Ask a Vegan Baker

Hi! I'm new to this community but I've been a fan of this site for awhile! Great information on here! I'm a vegan baker and have recently started my own business. What I'm interested in is reducing the amount of unnatural and potentially harmful chemicals in any of my ingredients. I've done a great job with this as far as cakes and cookies, etc, but when it comes down to frosting... I'm at a loss! Currently I use a brand called Brill who assured me there's no animal ingredients in their frosting. I use their "Light n Fluffy" frosting which is DELICIOUS and all my customers love it, but it has some not-so-healthy ingredients that make me cringe! I love the taste, but if I can get something better then that would be great! The thing is I'm trying to also be cost effective. I can get this frosting for $100 for a 35 lb bucket (including s&h). If I were to make my own frosting using Earth Balance and coconut oils, etc, I'm afraid it will be too expensive! But there are some real...

Hi, I just had some perfect vegan macarons this weekend from this place: https://www.facebook.com/sweetmaresa They also sold brownies which were perfect and they apparently do choux pastry. Vegan baked goods are almost never good, but these are the best examples I've ever had. I wish they would write a book, because other vegans really need to know how to do this if vegan desserts are ever to get any respect. I saw some old posts of yours regarding choux and macarons. Have you had any further luck? The ingredient list for their macarons list starch and soy, which I'm assuming is isolate, so they may be made similarly to the meringue recipe you have on here. I tried making some choux attempting to use gluten as the protein, but have failed twice so far....

I want to make a gluten free wheat free cake. What's the best combination of flours to use to get a cake consistency? Thank you!...

I want to make the make the raw cherry bars, but it says to dehydrate at 110, and my oven wont go below 150. what do you suggest?...

Good day! I am trying to find a replacement for the traditional white and wheat flour for breads and rolls, but there are some caveats in my search. First, I am hoping to avoid gluten, and second and most important is that I am hoping to be able to grow whatever it is that I am ultimately going to use for flour. I am growing chickpeas and amaranth now. I have not tried to grow wheat yet, but I am less inclined to do this because I'm worried about GMOs (and gluten). I can grow almonds, peanuts, and probably potatoes, and a few other things. However, I am not sure whether these are suitable flour substitutes for making yummy breads and rolls of various kinds. In my on-going adventures to be more self sufficient and embrace old-school crafts and knowledge, I am continuing to add a great number of plants to my permaculture, organic, non-GMO garden. If I could grow my own flour, that would be fantastic!! I can grow a lot of things, but this one is proving to be difficult fo...

Hello! I'm making a vegan chocolate frosting that I tried to thicken using coconut milk and agar flakes. However, my agar mixture remained gelatin like and the frosting is creamy, but too runny. Is there a way to fix this or do I have to start over? Thanks!...

Hey there, I was thinking of giving ready to bake cookie dough as a gift, and was wondering how long it can keep in the fridge before it needs to be baked or tossed. I know it can be frozen, but that makes it a little less ready to bake. Editing because I just realized I should probably say what kind of cookie dough - I'm sure it matters. At the moment the cookie dough in question would be chocolate chip, made with coconut oil for the fat and a tiny bit of non-dairy milk. Nothing like tofu or bananas etc. added. Everything else pretty standard: flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, vanilla, salt. Huge thanks!...

Hi to All -- Thanks to Mattie for regular butter recipe. I am using it, works well for baking. Now ready to try chocolate/white chocolate/ cocoa butters. Please, would you specify refined vs unrefined for which of your recips? is it only matter of more or less chocolate taste? color? also, organic vs. inorganic. thanks....

Hello Vegan Bakers and Community! New user here and hoping someone can help me with some pointers for veganizing and old family favorite that has 4/5 eggs in the original recipe. Here's the original recipe: 1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped fine 1 c bread crumbs 1/2 c cheddar, grated 1/2 c cottage cheese 1 tsp salt 1 tsp chicken seasoning (use a vegetarian chicken soup base that I buy bulk) 1 tsp sage 5 eggs Fill the bottom of casserole dishes with about a 1/4 inch of oil. Form the mix into balls and place in pan, leaving about 1/2 inch of space between each one; they expand a bit as they cook Pour 2 cans of diluted cream of mushroom soup over balls, cover with foil and bake for 30 min. Uncover and bake for another 15 min Now I make my own tofu cottage cheese and use Daiya for the cheddar and I make my own gravy or homemade vegan mushroom soup. I have been using flax eggs in place of the eggs and about 1/4 cup extra bread crumbs. They hold together well and ta...

I want to veganize Oreo truffle balls. They only have three ingredients - Oreos, cream cheese and almond bark. I have Daiya cream cheese and the Oreos. But I can't find any vegan almond bark. What's a good substitute? It needs to be something that melts and can harden after you dip the truffles in it....

What is a good egg wash substitute in a recipe?...

Hello, iam working on the chocolate Butter. All other types of butter are working well, but i have a lot of problems with the chocolate Butter. This is my problem: After the chocolate, the cocoabutter, salt, sugar and coffeepowder is mixed and melted, i put the soymilk, the fluid lecithin and the xanthan gum in it. Then i whisked it, until the sugar is disolved. And here is the problem. The mixture won't get smooth. You can see the oil and the chocolate mixture. There is no emulsion. The oil is seperate from the rest of the ingredients. Like in the recipe, i whisked it over middle heat. Maybe thats the problem. And there is another thing i noticed. I melted the chocolate, cocoabutter, coffeepowder, sugar and the salt. Than I whisked in the soy milk/vinegar with a fork. And the mixture is smooth. I could see barely the two phases (Oil and water phase). But just barely they are separated. It seems smooth, and it looks like that from the distance. Its much more smooth before i pu...

