Egg replacement: replace the egg in the dough
Time and again it happens: I want to bake cakes or pancakes and again I have no eggs in the house. Unfortunately, the supermarket has already closed. Necessity is the mother of invention ? So I tried it without eggs and replaced them with different ingredients.
Cake baking without egg
Although I'm not a vegan, but I still leave the egg in some recipes or replace it. In many cake doughs I sometimes sometimes give too many eggs. In carrot cake also like six or more eggs are used. You can also leave out one or two eggs and if the dough gets too firm, add a little milk or water or sometimes even cream cheese. But can one completely replace these many eggs? In a carrot cake or sponge cake are finally many eggs as a binder in it. You should keep the ingredients together when baking. Especially the lecithin in the egg yolk helps that ingredients such as water and oil mix well. The protein makes the cake stronger. With sponge cake it is therefore difficult to do without eggs.
Baking powder or applesauce as an egg substitute
If eggs are not needed as a binder but just to make a dough more airy (for example, by means of egg whites) or just give the dough more liquid, then eggs can be easily replaced and sometimes I renounce even completely. In a short pastry I then use e.g. sometimes no egg. If it gets too dry just add some milk or water to it. You can also make pancakes completely without eggs. Simply with flour, mineral water and milk. But then they are more like crepes. If you want to be sweet, add vanilla sugar and sometimes baking soda. Baking soda can replace eggs. Baking soda is a mixture of baking soda and an acidifier. It is ideal for cakes with only one egg. That can easily be replaced by a teaspoon of baking soda. So the cake is loose even without an egg.
In a dough with one to two eggs, I also use applesauce as a substitute. This works especially well with muffins. You can also take half of a beaten banana instead of one egg. The banana you can taste it, too. That's why I only do it with banana muffins. Applesauce has the advantage that it is tasteless. The apple flavor is almost completely lost during baking. I replace an egg with 2-3 tablespoons applesauce. In addition, I take a little more baking soda.
Linseed or soy flour
Also, I have already mixed linseed in my cake dough. However, this tastes in a batter rather moderately good. To omit an egg, I mix one to two tablespoons of ground flaxseed with the same amount of water. Because of the taste, I only use this with oat biscuits or bitter doughs. If you like, you can also use soya flour as a substitute for eggs. Since soy is mainly grown in the USA and in South America, genetically modified and the soybean fields are also a danger for the rainforest in South America, I avoid soy. In addition, the flour leaves a very unique aftertaste. Nevertheless, you can replace an egg with a tablespoon of soy flour. However, you have to add additional water.
Instead of soybean meal, I prefer to use cornstarch. A tablespoon mixed with one to two tablespoons of water is suitable for replacing one in cakes and pastries. Starch has the distinct advantage that it binds very well and is also tasteless. I personally think that's better. For vegans, egg replacement powder may be a solution to avoid eggs. The powder works like soy flour, but has the advantage that tastes more neutral than soy flour. The powder usually contains lupine flour or corn starch. I would definitely prefer soy flour not only because of the better taste but also because of the cultivation conditions.
