Do you have a strict vegan in your family celebrating a birthday or other event that includes cake typically? You might not know what vegans don’t consume if you aren’t familiar with vegan dietary guidelines. Worse, you might not know what to feed them in substitute for what they don’t eat.
But don’t be concerned. I’ll outline everything you’ll need to bake the perfect cake for your vegan relative or friend in just a few phrases. The best part is that no one will notice the difference.
Let’s start with the foods that hardcore vegans avoid.
They are not egg eaters. They aren’t milk drinkers. They aren’t allowed to consume some forms of sugar. They do not consume butter. They also don’t eat icing.
Eggs can be substituted using “EnerG Egg Replacer,” which can be found at most grocery stores. The amount of replacer to use per egg will be specified on the packaging.
Organic rice milk, free of animal byproducts, can be used in cow’s milk. Rice milk is also available at your local supermarket.
Many vegans avoid sugar because it is frequently whitened by animal bone char. By purchasing “unbleached” sugar, sugar in the raw, or beet sugar, you can avoid sugar that has been whitened by bone char. Some cane sugars were not whitened with bone char, but they are difficult to differentiate from others unless you know the particular brand name.
Neither strict vegans nor strict vegetarians eat butter-based foods. If your cake recipe calls for butter, substitute margarine or vegetable shortening instead.
Vegans will not eat dairy frosting in addition to butter, sugar, milk, and eggs. If your recipe calls for frosting, try for a similar flavour of “non-dairy” frosting or make your own by substituting margarine for butter.
And there you have it: a vegan cake ingredient substitution guide. Follow the key, substitute vegan-unfriendly ingredients in your recipe, and your cake will satisfy even the most adamant vegetarian!
