How to pick the best ingredients for stellar vegan baking

You think you know how to make a cake until someone asks you to do it without butter, eggs or milk, and then you start to wonder if you ever knew cake at all. Today, an increasing number of people are asking just that, whether they’ve chosen a plant-based diet or have a dairy allergy. We’re all having to rethink a lot of what we know and how we go about baking. It can be overwhelming.

In the last few years, though, several intrepid, well-versed talents have published cookbooks on vegan baking and pastry, and home cooks may be surprised to discover that we have a wealth of useful information, resourceful tips and inventive, achievable recipes at our fingertips.

These practiced bakers know how to navigate the myriad vegan butters, plant-based milks and egg replacements to be had nowadays, which might be the largest knowledge gap many of us face. All those ingredients, while they can do the work of their animal-derived counterparts, don’t share their chemical compositions, so you can’t simply swap one for the other in a 1:1 ratio. This can make things especially challenging in baking. But it needn’t be. I’ve gathered some of the essential intel from this new crop of cookbooks and their authors to streamline your process, help you build your vegan-baking pantry and encourage your progress. What awaits are the most tender of cake crumbs, luxurious of ganaches and creamiest of custards (that’s right, custards).

The fats

Butter: Although many brands of vegan butter are available, they’re not all created equal, and that affects how they taste and perform in a recipe.

“The fancy vegan butters are really good,” says Amanda Bankert, the American owner of Boneshaker bakery in Paris and author of “Voilà Vegan.” She recommends European-style plant-based butters because they mimic the texture and flavor of the dairy butter she previously baked with professionally in France.

Whatever you choose, make sure it isn’t labeled “light,” “whipped” or “spreadable,” and that water isn’t first on its ingredient list.” In “The Vegan Cake Bible,” British author Sarah Kidd explains that where there’s more fat, there’s less water, and that means less curdling of batter or splitting of buttercream. In her book, “New Vegan Baking,” Bucharest-based Ana Rusu states that “a 75 percent fat butter is preferred for baking” and cites the sticks from Earth Balance, which come in at 78 percent, as her top pick. Miyoko’s European Style Cultured Vegan Butter has the same amount of fat and is another favorite of professional and home bakers alike.

DIY options: For people who can’t access a baking-friendly vegan butter, the Australian author of “The Vegan Baker,” Zacchary Bird, offers a formula that combines soy milk, a combination of neutral oils, apple cider vinegar, sugar, salt, turmeric (for color) and a surprise, aquafaba. Over email, he explained that it’s “inspired by the legendary Nina’s Aquafaba Butter, a viral recipe in the vegan baking community that [I] stumbled on using aquafaba to make flaky dairy-free butter that you can use in any recipe.”

Oil: Philip Khoury, who oversees all of Harrods’s pastry production in London, eschews vegan butter completely in his cookbook, “A New Way to Bake.” He relies heavily on everyday olive oil , which doesn’t make its presence known as such or else adds flavor when used in relatively small doses. His obscenely fudgy double-chocolate brownies are one example of what a few tablespoons of that fat can do to enhance the effect of the chocolate’s cocoa butter. In situations where he needs to add more oil, he recommends sunflower, safflower or peanut instead, preferably cold-pressed.

Shortening: Let’s not forget Crisco. Bankert got the idea to use it from her grandmother, who was not vegan and deployed the fat to render her pie crusts flaky. “I tried it, and it yielded great results,” Bankert said. “I found out it was initially created out of lard shortages. So, its initial purpose was to replace lard in pastries.” Additionally, she appreciates its ubiquity.

The milks and creams

Milk: The consensus among the authors is that soy or full-fat (or “barista blend”) oat milk are the baking go-tos. Soy, Bird notes in his book, has the protein content closest to that of dairy milk, which makes it an ideal swap-in when converting non-vegan recipes. Its neutral flavor is another advantage. Both Kidd and Bankert say it’s ideal for buttermilk. “Due to its unique set of proteins, it curdles almost instantly, as anyone who adds it to their morning coffee (including Madonna, apparently) will know,” Bankert writes in “Voilà Vegan.”

Rusu gravitates toward oat milk, “because the added starch is always a welcome element in baking,” she relayed via email, “but soy milk serves as a worthy substitute when needed.”

Cream: Rusu prefers soy-based cream all the way, with oat cream as a trusty backup - although, she pointed out, if you’re concerned with aesthetics, it’s going to turn things a bit beige. Kidd has one exception to the soy rule; when she’s making a ganache, coconut cream is the winner. Bird has his own purpose for that ingredient: When chilled and beaten, it does a great impression of whipped cream.

He provides a solid rundown of the other plant-based milks in “The Vegan Baker”:

• Almond: as an egg wash or to replace dairy milk in dough or pastries.

• Cashew: Because it’s the creamiest, it’s the best base for custards.

• Coconut: The milk is a boon for cream-based recipes and dairy items with high fat content, like ice cream and yogurt

• Hemp: a good alternative for those who don’t love soy milk’s flavor.

• Rice: As it’s the least viscous of the bunch, Bird reserves it for smoothies, cereal or, in baking, as an egg wash.

The ‘eggs’

As Bird lamented via email, “There’s so many egg substitutes for baking, but before you select one … you’ve got to figure out what eggs were doing in the original recipe. Sometimes eggs are great for binding (like flaxseed, psyllium husk or starches), whereas other times they’re needed to leaven the dough (like aquafaba or baking soda). It’s for this reason you can’t just use any old egg substitute for any vegan recipe without thinking about it first.”

