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Vegan Buttermilk

Although the buttermilk produced with plant-based milk is slightly different from its animal-based counterpart, the end results should be the same in the finished baked good.

Yield:

1 cup

Prep time:

5 minutes

2 TB. fresh lemon juice, or white or cider vinegar

1 cup plain soy milk

1. In a small cup or jar, combine lemon juice and soy milk.

2. Let stand at least 5 minutes to “curdle.”

What About Yogurt?

The addition of vegan yogurt in baked goods adds moisture and yields a tender texture. It can also be used as an egg substitute in many recipes.

You can make your own vegan yogurt using many of the recipes found online and in vegan cookbooks. Making homemade yogurt is easy, provided you have a yogurt maker, thermometer, and agar-agar or other thickening ingredients. For this cookbook, I’m calling for commercially available plant-based soy yogurt to replace animal-based dairy yogurt.

Plain soy yogurt works the best in recipes calling for yogurt. Flavored soy yogurts would do fine as an egg substitute in fruit-based vegan recipes such as Strawberry Muffins (recipe in Chapter 3), Lemon Tea Cake (recipe in Chapter 6), or Blueberry Buckle (recipe in Chapter 4). Just use the appropriate flavor for each recipe. When substituting, 1 part soy yogurt = 1 part dairy yogurt. ¼ cup soy yogurt = 1 large egg.

Subbing for Sour Cream

Many vegan sour creams are commercially available in health food stores or large supermarkets in the natural foods aisle, but it’s also easy to save money and make it at home. When substituting, 1 part vegan sour cream = 1 part dairy sour cream.

Vegan Sour Cream

This homemade vegan sour “cream” is similar to its dairy cousin. A bit of lemon juice and vinegar gives it its familiar sour tang.

Yield:

¼ cups

Prep time:

10 minutes

1 cup soft silken tofu

2 TB. fresh lemon juice

2 TB. canola or vegetable oil

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

½ tsp. agave or brown rice syrup

Pinch salt

1. In a food processor, combine tofu, lemon juice, canola oil, apple cider vinegar, agave syrup, and salt. Pulse for 2 or 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth.

2. Pour into a container, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. The finished sour cream must stay cold to maintain its texture.

Getting Creative with Cheese

If you’ve recently made the switch from an animal-based diet to eating vegan, cheese will most likely be one of the hardest things to give up, especially if you’re a cheesecake lover! Cream cheese is one of those delicious—and necessary—ingredients when making cheesecake, cheese fillings, and breads. Don’t despair! There’s no reason to give up the good things in life like cheesecake when there are vegan products that imitate the “cheesy” flavor and texture you’re looking for!

Cream Cheese

Although you could make vegan cheesecakes using only tofu, cream cheese makes luscious, extra-creamy vegan cheesecakes taste even better. Moreover, it gives cheesecake a special rich mouthfeel you’ll only get when you use cream cheese. If you want to make a vegan version of a New York-style Strawberry Cheesecake (recipe in Chapter 9), try using a commercially produced soy cream cheese.

You can also make your own vegan cream cheese with firm tofu and soy yogurt, or raw cashews. However, the finished product is much softer and is better suited to using in dips and sauces than a firm cream cheese needed to stand up in a rich, creamy cheesecake.

Tofutti brand makes two excellent Better Than Cream Cheese products that make a perfectly rich and extra creamy cheesecake. (Use the plain varieties rather than the flavored.) One is made with partially hydrogenated soybean oil, and another, a nonhydrogenated vegan cream cheese, is made without hydrogenated oils using expeller-processed natural soybean oil blend. These cream cheeses are most often packaged in 8-ounce tubs and can be found in the refrigerated section of health food stores and many large supermarkets. When substituting, 1 part soy cream cheese = 1 part dairy cream cheese.

Hard and