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Lentil
Feb 21st, 2006, 08:44 PM
I haven't posted on here for *ages*! Still, in that time, I'm steadily heading vegan-ward and enjoying it all more and more. The coffee+milk issue was quite a bit one for me (noticed a thread going about that too so I guess it's not just a stumbling block for me!) but I've finally adjusted my taste buds to black coffee :D

The biggest problem I have at the moment is cakes/biscuits. I've got a definate weak spot for cookery books and have shelves of the damn things - so heading towards being a vegan has given me the perfect excuse to buy dozens more! Yey!! Trouble is though, I tried that delicious looking chocolate cake off the front of a Leah Leneman book and it was AWFUL :eek: In fact I didn't know whether to be sick or just laugh - it was totally bitter and the layers of cake all slid off one another!!

Attempt two was slightly better - an orange sponge cake. Again though, it was quite bitter. It was edible this time but let's just say I didn't go back for seconds.

Any ideas? Where on earth am I going wrong? Could it be becuase they were both made with wholemeal flour?

Are there any really good tried and tested recipes out there please? I'd really appreciate it!:o

DancingWillow
Feb 21st, 2006, 08:54 PM
Hi Lentil,

Sorry about your bitter cake:(. Sometimes it takes a bit of experimenting to find a recipe that you really like. You can browse through the sweets folder on the forum; it has many recipes for lots of delicious vegan desserts:D

Btw, have you tried almond milk in your coffee? It's delicious!

Maisiepaisie
Feb 21st, 2006, 08:54 PM
Are there any really good tried and tested recipes out there please? I'd really appreciate it!:oSo would I. My cakes are quite awful. Not at all light and fluffy but more like lumps of cement :(

DancingWillow
Feb 21st, 2006, 09:02 PM
So would I. My cakes are quite awful. Not at all light and fluffy but more like lumps of cement :(

What flour do you use and what egg replacer? Organic all-purpose flour works well for me (I use Arrowhead Mills). I think that would help with the fluffiness.:) I tried to make pancakes with a different flour and they were quite flat, hard, and did not taste good.

twinkle
Feb 21st, 2006, 09:22 PM
I never use wholemeal flour in cakes, as (like you) I find the result does tend towards bitterness. Also, you might like to cut down the amount of baking powder - if it calls for more than a flat tablespoon I generally don't follow that recipe (actually, nowadays I just use self raising flour and skip baking powder at all).

It is important to not skip the sieving of flour or the beating of margarine and sugar as these both help with the lightness.

Good luck. I'm sure there are a lot of tried and tested cake recipes on here - have you tried a search?

Maisiepaisie
Feb 21st, 2006, 09:51 PM
What flour do you use and what egg replacer? Organic all-purpose flour works well for me (I use Arrowhead Mills). I think that would help with the fluffiness.:) I tried to make pancakes with a different flour and they were quite flat, hard, and did not taste good.I use organic self raising flour and Allergycare egg replacer. Someone recommended Ener G which I just got but I haven't tried yet

DancingWillow
Feb 21st, 2006, 10:06 PM
I've heard good things about EnerG too, though I haven't tried it either. I use one small/medium mashed banana for each egg in a recipe. The banana flavor is prominent, but I like it very much, so it works well for me (for desserts)!

Hmm, the flour you use should work, so I'm not sure why it isn't...

Tigerlily
Feb 21st, 2006, 10:11 PM
I never use wholemeal flour in cakes, as (like you) I find the result does tend towards bitterness. Also, you might like to cut down the amount of baking powder - if it calls for more than a flat tablespoon I generally don't follow that recipe (actually, nowadays I just use self raising flour and skip baking powder at all).

It is important to not skip the sieving of flour or the beating of margarine and sugar as these both help with the lightness.

Good luck. I'm sure there are a lot of tried and tested cake recipes on here - have you tried a search?

The baking powder thing makes sense. I made a cake this past summer and it called for some baking powder (like 2 tablespoons I think), and it was horribly bitter and metallic.

Lentil
Feb 21st, 2006, 10:19 PM
Thanks for that - glad it's not just me :) The thought of no more cakes and puddings just isn't good! I'll have a look through the recipes, etc and see what I can see. I haven't tried using anything like egg replacers, etc in "normal" recipes yet, only using vegan recipes.

