In this article I will tell you some simple, vegan alternatives to animal products that are used a lot for cooking and baking.
Gelatin/Gelling Agents
Lately I read about a vegan ingredient with a very funny name: Agar-Agar, which is obtained from red algae, is a popular gelling agent for the preparation of vegan puddings, pies, terrines and more. Keep in mind that 10g of Agar-Agar resolved in 1L of water gels enough to become a firm, cuttable mass already. So if you want to „veganize“ a recipe which contains 6 platelets of gelatin, use 5g of Agar-Agar instead. Also this only starts to harden after cooling down.
Another gelling agent, but also binder, would be guar seed flour. It’s gained from seeds of the guar bean. The practical thing about this is that it binds in a hot but also a cold condition. So it’s perfect for making pudding, mousse or creamy sauces. Half a tea spoon of guar seed flour binds 150 ml of water.
Butter and Cream
It should be well known that you can replace butter with margarine but notice that it can contain yoghurt or buttermilk. Also it can include animal products like several acids or fat.
To replace whipped cream numerous companies serve soy alternatives. But there also is cream from rice milk or coconut cream which is particularly yummy. Whether you can whip the cream or not should be told by the wrapping. Otherwise, there even is soy whipped cream in a can.
Vegan baking recipes for the winter
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