Last October I did a writing test assignment for a company that wants to make sustainable living easy and affordable. The topic was vegan baking, something I didn't know much about myself. But after a little research it turns out to be a piece of cake!
Oh the smell of apple pie in the oven or the sight of a slice of cheesecake waiting for you in the fridge. With winter outside, I love to put on my apron and get baking. But if you want to eat vegan, this means that you will not use certain products, think of simple things like butter, eggs and milk. But also the less obvious things like honey and gelatin. In addition, vegan baking often has the reputation of being 'heavy'. How do you make sure that you can still be the kitchen prince(ss) and also conjure up something delicious from the oven?
The alternative circuit
Sometimes it is fortunately not that difficult, because for many animal products there are good plant-based alternatives for sale these days. Vegetable margarine instead of butter, soy or almond drink as an alternative to milk and honey can be replaced by agave syrup, for example. Each and every product that you can use in the same quantity as in the original recipe.
1 Egg is not an egg
With eggs, replacing animal products with vegetable products one-on-one does not work. Eggs are used in a recipe for various reasons; to make your cake nice and airy and to let it rise or to bind it. Depending on the purpose, you can use mashed banana, broken linseed with water or baking powder with a little vinegar. All products that you can simply buy in the supermarket.
Gelatine, made from the skin and bones of pigs, among other things, is a binding agent to make cake or pudding firm. Vegan alternative agar agar originates from algae and is secretly twice as strong as gelatin. Win win! You can find it in powder form at the toko and the health food store.
Different cake
The art of vegan baking isn’t in trying to perfectly recreate cheesecake, because that’s simply not possible. Instead, focus on other ingredients; make lemon the star of your cake or go all out with cocoa and coconut for a beautiful vegan chocolate roll.
Pinterest is full of delicious plant-based baking inspiration, and you can also keep yourself busy in the bookstore with books by Dosia Brewer (Dosia Bakes Vegan), Emma Herngreen (Funky Vegan Baking Book), Food Bandits (Andere koek) and Audrey Fitzjohn (Vegan Baking).
Bake it away!