Aquafaba: This is the most polarizing and potentially versatile of the bunch. Khoury thinks its foaming capacity offers little to the pastry world and left it out of “A New Way to Bake” entirely. For Rusu, “while it’s a game-changer in vegan cooking, it can be a bit tricky working with it. Using it for vegan meringue, for example, requires a powerful mixer and a stabilizing agent like cream of tartar or xanthan gum. It’s incredible how a bean water can mimic the properties of white eggs, but passing these recipes to home cooks can be a challenge,” she shared via email.

Freya Cox, the former “Great British Baking Show” contestant and author of “Simply Vegan Baking,” puts aquafaba in her brownies, as does Bankert, who explained that in this application, the product isn’t lending frothiness or levity; it’s combined with enough sugar to become “almost marshmallowy.” Here, the chickpea water creates the gooey chewiness we seek in brownies. “You could use applesauce instead,” she said, although noted that it won’t yield quite the same results.

Not only does he sneak it into his butter, but Bird also brushes aquafaba on his dough when he doesn’t want a deeply browned finish. “For some recipes, we don’t want them to go past golden brown. That’s where you’d normally opt for an egg wash, and it’s one of the ways aquafaba sings as an egg alternative,” he explained over email. It provides both the sheen and the adherence for whatever garnish you’re sprinkling on top.

Sparkling water: Rusu often uses it as a leavening agent to replace the egg whites in crepes or snacking-cake batters. It’s a common workaround in Romania. “Of course, you still need baking powder as a raising agent, but the bubbles do help a lot in certain recipes,” she added.

Apple cider vinegar: One of the most multifaceted ingredients in our kitchen cupboards, it is also a must-have for vegan bakers. “My preferred egg replacement in cakes,” Holly Jade writes in “The Essential Book of Vegan Bakes.” Rusu seconds the endorsement and has found that this particular vinegar does a better job than other acids in activating dry leavening agents. “I think I use it in all my vegan cake sponges ― the result is a beautifully risen and fluffy sponge,” she emphasized in her email.

Silken tofu: Bankert blends it into her clafoutis, which defies anyone who believes vegan custard remains an impossible dream. More surprisingly, the readily available soft tofu also endows her insanely good pistachio loaf cake with an added, most welcome density, and she swears by its contributions to whipped cream.

JELL-O vanilla pudding mix: Bankert uses it in addition to the tofu in the aforementioned clafoutis. Like Crisco, JELL-O is another major corporate brand, which might, she acknowledged, make it a more controversial ingredient for some vegans. But, as she writes, “once I discovered that it’s vegan, I started adding it to my custard bakes to add creamy texture and ‘traditional’ mouthfeel.”

Vegan Brownies

These ultra-fudgy and rich vegan brownies from cookbook author Philip Khoury rely on cacao butter (in the chocolate) and olive oil to provide the bulk of the fat in the recipe. Without the expected butter, the flavor of the chocolate really comes through. Khoury uses mild-tasting olive oil to achieve the ideal texture without the obvious grassy, peppery bite of some olive oils. For a recipe so simple - it’s a one-bowl bake - a few things will guarantee a superlative brownie. Use the best-quality dark chocolate you can find (see Where to buy). Do not overbake the brownies; err on the side of underbaked for the optimal chewy bite. Consider adding whatever mix-ins you like to the batter - a combination of toasted nuts, a swirl of Biscoff spread or tahini, and/or a hint of cinnamon or a teaspoon or two of espresso powder.

Storage: Store at room temperature either in a sealed container or well-wrapped for up to 4 days, or refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Where to buy: Vegan chocolate from brands such as Raaka can be found at well-stocked supermarkets, specialty shops and online. Read the label of the chocolate carefully; however, most dark chocolate is naturally vegan.

Generous 8 ounces (230 grams) dark chocolate, divided

2/3 cup (150 grams) plant-based milk, such as oat or cashew

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) granulated or superfine sugar

generous 1/2 cup (125 grams) dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar

1/4 cup (50 grams) extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (60 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.

Coarsely chop the chocolate. Transfer a generous 2 3/4 ounces (80 grams) of it to a large microwave-safe bowl and set aside the remaining chocolate.

In a microwave, melt the chocolate on high in 20-second bursts, stirring after each burst, until fully melted. (Alternatively, set a heatproof bowl over a pan with 1/2 inch of gently simmering water - make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water - and melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally with a silicone spatula. Remove the bowl from the heat.)

Whisk in the milk, granulated and brown sugars, oil and vanilla until well combined; the batter should look lush and glossy.

Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, and whisk just until combined. Fold in the remaining chocolate just to combine; the batter will be thick.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and use an offset spatula to smooth it out.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownie is set on top and has puffed around the edges and in the middle and a cake tester inserted in the middle of the pan comes out with a few moist crumbs. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. The center of the brownie block might deflate a bit; this is fine.

When ready to serve, cut into nine (2 1/2-inch) squares and serve.

Serves 9 (makes one 8-inch slab)

Nutrition (one 2 1/2-inch square brownie): 348 calories, 52g carbohydrates, 0mg cholesterol, 18g fat, 5g fiber, 4g protein, 8g saturated fat, 119mg sodium, 33g sugar

― Adapted from “A New Way to Bake: Re-Imagined Recipes for Plant-Based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts” by Philip Khoury (Hardie Grant, 2023)