Ann, DH is one of those people who sometimes say they hate something that they have never tried. He really wants to lose weight, but he really likes his snacks. And usually more than one or two in an evening. So I have tried some unusual combinations of things and as long as I don't tell him what's in it before he tastes it, he gives it a fair shake. One of his favorites is sugar-free fat-free vanilla pudding with sliced bananas and cous cous (which he thought was tapioca). I don't lie to him, I just don't disclose everything before the tasting. He also hates eggplant, but he loves my eggplant pizza. I slice the eggplant, brush it with olive oil and broil it (both sides, then add marinara sauce, low-fat pepperoni, fat-free cheese, then bake until the cheese "sort of" melts. There have been several things that DH thought he didn't like - until I found the right venue for that particular item. He now eats tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and vinegar and summer squash several different ways, both items he "hated". As for the garbanzo bean cake, it worked well with the Splenda, but I think next time I will increase it to 1 cup. I didn't take into account the extra sweetness the chocolate chips would have added. The cocoa and applesauce also worked well. I served it with fat-free Cool Whip. DH said it was "okay". I'll keep tweaking it until it satisfies me. This is in no way a reflection on the original recipe, I just have to adjust it to fit our needs.

Perennialfan, if you like overly processed peanut butter, like Skippy, you may want to try Justin's. It is not as good a choice as buying the peanut butters which are simply ground peanuts, but it may be a good compromise. It has palm oil which is not an environmentally friendly product. From a health perspective, here is what I found from Harvard: Food manufacturers and restaurants have needed to find alternatives. One of them is palm oil. It's less saturated than butter and contains no trans fat. But just because it's not as bad as trans fat doesn't make it a health food. According to Harvard nutrition experts, palm oil is clearly better than high–trans fat shortenings and probably a better choice than butter. But vegetable oils that are naturally liquid at room temperature, such as olive oil and canola oil, should still be your first choice. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/by_the_way_doctor_is_palm_oil_good_for_you As for snacks, I find it hard to control my grazing, so I prefer to have set meals, however, nobody's perfect, so I allow myself, a dozen raw nuts, walnuts or almonds usually, a square of dark chocolate, string cheese, a full fat yoghurt cup, an apple, carrots, celery, a dollop or two of hummus (with veggies, not bread.) It really helps to have lots of vegetable peeled and cut up in the refrigerator. That way when you are hungry, a bell pepper with some hummus is just as easy to grab as anything else. Don't think of this as losing processed foods, instead, think of all you gain by choosing less processed foods. Lastly, I have been in a bit of a rut lately, so I picked up BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits book. He helps people think about how to design their environment so that the behaviors they want to encourage are easy and manageable, relying on human nature and not willpower. https://fs.blog/knowledge-project/bj-fogg/

That’s the cool thing about Russian tips—you need basic control but they squirt out flowers. :) Two days is better for decorating, anyway. It goes better if the cake is fully steamed out and set, first. Applesauce cake has been a base for spice cake at least since Betty Crocker. I wouldn't hesitate to call it spice cake if the spices are the star. (Though I'd want penuche icing to taste like penuche—otherwise, I'd rather call it ”brown sugar” icing.) So, I get your desire for moist (have you tried mayonnaise cake?), but I will interject that dry, in a regular cake recipe, usually means that it was baked at too high a temperature. fudgy level moist (in any flavor) is another story, but just a moist, spongy crumb shouldn't require extra ingredients. I have a very accurate oven, which makes it too hot for a lot of traditional cake recipes that bake at 350F. Especially for layers or sheets, I tend to interpret that ”350” as 325-330F. Convection can also make an oven hotter, and dry out a cake with its wind, as well. Then, a common treatment for certain recipes which are supposed to bake dry, is to pierce the bottom and pour in a soak of flavored simple syrup, or thinned out liqueur. Something to try is a fruit flavored cake. Those tend to be quite moist, presumably frome the fruit. :)

I didn't see your post till now, chloebud. I'm making an apple cranberry stuffed pork roast for Christmas so that sounds like something I'd like! I can't believe the amount of time I've spent planning this cake! But both the white velvet and red velvet recipes are new to me and I've never made white chocolate frosting.Everything needs to scale down for a 6" cake. I've never made a three layer cake so I have to figure out how much frosting I need for a 6" semi-naked cake. I may be short because I only bought one 4 oz. bar of chocolate but I can make regular buttercream for the sides and any piping I may do. I had melted white chocolate seize up on me once so that's another concern.