Counting per-serving calories in a recipe?

[AttackDonut]

Greetings gang-

I'm making some homemade fudge and trying to figure out how many calories are in each one based on the stuff I'm using.

If the total caloric count is 7000, and it's enough for 7 muffins, am I correct then the calorie count for each is then (7000/7) 1000 calories?

Or do calories from (butter+chocolate+sugar+other stuff) not add straight up like that?

Cheers!
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[GrillingFool]

Heck, at 1000 calories each, who cares!

I am clueless, but logically that sounds correct!

Welcome to the neighborhood!

 

[Andy M.]

Add the calories of all the ingredients and dividing by the number of servings as you did is a good way to get a calorie count. It doesn't work well for every dish but is fine for your fudge.

 

[babetoo]

welcome to d.c.

 

[snack_pack85]

Add the calories of all the ingredients and dividing by the number of servings as you did is a good way to get a calorie count. It doesn't work well for every dish but is fine for your fudge.

I have always wondered about this question too. Andy, what about dishes like enchiladas? Or chili? I make a huge pot of chicken chili every couple of months how do I figure the calories for something like that?

 

[Andy M.]

I have always wondered about this question too. Andy, what about dishes like enchiladas? Or chili? I make a huge pot of chicken chili every couple of months how do I figure the calories for something like that?

For dishes like chili or enchiladas, it's not as accurate. When you cook meats, you render out fat and juices that contain calories and never get into the finished dish. So you cannt just add the calories of the raw ingredients.

What you need to know is 'how many calories in a pound of uncooked "X" after it's cooked'.

The USDA has a nurtient database that you can access online or download to your computer to use without an internet connection. It carries 'yield' information on foods. That is yield from a certain amount of raw food after it's cooked. Just what you need.

 

[AttackDonut]

Cool, thank you kindly for all your information

I was raised in Denmark, and taught how to cook there. We didn't worry about calories, or fats, or things like that. But I have many friends who do, and I'm trying to find out what the dishes I like to make, have.

As it turns out, most of my dishes (granted, they are more desserts than dinners) push the 4 digit calorie content.

Fine for me, but dieters beware

Cheers!
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