Anonymous wrote:Is it possible to take an existing cake recipe and make it into a savory cake? What could I substitute for sugar?
Not really -- a cake is typically comprised of carbohydrates (from the flour and sugar), fats (from butter or oil), and proteins (from the eggs and flour). Each of these contributes to the texture of a cake. Sugar is not just for taste, but is hydrophilic, maintaining moisture from the eggs and other liquids in the finished product. If you simply took sugar out of the recipe, you will likely end up with a dry, crumbly product with very little flavor. You would have to play with the proportions of liquid and protein, and even then will end up with a tasteless product because sugar is what contributes to the caramelization of the outside of the cake. You can google some savory quickbreads (i.e. beer and cheese bread), but even those recipes tend to contain a good amount of sugar. You would be better off making a yeasted bread, where time and fermentation leads to the conversion of the basic starches in flour into tastier compounds.