I'm currently working with your European style vegan butter and I want to make it more pliable for laminating croissant dough. What would cause it to have more plasticity? Adding more soy lecithin? Adding xantham gum? Both? What do each of these do? And what quantities would you suggest. Thanks a ton! Moshe...

Hi, I have a recipe for chocolate frosting that tastes very good, but for some reason, I am left with white streaks and a shaggy texture when I've finished incorporating and beating all ingredients. Here is the recipe: 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar 1/2 cup cocoa powder 1/2 cup coconut oil, solid 2 tsps. vanilla 1/3 cup soy milk First, I sift sugar and coco powder together to strain any lumps. In the bowl of a standing mixer, I beat coconut oil for about 30 seconds then add vanilla. In heaping tablespoons, I add sugar and cocoa powder mixture and drizzle in the soy milk. When all is incorporated, I beat for 5-6 minutes on medium high. Frosting has white streaks throughout and is shaggy as opposed to fluffy. Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated. Thanks!...

I have a great non-vegan recipe for biscotti. It's not typical in that it has 4 eggs in it. The resulting biscotti is firm but crumbly, has a crunchy texture but is not hard. I've been experimenting with egg replacers and either get something super soft that doesn't really resemble a biscotti or something so hard you'd break a tooth. The recipe calls for 4-4 1/2 flour, 1 T baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 cups sugar, 1 cup butter, 4 eggs, 1 T vanilla and nuts. The best vegan version I've made keeps the flour, salt and baking powder the same. I used earth balance for the butter (I tried a non-hydrogenated shortening, but didn't like the taste as much), the vanilla. I also cut the sugar down to 1 1/2 cups and use unrefined evaporated cane sugar. For the eggs, I've used Bob's Red Mill egg replacer (enough for one egg), but when I've put more, the biscotti seem to get harder. I've tried flax seed which works pretty well, but I can't sub in 4 eggs worth of flax seed. I've tried subb...

I bake small lupinbread: crustdough filled with a lupin and onion mixture. To get the crustdough shining and brown I put some soymilk on top before baking.The breads come out of the oven looking great, but after a few hours the colour gets lighter. Are there other options to make the dough shining and brown that will last longer?...

The chocolate chip recipe called for vegan butter so I used Earth Balance shortening sticks and the cookies were completely flat. In the picture with the recipe they were nice and puffy like regular chocolate chip cookies. Any ideas?...

Hello, I've been working on making better vegan yeast (raised) doughnuts. I've made probably 10 dozen batches so far but I feel like they are still missing something. My goal is a traditional melt in your mouth sweet fluffy glazed doughnut, like Long's Doughnuts does here in Indianapolis but vegan. The recipe I've settled on to perfect is as follows: 1 1/2 T yeast 1/4 C warm water 1 1/2 C warm soy milk 1/2 C sugar 1 t salt 1/2 C applesauce 1/3 C shortening (palm oil) 5 C white all purpose flour Combine yeast and water to proof, add remaining ingredients except flour and combine, then add in flour gradually while mixing, knead until smooth and shiny. Rise covered 45 minutes, roll out to 1/2", cut with doughnut cutter, rise 45 minutes, fry in 2" of shortening at 350F 60 seconds per side until light golden brown. Remove from oil on cooling rack to cool. They are coming out pretty good but not great and they get significantly worse the older they are, by the next day the...

Why do recipes call for soy or almond milk to be curdled prior to using?...

I have been eating plant based for almost 2 yrs I miss traditional cakes (red velvet, pound, and sweet potatoe pies) how can I veganize recipes? In the past I tried to substitute but wasted money and throwing stuff away. Brown Sugar Carmel Pound Cake Ingredients: 1 ½ cups butter softened 2 cups light brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar 5 large eggs 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 1 cup whole milk 1 8oz bag toffee chips 1 cup pecans, chopped Carmel Drizzel: 1 – 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk 1 cup brown sugar 2 tablespoons butter ½ teaspoon vanilla extract Directions: Preheat oven to 325 spray a 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray with flour Beat butter until creamy. Add sugars beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mix to batter alternately with milk, beat until just combined. Stir in toffee buts and pecans. Spoon batter into pan and bake...

Is gms powder vegerian?...

I am making chocolate mint chip cookies, I have been able to substitute all of the dairy ingredients except for the mint chips. The only mint chips I found are from Guittard and they have whey and milk in them. Are there vegan mint chips?...

Hi, I would like to know if it is possible to make flan and clafouti vegan. What would I use instead of the eggs. Here is the recipe for a flan: 1 puff pastry or broken (home or business) 1 liter of milk semi-skimmed 3 eggs 160 g of sugar 100 g cornflour 2 sachets of sugar vanilla 3 teaspoons of extract of vanilla 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder (or vanilla) Here is the recipe for a clafouti: 750g cherries well ripe 100 g flour Half packet yeast powder 4 eggs 125 g of sugar 2 pinch of salt 25 g of butter 25 cl of milk 1 sachet of vanilla sugar Thank you for your help. Isabelle...

My daughter has been a vegan now for about a year. This is a process, I am learning. She has become concerned now that not only should the ingredients be animal free, but the processing of a product should be animal free as well. Does baking soda meet these standards? Thank you....