curiouscatbakery

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Eggs are a staple in baking so I often get asked what the best substitute would be when baking without them. The answer is that it depends on what you’re baking. There are a lot of options out there and each has their own benefits and disadvantages. Here's a breakdown:

Vinegar and Baking Soda

Best for: cakes, cupcakes and muffins 

Benefit: gives the bake a great rise and keeps it moist

Disadvantage: does not work well as a binding agent, adds liquid to a recipe

My personal favorite for baking cakes, this combination will give you a nice rise and fluffy texture to your bake. It's all in the chemistry: the acidity in the vinegar reacts with the baking soda creating bubbles and making your batter rise. You can use apple cider vinegar or regular white vinegar. Both will work and neither will leave a taste behind.

One thing to keep in mind when using this combo is that the vinegar is adding more liquid to the recipe so you have to adjust your dry ingredients accordingly. Because of its wet nature, it also doesn't work well as a binding agent.

Chia Egg

Best for: waffles, pancakes, chewy cookies

Benefit: acts as a great binding agent

Disadvantage: does not give the bake a rise

A chia egg is made using one tablespoon of chia seeds and mixing it with two tablespoons of water. Leave the mixture alone for five minutes and the chia seeds will “bloom,” incorporating the water and becoming a paste. That paste can be a great binding agent like an egg in batters and doughs that need to stick together but not necessarily rise like waffles, pancakes or chewy cookies. The chia seeds will sometimes still be visible in the final product but you won’t be able to notice them. They lose their crunch when they bloom and their taste disappears in the recipe.

Applesauce

Best for: Heavier bakes like banana or zucchini breads, brownies

Benefit: acts as a good binding agent

Disadvantage: can make bakes too heavy, have a lingering taste

Applesauce is perhaps the most popular replacement for eggs in vegan baking but I am personally not a huge fan. I prefer my bakes to be soft and airy and applesauce tends to make them heavier and chewier. If that’s your preference, then this will work great for you but for me I find that it only really works with naturally heavier bakes like banana or zucchini bread. I also use it on my pupcakes (that’s cupcakes for dogs) since applesauce is safe for dogs to eat. Another gripe I have with applesauce is how it goes bad really fast, so you have to buy a big jar, use a small amount for a recipe and the rest just goes to waste.

Flax Egg

Best for: pancakes, cookies

Benefit: most like an egg white as a binding agent

Disadvantage: can leave the bake runny or gummy

A flax egg works in the same way as a chia egg but with ground flax seeds. Texture-wise, a flax egg is very reminiscent of an egg white so it works well as a binding agent for something like meatless meatballs, for example, where all you need is something to hold the other ingredients together. When it comes to baking sweets, however, most times you need the binding agent to do some lifting and the flax egg is not up to the task. Bakes will often come out runny and watery and if you add too much of it, it will come out gummy. That being said, if you HAD to use it, I would recommend it for something like an oatmeal cookie that has a very dry dough and could use the extra moisture to hold the pieces together.

Mashed Banana

Best for: muffins, granola bars

Benefit: good binding agent, naturally sweet

Disadvantage: whatever you make will taste like bananas

Mashed bananas act very similarly to applesauce. They will bring ingredients together like an egg would but bananas have a very distinct flavor so whatever you’re making will have a taste of bananas in it. Is that bad? Depends on what you're making and whether you like bananas! If you do, then I say embrace all that the bananas have to offer. Wait for them to get really overripe so you get maximum sweetness out of them. They’ll make a great “glue” to hold your ingredients together in granola or protein bars and will add a nice touch to nuttier muffins.

Have any vegan baking questions of your own? Send them over to me at hello@curiouscatbakery.com. I’ll be answering them on Mondays and Wednesdays here and on the Curious Cat Bakery Instagram.

Stay curious,

Natalia

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As the founder of a vegan bakery that specializes in making treats you could never tell are vegan, I get asked A LOT of questions about vegan baking so I thought I’d start answering some of those here on the blog on a segment I call “Ask a Vegan Baker.” I know, super creative, but it’s self explanatory!

Today’s question: what is the secret to the perfect chocolate cake?

As a lover of all things chocolate, this one is very close to my heart.

The answer is pretty simple: the perfect chocolate cake is not overly sweet.

A lot of chocolate cakes out there can be hurt-your-face-sweet and that is not good. All the chocolate cakes at the Curious Cat Bakery are the perfect balance of chocolatey goodness, tasting rich and decadent without overwhelming you with sugar. The key is not to go too heavy on that vanilla extract.

