Post Punk Kitchen Forum

I have a friend of mine who is a professional baker. He often asks me questions on vegan subs in baking. I'm not the best baker and he is very interested in the science of ingredient substitutions and how the different ingredients react with each other and change texture, rising, etc. He is not vegan by a stretch, but he is very interested in creating vegan baked goods. I want to find a great book that talks about subs and why and how they are used in more detail. Plus it needs to have awesome recipes as well.

What book do you think best fits this description.

Great Good Desserts Naturally. It is Earth Balance and egg replacer free! There really isn't a vegan book that discusses food science in-depth.

Joy of Vegan Baking has good recipes and discusses substitutions, although it's not scientific, as I recall.

Thanks Isa and Zinnia. He may be helping me with the baking section of the project I'm working on and I want to get him good info on vegan baking. He baked professionally for Marriott in Europe and the US, but hasn't had much experience with vegan baking. I'm sure he'll be able to figure out a lot on his own, but I want to send him a little gift to sweeten the pot.

Honestly, there hasn't been a vegan Harold McGee yet. Joy of Vegan Baking doesn't have anything more than the PPK page on subs in terms of food science. It's essentially egg replacer and Earth Balance versions of Fanny Farmer type recipes. That's not a judgment call, just saying I wouldn't recommend it as a guide for anything. I wouldn't even recommend my books as a guide for subbing. When it comes down to it vegan baking isn't even necessarily about subbing as much as it is about experimenting. For instance, you can use cashew and agar to approximate a cream pie, but you aren't necessarily subbing anything one for one, you're just creating a translation of the recipe.

you can give him my email if you'd like? I'm a vegan in pastry school, and I work as a baker. I can try to answer specific questions.

I haven't looked at it yet but maybe The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions: Veganize It! ?

This.

It's also important to remember that it's not only what you use, but how you use it. If your friend understands basic baking science, he should be able to analyze the ingredient that he is trying to replace, and find something with those same qualities. Then, try and try again until you get it how you want it. I can't tell you how many times I've made some recipes before the light bulb has gone off.

Have you had him read the ppk page on subs yet?

since there was some mention about food science, or the lack there-of in vegan cookbooks, i thought i'd mention that in the recent issue of vegnews (sept/oct 2012) there are a couple of vegan baking books that are explaining the food science behind the recipes and why ingredients are chosen and what they do, and what a sub ingredient would do....

i have not tried either one nor do i own either one..... yet? ;)

learning to bake allergen-free by colette martin

sweet and easy vegan by robin asbell

How about ....Doran Peterson's book (the name escapes me). but she talks about knowing what you used the pregan ingredient for and what vegan substitute; ie: you can whip eggs. can you "whip" applesauce, or something like that. I found it very interesting when I read it. It's not super sciencey but it just helped you think about what you needed the substitution to do.

Sticky Fingers Sweets, I believe.