The Complete Idiot's Guide to Vegan Baking - Donna Diegel [7]
The Least You Need to Know
• Vegan baking means you won’t be using any animal products, so you’ll need to change the way you shop and the way you bake.
• Health food stores and large supermarkets carry most of the ingredients you need for vegan baking.
• Setting up your vegan kitchen for baking is easier than you think. An oven, mixing bowls, various baking pans, and oven mitts are some of the necessary items you most likely have on hand already.
Chapter 2
Quick and Easy Substitutions
In This Chapter
• Easy egg substitutions
• Doing without dairy
• Tofu and other alternative ingredients
• What about honey?
What? Ultra-creamy cheesecake? Without cream cheese or eggs? How is that possible? In this chapter, you discover how easy it is to bake delicious pies, breads, and cookies without butter, milk, and other off-limits dairy products. You also learn how to substitute good-for-you plant ingredients to mimic the all-important egg.
With a little creativity and know-how, you’ll be whipping up unbelievably tasty cakes, breads, and other desserts for all your friends—vegan or not.
Excellent Egg Substitutions
In vegan baking, perhaps the hardest thing to do is mimic the job eggs perform. Unlike cooking, where you can always adjust the spices or add another handful of rice to the pot, the art of baking is an exact science. It doesn’t always work to throw in an extra teaspoon of this or an additional cup of that. There’s no doubt about it: depending on what you’re baking, eggs can be a real challenge to replace.
Eggs are used for a variety of reasons. Cakes and cupcakes need the leavening eggs provide. In vegan baking, commercial egg replacers, soft silken tofu, soy yogurt, or baking powder can serve this role. You can also get similar results by re-creating every kid’s favorite science project—mixing white or cider vinegar and baking soda to create a powerful chemical reaction that helps baked goods rise.
Vegan-Friendly Egg Replacers
Eggs are also used as binders in muffins, brownies, and pies. For those baked goods, try exchanging Flaxseed Egg Substitute (recipe later in this chapter) or blended tofu. You can also use arrowroot powder, cornstarch, or agar-agar powder mixed with water.
When you’re not particularly worried about something rising but need just the extra moisture usually supplied by eggs, you can substitute fruit purée like applesauce, mashed banana, juice, or a little nondairy milk.
Here are some common vegan substitutions for 1 large egg:
• 1½ teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon Bob’s Red Mill All-Natural Egg Replacer mixed with 3 tablespoons water
• ¼ cup Flaxseed Egg Substitute (recipe later in this chapter)
• ¼ cup tofu blended with a bit of liquid in the recipe
• ¼ cup soy yogurt
• ¼ cup vegan buttermilk
• ¼ cup mashed banana
• ¼ cup applesauce
• 1 tablespoon soy flour mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon agar-agar mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch or 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder mixed with 2 tablespoons water
VEGAN VOCAB
Agar-agar, or agar or kanten, is an odorless and tasteless seaweed derivative used as a vegan alternative to animal-based gelatin. Use it to thicken sauces and in some baked goods.
Ener-G Egg Replacer is an egg substitute made with potato starch, tapioca flour, and leavening agents. Depending on what you add it to, it can have a slightly chalky taste. Bob’s Red Mill All-Natural Egg Replacer is another good substitute. Unlike Ener-G Egg Replacer, this contains wheat gluten. Therefore, it is not suitable for the gluten-intolerant.
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, ½ tablespoon