Try tasting your batter before adding it. Is it really needed even if the recipe calls for it? If so, add it half a teaspoon at a time.

And for the buttercream, I NEVER use vanilla extract at all. I mean, American buttercream is just butter and sugar. Why would you add any more sweetness to that?

A chocolate ganache can also transform a cake and bring it to the next level. I mean, chocolate ganache can pretty much bring anything to the next level, right? It’s soft, spreadable, rich and delicious and since I make mine with semi sweet chocolate chips, not overly sweet either.

If you’d like the recipe for that, it’s included in my latest eBook, “Vegan Baking 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Veganizing Dessert Staples.” You can order it on the website.

Keep sending me your questions at hello@curiouscatbakery.com. I’ll be answering them on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Stay curious,

Natalia

[curiouscatbakery]

As the founder of a vegan bakery that specializes in making treats you could never tell are vegan, I get asked A LOT of questions about vegan baking so I thought I’d start answering some of those here on the blog on a segment I call “Ask a Vegan Baker.” I know, super creative, but it’s self explanatory!

Today someone asked: how can i keep my cookies from coming out oily or greasy?

First of, can we just take a second to commiserate about how terrible it is to go through all the trouble of baking something and have it come out all sorts of wrong? Urgh, I hate that, so my heart goes out to you if you’ve had that problem.

Here are some possible solutions for this grease issue:

1) If you’re using the creaming method to making vegan cookies, you might not be beating the vegan butter and the sugar enough. Make sure you beat them until fluffy so the mixture is not split.

2) if you’re using oil instead of butter, try letting your dough rest. Listen, I know, that's super hard! When you are craving some cookies, you want to get that dough in the oven ASAP so you can get to the fun part — eating them! But leaving your dough to rest in the fridge overnight or for 12 hours or so can really make a difference. It will allow the fat in that dough to solidify and so when you do bake it, the cookies won’t spread as much or get greasy by the end.

And here’s an extra tip so you don’t feel like you’re being deprived of your cookie enjoyment: make the dough ahead of time and freeze it. Then thaw it when you’re craving some cookies. You’re welcome!

Have any vegan baking questions of your own? Send them over to me at hello@curiouscatbakery.com. I’ll be answering them on Mondays and Wednesdays here and on the Curious Cat Bakery Instagram.

Stay curious,

Natalia

Liked this post? Make sure you subscribe to the Curious Cat Bakery newsletter to get more vegan baking tips, recipes and special offers delivered to your inbox every week!

[curiouscatbakery]

As the founder of a vegan bakery that specializes in making treats you could never tell are vegan, I get asked A LOT of questions about vegan baking so I thought I’d start answering some of those here on the blog on a segment I call “Ask a Vegan Baker.” I know, super creative, but it’s self explanatory!

First up: what kind of vegan butter is best for vegan baking?

There is certainly no shortage of options out there but my personal favorite is Earth Balance’s Soy Free Spread. Now, just to be clear, this is not a paid advertisement. I just love the product.

I’ve been using Earth Balance since I first went vegan almost a decade ago because:

1) it tastes like real butter,

2) it looks like real butter,

3) (and most importantly) it acts like real butter. That means it melts in the way the real stuff would and combines with melted chocolate like the real stuff would.

I use it for all of my recipes at the Curious Cat Bakery that require butter so that includes everything from buttercream to cookies to caramel and sweet breads.

So if you ask me, that’s the best substitute for butter when baking.

Keep sending me your questions at hello@curiouscatbakery.com. I’ll be answering them on Mondays and Wednesdays.

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About Books & Chocolate

Have you ever smelled a book? There are two possible reactions to that question. Either you furrowed your brow going, “What the #@$* is she talking about?” or you exclaimed, “Hell yes!” while day dreaming of the smell of fresh pages. If you’re in the first group, let me tell you, you’re missing out.

I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember — and not just for their smell. Immersing myself in stories and fantastic worlds was something I was drawn to from an early age and to this day you’re most likely to find me with my head stuck in a book.

To some I might be a dork but frankly I prefer the term bibliophile ;)

The Curious Cat Bakery pays homage to that love of stories that you can’t stop reading and the whimsical places you can only find within them. Every bite of a Peculiar Cake Truffle or Once Pecan A Time Cookie is meant to be as magical as a hidden portal behind a closet or a mysterious wax sealed letter arriving through your fireplace.

You can see how that combination of books and chocolate come together on the Curious Cat Bakery Instagram.

How about you? Are you a fellow dork bibliophile? What are you currently reading? I’d love to hear what’s on your list. Stay curious,

Natalia

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Who is the Curious Cat?

