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# Cutting Fat—and Calories—from Cakes and Frostings
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/cakes_and_frostings_1407100645/
- Published: 2010-07-14T07:44:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:07:20.000Z
- Description: ARS chemist Mukti Singh is formulating cake mixes and frostings with Fantesk, trans-fat-free oil microdroplets encapsulated in cornstarch or wheat flour. Cakes made with it need no added oil and rise higher, and the frostings carry up to 50% less fat.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Food, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

## By [Marcia Wood](http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/contacts.htm?ref=foodconsumer.org#Marcia)

Delicious new cakes and frostings may someday contain less fat and fewer calories, thanks to work by [Agricultural Research Service](http://www.ars.usda.gov/?ref=foodconsumer.org) (ARS) scientists such as [Mukti Singh](http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=34139&ref=foodconsumer.org). She's based at the ARS [National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research](http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site%5Fmain.htm?modecode=36-20-00-00&ref=foodconsumer.org) (NCAUR) in Peoria, Ill.

In experiments at her Peoria laboratory, Singh is formulating low-fat cake mixes and frostings with Fantesk—microdroplets of trans-fat-free cooking oil, encapsulated in cornstarch or wheat flour. Fantesk was developed in the 1990s by NCAUR chemists [George Fanta](http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=1660&ref=foodconsumer.org) and the late Kenneth Eskins.

Singh’s experiments have shown that, whenmaking a cake with a mix that contains Fantesk, cooking oil doesn’t have to be added. And, the mixes containing Fantesk produce low-fat cakes that have better texture and a higher volume.

What’s more, the lower-fat frostings that Singh and Peoria chemical engineer [Jeffrey Byars](http://www.ars.usda.gov/pandp/people/people.htm?personid=10539&ref=foodconsumer.org) are creating with Fantesk have the smooth texture and spreadability of buttercream favorites, yet contain up to 50 percent less fat.

[Read more](http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/mar10/calories0310.htm?ref=foodconsumer.org) about this research in the March 2010 issue of *Agricultural Research* magazine, available online.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the [U.S. Department of Agriculture](http://www.usda.gov/?ref=foodconsumer.org).

Originally published on ARS USDA on March 29, 2010