to scale the quantity back slightly. I usually use around 75 percent of the weight of butter in oil. So if a recipe calls for 100 grams of butter, you’d use 75 grams of oil.
Choose your oil wisely. A neutral oil like sunflower, canola or rice bran works best. Avoid strong oils like extra virgin olive oil or peanut oil unless the recipe specifically suits that profile.
Be mindful of the texture. Oil-based cakes are often softer and may need slight adjustments in flour or baking time. The trick is to keep an eye on your mixture – if it's too runny, gradually add a little flour. When it's in the oven, test with a fork and if it's taking longer than usual to bake but threatening to burn on top, cover with tin foil.
What works instead of eggs?
Over the past year, I’ve developed a bit of a love affair with egg substitutes. Not just because of cost, but because alternatives genuinely work in many bakes.
My favourites are:
- One grated apple per egg. The natural pectin in apples helps bind the mixture and adds subtle moisture.
- Half a cup of puréed apple or applesauce.
- A "flax egg", which is one tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with three tablespoons of water, left to sit until it thickens.
- A "chia egg", using the same ratio as flax above.
- Mashed banana, which is great in pancakes and denser cakes like banana bread.
Each substitute has its own strengths, but they all help provide the structure and moisture you would get in a different way from an egg. You don’t need to use them all at once. Choose what suits your recipe and what you’ve got available.
Chocolate (when you can't afford chocolate)
Don’t even get me started on chocolate! A glorious ingredient but a pricey one to say the least.
- I will often use cocoa and hot water blended to replace melted chocolate in a recipe – for example, if a recipe calls for 125g of dark chocolate, I will make a mixture of around half a cup of hot water and 2 heaped tbsp cocoa.
- A pinch of instant coffee and salt can also bring out the depth of the chocolate.
Break the rules of baking
We’re often told that baking is an "exact science". That’s partly true, but I complete disagree with the idea that you can't deviate from a recipe.
If you understand what your ingredients do, and why they’re there, you can adapt. You can swap and substitute based on what you have. Save your eggs for when they really count, like a classic cooked breakfast. Use your butter where it shines, like spread thick on toast. The rest of the time, trust the alternatives.
Baking isn’t about perfection. It’s about comfort and creativity. It’s about using what’s on hand and still getting something that smells good, tastes good, and feels like home. And if it doesn’t work out perfectly, that’s okay too!
With that in mind, here’s one of my most popular budget-friendly bakes. It uses grated apple instead of eggs, oil instead of butter, and comes together with simple pantry staples. Total cost, before toppings, is around $3.
Recipe: Apple Cake
This is a soft, moist cake that works well as a base for all sorts of toppings, but is just as good on its own with a cup of tea. It’s dairy-optional, egg-optional, and comes together in one bowl with no electric mixer needed.
Total cost: approximately $3
INGREDIENTS
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup neutral oil (sunflower, canola, or rice bran)
- 2 medium apples, grated (or use 2 eggs instead)
- 1¼ cups sugar (white, raw, or brown sugar all work)
- 1 cup milk (can be dairy, plant-based, yoghurt, or even water)
Dry ingredients:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
Optional add-ins:
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ground cinnamon
- Diced apple or pear
- Handful of raisins, chopped nuts, or chocolate chips
METHOD
1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius (fan bake). Grease and line a 20 to 23 centimetre round or square cake tin.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, grated apple, sugar, and milk until smooth. If using eggs instead of apple, add them at this stage.
3. Add the flour, baking powder and salt. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir the mixture gently until just combined. Do not overmix. The batter should be thick but pourable.
4. Pour the batter into your prepared tin and smooth the top.
5. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too early, you can cover it loosely with foil after 30 minutes.
6. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 to 15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Alice Taylor posts cooking videos as @AliceTaylorEats on Instagram, as well as YouTube, Facebook and TikTok.
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