Before the was a Curious Cat Bakery, there was a curious cat. I’ve had a number of cats in my life and each had its own quirks. Magic’s is her tail. It just stands upright all the time in the shape of a question mark, which fits her personality perfectly.

From the moment we brought her home from the shelter, she took off exploring her new space, checking every corner like a hound on a mission. She always seemed especially interested whenever I was in the kitchen. To this day when I bake Magic comes around and watches me intently.

She’s seen each recipe get refined and perfected and my baking turn from hobby to a business. She’s the curious cat that was there before there was a bakery so it only made sense to name it after her.

Oh and like every crazy cat lady, I take copious amounts of photos of her. You can see them on the Curious Cat Bakery Instagram. How about you? Do you have a cat or a pet with a funny quirk? Tell me about it! And send pics or it doesn’t count! Stay curious,

Natalia

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Shhh! Don't Tell Them It's Vegan

I have a secret to share with you. Sometimes I don’t tell people trying my baked goods they are vegan. Not until they’ve had their first bite. It’s the only way for them to try it without prejudice. It also makes the looks on their faces that more satisfying when they hear the "v" word while enthusiastically going for that second bite. Their eyes open wide as they go, “This is VEGAN?! No way!”

When I opened the Curious Cat Bakery I wanted to make the best desserts people had ever eaten — that just happen to be vegan. That’s why I don’t lead with the vegan promise. Yes, everything is made 100% free of dairy, eggs and animal products but what makes them really unique is that every cake is moist and crumbly, every truffle has a deep and decadent flavor, and every cookie leaves you wanting one more.

So I’m giving you permission to not say anything either. When you share your Curious Cat Bakery goodies with your friends and family, feel free to not say anything until after their first bite. Then after you can tell them to head over to the website and buy some more ;)

Stay curious,

Natalia

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Aqua-what?

Never in a million years did I ever think I would love chickpea water this much. No, seriously, you read that correctly. And yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.

The first time I was told to save that murky yellowish water inside a can of chickpeas for baking I was skeptical too. Just because you give it a fancy name that sounds like some new celebrity cologne (“Aquafaba”), doesn’t mean it’s a thing, right? But I put that aquafaba in the mixer, added some sugar and gave it a whirl — and my life changed forever.

Turns out when you do that, somehow the vegan baking gods shine their light upon you and that gross water turns into vegan meringue! That’s right. Nice, airy, fluffy, shiny, soft and stiff peaks of marshmallowy goodness — no chickpea smell at all. You can see that process in my Instagram story.

It’s a truly inspiring thing when you think about it. Because if chickpea water can become a chocolate mousse, s’mores or a macaron, you, my friend, can do anything.

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The difference between vegan and gluten free 

When people learn that the Curious Cat Bakery is all vegan, more often than not I get asked, “Oh, so you’re gluten-free?”

The answer is no — but not a hard no. Meaning no, the bakery’s offerings are not usually gluten-free but yes, some of them can be upon request and we do have a couple of gluten-free options.

“Wait, so they’re not the same?”

They’re not.

Vegan means free of animal products so no eggs, no milk, no butter and no meat. Gluten-free means free of wheat like all purpose flour.

Something can be vegan and full of gluten (which is the case with most offerings), some things can be gluten-free and not vegan (like a regular cake made with eggs — you won’t find that at the Curious Cat Bakery), and some things fall smack dab in the middle of that Ven diagram like the Enchanted Macarons and a brand new addition to the menu: the Forbidden Forest Cookies. They’re made with almond flour so they have no gluten and they’re also 100% vegan.

They also have an edible hibiscus leaf on top of them because it's fall and why not get into the mood?

So if you're gluten-free, great news: now you can get these brand new cookies on the website. If you're vegan but ok with gluten, you can get everything on the Curious Cat Bakery menu. And if you're none of those but you’re looking for a treat that is absolutely decadent while at the same time being kind to animals and the planet, I’m your gal! If not, that’s ok, we can still be friends!

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Dealing with failure in the kitchen

Well, it finally happened: I failed at one of the Great British Baking Show challenges. Pastry Week did me in. If I were on the show, I would have probably been sent home that day — in tears over a soggy bottom. It was so frustrating. I was super diligent about keeping the rough puff pastry cold to get the right lamination, I made sure to add holes with a fork so the steam could get out and yet despite all of those efforts when I flipped that tarte tatin, it was sog city.

Paul Hollywood would not have been impressed. Heck, this was so soggy even Noel would have known it wasn’t right!

