vegan desserts?

[Thorn]

If substituting flax seed for eggs, besides letting it sit, get out a fork and beat it. That also helps turn the flax + liquid into a gelatinous mass. It not only binds like egg, but it is gooey like an egg.

Also, realize that the flax seed serves as a binder. If the egg in the recipe is for binding, then the flax alone will work; if the egg is also for leavening, then you need to bump up the leavening in the recipe (e.g., 1/4-1/2 t baking powder).

I've been playing with converting recipes to vegan. If you're trying to go true vegan, margarines are generally not vegan. White sugar and bleached white flour are not vegan (bone meal) and many chocolate chips will have milk products or milk derived ingredients. I'm surprised at how much milk and dairy permeate our food.

That said, if I were a dinner party guest and someone tried to make the dessert vegan, regardless of any oops's (e.g., honey), I'd be tickled pink that they tried and eat with a smile on my face. I'm not of the rabid vegan/vegetarian sort and anyone trying gets mega kudos in my book.

Things to consider (mostly based on cookie experimentation, but also brioche-style breads and some quick breads):

+ a good canola oil works for your butter (measure by equivalent weight, not volume); olive oil works for breads. In cookies, mix the oil with sugars, then separately mix up the egg substitute of choice (a protien rich faux milk seems to work better). Add the egg substitute to the oily sugar mixture and beat for about 2 minutes. You'll see the batter transform from an oily sugar to a smooth caramel consistency. You need this step to avoid an oily taste in the cookies.
+ don't overbake. I cannot stress this one enough. I'm amazed at how sensitive a cookie is to cooking time when you remove the eggs and butter. If you over cook, you'll end up with dry hocky pucks.
+ don't taste the cookies warm. Really. They're oily, but that goes away as they cool.
+ if you work with salted butter, remember that oil doesn't have that salt. You may need to compensate with more salt.

Oh, Eden's chocolate tofu.....decadent and amazingly good.

[KnottedYet]

A-HA! My flax problem was I just added the ground flax and water to my pancake mix directly. I didn't mix them, let them sit, or beat them beforehand.

Cool! Thanks, you guys!

(mmmm, waffles....)

[OakLeaf]

Willow Run margarine was the brand that we always carried in our natural food store, 30 years ago, for the vegan folks. I haven't read the label in ages though.

Also, when I was diagnosed with milk allergy, Country Crock brand in the crock (not in sticks) was casein free, but I don't know whether it was ever actually vegan.

Nowadays I try to stay away from trans fats. Has anyone been successful using coconut oil as shortening?

[rubywagon]

Nowadays I try to stay away from trans fats. Has anyone been successful using coconut oil as shortening?

Not yet, but I use it on my hair and it is awesome. The container it comes in tells me I can use it to "butter" my toast and moisturize my skin. You can't lose.

[uk elephant]

In a saucepan, combine:
2 cups packed finely grated carrots
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat cover and let sit for at least an hour (longer is better)

In a large bowl, combine:
3 cups unbleached white flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder

Stir together the dry ingredients to mix well and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 300F. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Stir the cooled carrot mixture into the dry ingredients just until no trace of flour is left. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a rack, then invert onto a serving plate. To serve, dust with confectionar's sugar or a simple lemon glaze.

The cake comes out rich, moist and full of flavour. I had to remember not to call it fat free or vegan to my friends (all vociferous carnivores), but they all enjoyed it and I've made it many times since. The recipie comes from the "Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts" and there are lots more delicious recipies there....

[Susan Otcenas]

....bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Have you ever used this recipe to make a sheet cake?

[Becky]

I ended up tracking down some vegan margarine (thanks Knott!) and making vegan brownies. They were a hit! The texture was a little gooey, perhaps because of the lack of eggs. I wonder if it's time to buy new baking powder? I baked them a little longer just to firm them up. The flavor was awesome!

Thanks for all of your suggestions! I know we'll be hanging with this group more often in the future, and now I have a stash of recipes to try. *bookmarks this thread*

[Owlie]

Nowadays I try to stay away from trans fats. Has anyone been successful using coconut oil as shortening?

Not vegan, but...
The recommendation I always see with coconut oil is that you have to use it where the coconut flavor would be desirable, but if it's in certain baked goods it may not be a problem. I think the melting point of coconut oil is lower than that of shortening, so you might have to take that into account too.

[Atlas]

I actually signed up so I could answer this question. I'm really glad someone posted a link to the Post Punk Kitchen since thats the site that has helped me the most. There are a lot of great recipes that are vegan already or with small changes. A lot of wacky cake recipes are vegan and wonderful, even just sprinkled with powdered sugar. You could also make any sort of fruit by and substitute the butter with margarine (I highly recommend Earth Balance since its one of the only vegan butters I've tried that mimics butter in baking, especially in pastry - plus its available in sticks so its easy to measure). The chocolate tofu pie is another great idea, as well as peanut butter chocolate pies that are easy and taste like giant peanut butter cups.

Here are some recipes:
Peanut Butter Chocolate Pie
Wacky Cake (Chocolate Cake)

I have a ton more recipes if you had something in mind. Just keep in mind that not all margarine is vegan, some people are particular about sugar (cane sugar is often processed with bone char, but many generic sugars are beet sugar and are completely vegan), if using something processed read the label for things not on the allergen list like gelatin, and make sure to eat some of the batter

[papaver]

This is one of my moste favorite desserts and it is dead simple.

http://moroccanfood.about.com/od/des...e_cinnamon.htm