I have fond childhood memories of baking with my mother and beating slimy egg whites to magically transform them into glossy, stiff peaks that later became airy and tender cakes. As an adult baker who doesn’t want to consume animal products, numerous impulsive late-night bakes, and a few sugary failures, taught me that some cakes can be delightful without this ingredient as well.
Why we use eggs for baking
To a baker, eggs are a multitasking champion. Their yolks contain fats, which add richness and flavour to batters, and proteins that bind to both watery and fatty ingredients, so have an emulsifying effect and make batters smooth and velvety.
Proteins are the key compound in egg whites too. Beating egg whites stretches their proteins and makes them form a scaffold for trapped air bubbles, which ultimately helps the cake puff up and maintain airiness while baking.
So removing eggs from a cake recipe puts you at risk of a crumbly, flat and limp dessert. To escape this unappetising fate, all of the missing eggs’ functions must be addressed.
Egg substitutes and why they work
In my experience, a combination of baking soda, baking powder and vinegar can ensure a cake’s puffiness, while a slightly larger volume of fat, like butter or oil, helps with the richness and smoothness usually credited to egg yolks.
There are more options for mimicking the eggs’ binding ability, ranging from using 3 or so tablespoons of applesauce or mashed banana for each egg, to employing a naturally gel-like mixture of a tablespoon of ground flaxseeds and 3 tablespoons of warm water. For the simplest batter, however, I have found that the right ratio of fats, liquids and flour can, by itself, be sticky enough to keep an eggless cake from crumbling.
When I am baking for a crowd, I often default to a simple eggless chocolate cake that I bake in a rectangular dish, top with chocolate ganache and serve cut into squares. On more ambitious days, I divide the batter between two round pans and use it as a starting point for a showstopping two-layer cake.
A recipe for the perfect eggless chocolate cake
I start by mixing a non-dairy milk with apple cider vinegar or white vinegar, then let this mixture curdle while I sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl. Curdling the milk breaks down some of its proteins, which helps the cake stay tender and moist. The acidity of the mixture means that it will react with baking soda and this reaction will add air, and therefore lift, to the cake.
In another bowl, I whisk sugar, oil, more milk and vanilla. Next, I add the dry ingredients and the curdled milk mix into this bowl, first adding some flour mixture then some curdled milk then more of the flour mixture and so on until I run out, with my last addition being the curdled milk.
Read more The science behind baking the perfect chocolate chip cookie
Once I’ve mixed the batter just enough for no dry streaks to remain, I pour it into a greased dish lined with parchment paper and let it bake for at least 30 minutes at 180°C (350°F). It is important to not overmix your cake, as mixing too much or too vigorously makes gluten – the protein in wheat flour that makes breads chewy – form too much structure too early in the cake-making process, which results in a gummier, less tender cake.
I am a nervous baker, so I always check the cake at the 25-minute mark – if it is springy to the touch and a knife comes out clean after I pierce its centre, the cake can leave the oven.
I recommend waiting 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and placing it on a cooling rack. And no matter how good it smells, do refrain from piling your favourite topping over this eggless treat until it has fully cooled down.
Vegan chocolate cake ingredients:
What you need for one 23cm x 33cm rectangular pan or two 23cm round pans:
1 cup or 240ml almond or other non-dairy milk 1 tablespoon or 15 ml apple cider or white vinegar 2 ¼ cups or 280g all-purpose flour 1 cup or 100g cocoa powder ½ teaspoon or 3g baking soda 1 teaspoon or 5g baking powder 1 ½ teaspoon or 9g salt 1 ½ cups or 300g white sugar ¾ cups or 175ml vegetable or olive oil 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 ½ cup or 360ml almond or other non-dairy milk
Curdling the milk breaks down some of its proteins, which helps the cake stay tender and moist. The acidity of the mixture means that it will react with baking soda and this reaction will add air, and therefore lift, to the cake.
The expanding bubbles of gas push the batter up and out, causing the cake to expand. The moisture in the batter evaporates due to the heat, and the cake's structure solidifies as the lattice network of gluten strands dry out and solidify. The end result? A beautifully light and fluffy piece of cake!
For one thing, eggs can be expensive, and omitting them can help to keep costs down. Eggs can alter the texture of a cake, making it either denser or lighter. As a result, excluding eggs can be a way of achieving a desired texture. Finally, some people simply prefer the taste of eggless cakes.
Eggs play an important role in everything from cakes and cookies to meringues and pastry cream — they create structure and stability within a batter, they help thicken and emulsify sauces and custards, they add moisture to cakes and other baked goods, and can even act as glue or glaze.
Eggless cake may not come out fluffy for a host of reasons like not sifting the flour well, inactive leavening agent, improper mixing or overmixing the batter leading to deflation of air bubbles.
There could be various reasons, like you are not properly sifting the dry ingredients, or mixing the dry and wet ingredients too thoroughly. Or maybe the egg substitute is being too heavy. Make sure that the baking powder isn't too old or hasn't become moistened.
Eggs serve multiple functions in cake: They can be used to leaven the cake (think Angel Food Cake), and add moisture, tenderness, and structure. For chemically-leavened cakes — that is, cakes calling for baking powder or baking soda — it's OK if you don't remember to add the eggs until the end.
Eggs provide leavening, binding, and moisture retention properties. Without eggs, the cake may lack the necessary structure and moisture, resulting in a dense and firm texture. Adding alternative ingredients like yogurt, applesauce, or buttermilk can help improve the texture of eggless cakes.
Most of the times when I make Eggless Cakes, I use the mixture of vinegar + baking soda. The reaction of vinegar with baking soda releases carbon dioxide and this aerates the batter which helps in leavening the cake. This vanilla cake made without eggs uses the same reaction principle.
When air is incorporated into the protein molecules in egg whites, the proteins unwind and stretch to form an elastic web that encases the air bubbles. Egg whites can expand up to eight times their volume. They provide volume and structure to soufflés, angel food cake and meringues.
Eggs also contain a variety of proteins that create the structure of a cake, and when beaten, they can act as a leavening agent by adding air to the cake batter. However, if you add too many eggs to your cake batter, then your end result could be spongy, rubbery, or dense.
Substitutes like vinegar and baking soda, plain yogurt or buttermilk can help keep cake light, airy and structurally sound. Replace each egg with 1 teaspoon of baking soda combined with 1 tablespoon of vinegar, ¼ cup of plain yogurt or ¼ cup of buttermilk.
By removing this structure-building ingredient, you make the cake less structurally sound, so it becomes less fluffy and more likely to fall apart. Additionally, eggs also add to the cake's flavor profile, so cakes without eggs may taste too sugary.
Beaten whole eggs as well as egg whites on their own, are highly effective leavening agents, incorporating air into the dough or batter. As the air bubbles are trapped in the mixture, a foam is created, which will expand in the oven, causing cakes to rise, providing volume and a lighter texture.
Just like too little fat, too much of it can also cause your cake to fall apart. This was a mistake I made a lot in the beginning! Using too much butter or oil in a cake will cause it to become wet and heavy, meaning it might collapse or break when you try to cut a slice out.
Introduction: My name is Fr. Dewey Fisher, I am a powerful, open, faithful, combative, spotless, faithful, fair person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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