#veganbakingtips

[curiouscatbakery]

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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[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’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!

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.

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]

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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