So I walked away from it — defeated and annoyed. But that soggy mess still smelled so good it pulled me back in. I had to taste it. And when I did…it was so good!

Ok, maybe this wasn’t a complete failure then. Sure, the moisture had made all my wonderful layers stick together but it still tasted really great!

I finished eating and started thinking of how this could be improved. Then the next day I repeated the whole process but I cooked the vegetables before assembling the tarte to get rid of a lot of the moisture and I increased the temperature for the first half of the baking time so the liquid could quickly evaporate.

When I flipped it the second time, there were no soggy bottoms in sight. Success!

I could have just shared that second tarte on my Instagram tutorials — after all, it was the one that actually worked — but I thought I should share the disaster tarte too because there’s something to learn there.

Baking can sometimes turn into a disaster. Cakes won’t rise, cookies will deflate, tarts will have a soggy bottom. And it’s frustrating and it feels like a waste of time and it makes you want to just give up on the whole thing but if I’d given up after the first crappy cake I made, this bakery would have never come to be. You’ll never get to bake something awesome if you don’t get past a couple of disasters.

So my advice to anyone new to baking — especially vegan baking — is to learn from the disasters and look at them with a sense of curiosity. Question what could have fixed the mess before you toss it in the garbage and taste it to see if there’s any redeeming quality in it.

And do yourself a favor and start simple. Macarons or puff pastry are not for beginners or the faint of heart. Start with a cake or some easy cookies to get your feet wet and build your confidence before you move on to the more complicated recipes.

So now that I’ve shared my kitchen disaster, I want to hear from you. What’s the biggest baking nightmare you’ve had and did you ever fix it?

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My tips for decorating cookies

Every person has their own favorite kind of relaxation. Something that allows them to focus on the task at hand and tune out all of the other 878 things going on in their heads. Some like to sit quietly, others go on long walks or do coloring books. My thing is decorating cookies.

Give me a piping bag with some icing and some flat cookies and I am set for a few hours. I just go into full on meditation mode and the best part is that afterwards, I get to eat my meditation — which is not something a lot of people can say!

Since it's that time of the year when we're all taking up cookie decorating, I thought I'd share some of my tips to make that cookie look more like you picture it in your head and less like the Cookie Monster just stepped on it.

Tip #1: Get your icing in the right consistency. You'll want a less runny icing for piping lines and borders and a more liquid icing for filling it in.

Tip #2: Clean your piping bag tip. Using the tips of your fingers, pinch the tip of the piping bag often so you have a circular hole. That will allow the icing to come out more evenly.

Tip #3: When piping lines, press the piping bag slightly down at your starting point and then lift it on your way to your end point. That will allow you to guide your line better and ensure it sets straight. Press it down slightly again at your end point.

Tip #4: Use a toothpick to fix any imperfections and mistakes. It works a thousand times better than your fingers.

If baking the cookies and preparing all the icing sounds like a lot of work, I have these cookie decorating kits on the website for sale. They're all vegan, of course, and you have until the end of the day tomorrow to buy them. Delivery is anytime between now and December 23rd.

Finally, if you're looking for some inspiration for your cookies, I suggest checking out The Biscuiteers. Just last month I had the absolute pleasure of visiting them in London, where I learned some new techniques and was let in on some of their secrets to making their incredibly stunning cookies.

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My best tip for baking cakes

I get asked this question ALL THE TIME: what’s your biggest tip for people who want to bake?

Sheesh! That’s a doozy of a question. Baking cookies is totally different than baking cakes and bread, that’s a whole other animal, so giving one tip sounds as hard as picking one favorite movie or song (which I can’t possibly answer either). But if I had to pick one insider’s nugget of wisdom, here it is: put a belt on your baking pans.

Whaaaat? I know. I had never heard of this before I started doing this professionally.

If you’ve ever baked a cake, you probably have found that they don’t come out of the oven flat. They get a dome at the top, which makes stacking layers difficult to say the least. Either they slide or the whole thing looks crooked. Not a good look. One option it to use a serrated knife to level the cake layers, removing that domed part and making a flat surface. Another is to avoid that dome altogether!

The baking belts or strips do just that. The way they work is that you get them wet before wrapping them on the cake pan and placing it in the oven. Without the belt, the batter bakes at different speeds. The outer edges bake faster than the middle, which creates that dome shape. The strips make the whole cake bake at the same speed so they come out flat! Tah dah!

You can buy the strips online and I can completely vouch for them. It’s such a time saver to not have to level the cakes anymore and none of it is wasted too.

Have any of you used these before? Do you love them as much as I do?

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