Bake It Like Vegans: A Guide To Making Vegan Food

Turning vegan, for some, means the end of cookies, cake, and brownies. A life without cake? That’s no fun! It’s also completely unnecessary. You don’t have to sacrifice your sweet tooth or your favourite baked goods once you go vegan.

f you can bake it, you can veganize it! That’s our mantra. You don’t need eggs and butter for texture, lift or moisture – you can achieve all that and more with plant substitutes, and yes, they’ll taste just as good!

Vegan blondies

No Eggs, No Butter, No Problem!

You can bake without eggs, butter and dairy – you just need to know what to replace each ingredient with, and the right quantity. And when used the correct way, plant substitutes help mimic the flavour, texture and appearance of traditional baked goods!

Eggs

Eggs can do several things: they can add moisture, act as a leavener (add lift), or act as a binding agent, and, depending on what you need, you can use different ingredients to bake things up.

For Moisture

To add moisture to your batter, replace your eggs with mashed banana, applesauce, boiled pumpkin puree or pureed silken tofu. Replace each egg with any of the following:

• ½ cup ripe banana, mashed
• ¼ cup applesauce, unsweetened (Make your own applesauce! Core, peel and chop apples. Cook with water until till soft, then strain the apple pieces and puree until you get a smooth mixture.)
• ¼ cup silken tofu (Pureed tofu can also be used to replace eggs in custard, quiches and pies.)

Mashed banana

For Leavening

Leaveners add air and help achieve that fluffy texture we’re familiar with in cakes and breads. But you can get the same results without eggs! Replace each egg with any of the following:

• 2 tsp baking soda + 2 tbsp warm water
• 2 tsp baking soda + 2 tbsp warm water + ½ tsp oil
• 1 tsp baking powder + 1 tsp vinegar

For Binding

Cookies and brownies get their chewy goodness thanks to the binding properties of eggs. Flax seeds and chia seeds, when mixed with water, become gelatinous and act the way eggs do when it comes to binding all the wet and dry ingredients. Replace each egg with:

• 1 tbsp ground flax seeds + 3 tbsp water (mix until well combined and gelatinous)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds + 3 tbsp water (allow it to sit for 15 min so it thickens)
• 1 tbsp agar agar flakes + 3 tbsp water (agar agar can also be used as a substitute for gelatin)
• 1 tbsp soy protein powder + 3 tbsp water (combine till you get an egg-like consistency)
• 3 tbsp organic peanut butter

Flax seeds

For Whipping

Wherever you need egg whites, use aquafaba – the liquid that remains after boiling kabuli chana! Use it to make meringues and cooked vegan icing for cakes and cupcakes. (Here's how you can make your own aquafaba.)

Butter

You’re better off without butter! You can replace butter with oil in most recipes. The key is to use a neutral tasting oil like sunflower, canola or light olive oil. But remember to use the right quantity: for every half cup of dairy butter, you need only one-third cup of oil.

Non-dairy butters and spreads work well, and they are available in India. You don’t have to shell out a bomb for imported Earth Balance!

Try:

• Hearth & Heart Dairy Free Butter
• Dhatu Organics Coconut Butter

Make Your Own:

Vegan butter

If you’d like to go the homemade route, you can make your own butter at home with cashews and coconut oil.

Milk

Easy-peasy! Replace the amount of dairy milk with the same quantity of plant milk. Soy, almond, coconut, peanut – there are so many options to choose from, and making your own is easy!

Nut milk

For recipes that call for buttermilk, you can make vegan buttermilk, by taking 1 cup of unsweetened soy milk and adding 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar. Allow it to sit for a few mins and voila! You have tart, tangy buttermilk that is perfect for cakes and pancakes.

Happy baking!

Like this?

Read: Bakeart - The Delhi Based Bakery with Guilt-Free Options!

Read more: Aquafaba - The Mother of Vegan Food Inventions!