My Vegan cake came out dense like a muffin, did I mess up?!
My Vegan cake came out dense like a muffin, did I mess up?
I am trying to get a good recipe for a vegan cake. I decided to become a vegan last week, so I dont know any of the tricks to good baking, yet. My son's birthday is at the end of the month and I know that everyone will judge us at the party if it does not taste good. I made a white cake, using wheat flour, it called for 2tsp of EnerG replacement, but I did not have it, so I used 2 tsp baking powder and 4tsp water. Is that where I went wrong? It had a good taste, it was just more like a muffin with icing. I appreciate all input as I really dont know anything about vegan recipes.
Answers:
You really do need to use something for an egg replacer. I use Ener-G myself. It can seem a little pricey ($4.00-$5.00 a box) but I just checked the label on mine and each box has the equivilant to 113 eggs! That's alot of baking, and it is by far the best thing I have used to replace eggs, especially for cakes and other things you want to be light and fluffy.
If you'd rather make your own egg replacer, you were on the right track with the baking powder and water. Try this next time, it's about the closest you'll get to Ener-G.
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons water
Whisk them all together till foamy, this equals one egg.
Someone suggested mashed banana, you could also try applesauce. Just bare in mind you will be able to pick up on their flavor a bit, and your cake won't be as light and airy as it should be. Use 1/2 of a banana or 1/4 cup applesauce for each egg.
Silken tofu can work and won't alter the flavor of the cake, but like with banana it will be denser than if you use Ener-G. Use 1/4 cup per egg. Using the tofu, applesauce, or banana you can expect the cake to have more the consistancy of a quick bread or muffin.
Flax seed is another option. Once again, your cake will be more dense and if you're needing to replace more than an egg or two you'll pick up on the nuttiness of the flax seed when it's done. Grind 1 Tblsp flax seed to a fine powder then mix with 3 Tblsp warm water. Let sit for a minute to thicken, this equals one egg.
Another thing that would make your cake heavier is the wheat flour. I love substituting whole wheat flour for pancakes, quick breads, waffles, muffins, and so on, but for cakes whole wheat is too coarse of a flour to give the consistancy you would want. If you want to get some of the benifit of the whole grain try using half whole wheat with half cake flour, this will help lighten up the texture some.
If you're really concerned about your guests comparing your vegan cake against a conventional one you could do the muffin idea another person suggested. My friend made some vegan blueberry muffins for a party last year. She just frosted them like cupcakes and they were a huge hit. Nobody besides her or I even guessed them to be vegan.
Hope this Helps! Happy Baking!
I've had vegan baked goods before because my friend is a vegan, and one thing you'll have to get used to is that everything comes out a different consisitency then it would with milk and eggs.
Without seeing the actual recipe, it's very difficult to diagnose the possible problem. In other words, it may be a flawed recipe, and nothing at all that you've done.
On the other hand, following baking recipes very closely will best ensure that your results are as the author of the recipe intended.
Vegan baking can be a difficult task; you might try a "crazy cake" - one made without eggs, using soda for the leavening - and substitute out any milk for a liquid - I've used apple juice to good effect.
The only issue is that it's not a white cake, but a chocolate cake - you can try substituting the cocoa powder for cake flour or cornstarch.
Good luck!
In my experience, most vegan baked goods tend to be denser and have a less crumby mouth feel.
You can make mini-cupcakes (in a mini muffin tin) and frost them in fun colors and decorations, then lay them out in a pattern; that way, even if the cake isn't as good in a large slice it's perfect in a 2-3 bite mini-cupcake and people won't notice the textural differences as much.
yes
It is REALLY important that you use something to replace eggs in vegan recipes! But it doesn't have to be EnerG powder. You can try 1/2 mashed banana to replace each egg, and there's other substitutions as well, such as pureed tofu--but not baking powder. I believe EnerG is made up of binders such as cornstarch and lecithin. I find that banana works quite well for cakes, but if you're really hoping to impress, I'd shell out the cash for the EnerG. Or as someone else suggested, try a crazy cake made using vinegar. Vegan cakes do come out a bit different from traditional ones, but that doesn't mean they're not tasty. There's some good recipes and advice on: www.vegweb.com Good luck!
If you're using baking soda, adding some apple cider or other vinegar can make the cake moist. It's some reaction between baking soda and vinegar I think that does it.
See the link I pasted, and read all the comments in it for different tips on how to make a perfect vegan cake.
good luck