Janet - The term 'vegetable oil' is really a marketing label, as most oils sold under that name are highly processed substances that just did not exist before food was 'manufactured'. They are really seed oils, and if you do some research into how they are made (using synthetic chemical solvents, and chemical deodorizers to cover the rancid odor - which does not alter the fact that the rancidity is still there... etc) you may not be so comfortable consuming them. Exceptions would be things like olive oil IF you can get the real thing. Most olive oil from Italy is not pure olive oil. They dilute or substitute cheap industrial seed oils (like corn and soy oil) for olive oil, and sometimes use chemicals, including toxic ones, to help cover the off flavors this creates. Just a few decades ago, it was common to cook and bake with lard and tallow, in addition to butter. If you have never had homemade doughnuts made with fresh lard (not partially hydrogenated - and ideally from pigs raised outdoors and on a natural forage-based diet) you have never had a doughnut. This article was about cakes... but the stuff sold as doughnuts taste like ground cardboard and sugar. Most cakes don't taste much better, though reducing the sugar is a great first step! We also prefer cakes made with ground nuts instead of grain flours, which we always knew as tortes. Yes, with lots of creamy butter lightly flavored and sweetened. Of course, fresh butter from traditional dairy breeds raised on pasture is as different as those cupcakes sold in stores that never go bad are from what a good baker makes at home!

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