Tried Out Five Substitutes for Eggs in Cakes, and One Clearly Stood Out
Flexible, Egg-Free Cake Magic: Top 5 Cake Substitutions Revisited
Getting your hands on a satisfying, egg-free cake has never been simpler! Whether you're viting for a special occasion or a spontaneous sweet tooth craving, these five easily accessible egg replacements allow you to create your ultimate sugar dreams. After putting these alternatives to the test, surprisingly, some even mimic the taste and texture of cakes made with eggs. Let's dive into the findings!
Picking the Perfect Recipe
To ensure fairness in our testing process, I decided to utilize a reliable yellow cake recipe that I've previously used. It features a blend of butter and oil, sugar, milk, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs, which produces a sturdy, level cake with a delicious vanilla scent. For simplicity, convenience, and reducing mess, I poured the batter into cupcake liners instead of large cake pans. The original egg-based cake functions as a control round.
The Chosen Replacements
Out of the multitude of egg substitutes available, I opted for the most commonly mentioned ones: mashed banana, Greek yogurt, applesauce, aquafaba, and a tapioca flour and baking powder mixture.
Eggs play numerous essential roles in cake batter, acting as a binder, leavener, emulsifier, adding structure, and enhancing moisture. However, it's crucial to maintain realistic expectations since few other ingredients can capture all these functions without making compromises.
Rounding Up the Results
Now, the moment you've been waiting for—the conclusions! Below are the top and bottom performers in the eggless cake challenge.
- Aquafaba: Ready to be amazed by aquafaba? This liquid from canned chickpeas or other beans truly impressed. The cake was both scrumptious and remarkably similar in structure and flavor to traditional egg-inclusive cakes. Plus, it's simple to incorporate: three tablespoons for each whole egg. A heads up for lower-sodium varieties, reduce the salt content by a quarter teaspoon. Mixed during the same stage as the egg in the original recipe, aquafaba makes a fantastic candidate for vegan desserts.
- Tapioca Flour and Baking Powder: This blend produced a tasty final product too! Deducting points for the extra effort required and potential difficulty in sourcing tapioca flour in certain locations, the cake had more lift and tenderness than the aquafaba replacement. It's more delicate when stacking layers for multi-layered cakes. To use, mix one tablespoon of tapioca flour with water, and a quarter teaspoon of baking powder. This combination replaces one whole egg in your cake recipe. Alternatively, simply add the extra baking powder measurement to the dry ingredients, then add the tapioca-water mixture to the butter-sugar mixture and proceed with the recipe.
- Banana: Bananas, being versatile helpers in batters, resemble eggs in terms of binding and adding moisture. Plus, they're easy to access pretty much everywhere. The finished product maintains sturdiness and moisture, making it suitable for elaborate decoration. However, it will taste like banana, which could be a turn-off for certain palates. Smash up a quarter-cup of banana per egg needed to achieve the ideal replacement.
- Greek Yogurt: I've always loved adding yogurt or sour cream into cake batters because it keeps the cake moist and flavorsome. Sadly, it didn't meet the mark as an egg substitute. The taste was divine, but the structural integrity was questionable, causing the cake to sink while cooling. To replace one whole egg, use a quarter-cup of Greek yogurt. This earning comes from the lovely flavor, but it's crucial to note that it's more comfortably utilized as a moisture-booster rather than an egg replacement for cakes requiring structure.
- Applesauce: With emulsification capabilities similar to bananas, applesauce falls short when it comes to structural support. After cooling, the cake sank in the center, not as severely as yogurt but still, not ideal. Applesauce adds moisture to the batter but its lack of structure leads to a stodgy center. Additionally, I discovered that applesauce contributes a slightly nauseating flavor and over-sweetens the cake, even with natural, unsweetened applesauce. Utilize a quarter-cup of applesauce per egg if you must rely on it, but it's generally recommended to avoid it in cakes requiring structure.
Effortless Transformations with Aquafaba
If your goals are to create tasty, egg-free cakes and cupcakes with minimal fuss and specialty ingredients, look no further than aquafaba! Boasting excellent structure, moisture, and a neutral flavor, it's the perfect ingredient to keep around. Bonus points go to aquafaba for its capacity to act as a whipped egg replacement in recipes that call for whipped eggs. A versatile kitchen helper you didn't know you needed, aquafaba is essentially free if you've been storing it in your freezer from your bean-cooking adventures!
Food-drink offers several types of egg replacements for cake recipes, such as aquafaba, banana, Greek yogurt, applesauce, and a tapioca flour and baking powder mixture, which are vital for baking an eggless, yet satisfying cake. Among these possibilities, aquafaba and tapioca flour with baking powder might be the best choices as they can closely mimic the taste and texture of cakes made with eggs. Possibly, experimenting with different combinations could yield even more impressive results.