What type of fat do most of you use? I had one recipe which called for vegetable oil but in the other I used Pure and it was too soft I think? :confused:

Tigerlily
Feb 21st, 2006, 10:20 PM
I don't bake much at all (too discouraged) but I normally use vegan margarine or vegetable oil if the recipe calls for an oil.

Lentil
Feb 22nd, 2006, 08:13 AM
I've found a few recipes in the "sweet" section on here so I'll give them a go and post the verdict :)

I've been thinking about flapjacks and wondering it they would work with vegan margerine? I know the shop-bought vegan ones are usually made with oil but I can't find any recipes for oil ones. :confused:

celtic rose
Feb 22nd, 2006, 09:21 AM
If you don't mind adding to your book collection I can heartily recommend Vegan Feasts by Rose Elliot. It is the best vegan cookery book ever.

The recipe for sponge cake actually works and is delicious, and the recipe for mayonnaise is fab. I make it all the time and it's so simple.

You can get it from the vegan society or amazon.
http://www.vegansociety.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=42
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/072254006X/qid=1140599749/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_2_3/203-7245717-6234320

Mr Flibble
Feb 22nd, 2006, 09:49 AM
Trouble is though, I tried that delicious looking chocolate cake off the front of a Leah Leneman book and it was AWFUL :eek: In fact I didn't know whether to be sick or just laugh - it was totally bitter and the layers of cake all slid off one another!!

I described this book on my book review site (http://books.offline.org.uk/index.php?cat=cookery) as:

"What drugs has this women been taking? If you're an aspiring cookery author but don't know the difference between a tsp and 3 tbsps then write to harpercollins, they may well publish you. You're having a laugh love. This book gets a prestigious 1 star. My thoughts just go to the people who have a clue and write good recipes but never get published."

The cake was the first thing i tried from the book and it was a disaster waiting to happen.


Could it be becuase they were both made with wholemeal flour?

It's not just that, but it doesn't help. A lot of vegans are obsessed with healthy eating as opposed to junk addicts who did so for animal rights reasons. You could be forgiven for thinking after doing a random survey of books in whsmith that vegan food cannot contain processed flour, refined sugar etc, but that's just not the case. I think part of the reason is that publishers know that part of their market is non vegans who want a dietting fad. Many people combine the 2, but veganism itself is only about cutting out animal ingredients not healthy eating. I'm personally not adverse to healthy eating in any way, but I don't see the point of trying to make something which by it's very nature is a combination of sugar, wheat and fat slightly more healthy at the major compromise of taste, texture and sanity. Of course, some cakes can be made with wholewheat, but in sponges it's just wrong.

Assuming it's being used as a binding agent, I've yet (in over 6 years of baking regularly) to find a practical use for egg replacer. A well designed and executed cake recipe doesn't need it and can produce much better results with a good set of ingrediants and technique instead. Simple is generally better. I haven't published my sponge recipe yet, but the best online I've found and made several times is this one (http://www.parsleysoup.co.uk/VeganCakes/lemon_cake.htm).

Cherry
Feb 22nd, 2006, 10:04 AM
Thanks Mr Flibble :)

Maisiepaisie
Feb 22nd, 2006, 10:29 AM
I printed it off and will try it later. Thanks :D

harpy
Feb 22nd, 2006, 10:35 AM
I've been thinking about flapjacks and wondering it they would work with vegan margerine? I know the shop-bought vegan ones are usually made with oil but I can't find any recipes for oil ones. :confused:

I imagine so - I've seen commercial ones that are made with "vegetable margarine".

Vegan cakes have a tendency to be dry in my experience - the ones you sometimes get in restaurants are usually slathered with icing or icecream to make up for it.

I'm no baker but I have the impression that compared with, say, sponge cakes, it's easier to make fruit cakes or fruit-based cakes that are vegan (perhaps because the fruit keeps them moist and they don't have to rise much?). My mother makes a vegan Christmas cake every year, not bothering with egg replacer, and it's fine. I have got a banana cake recipe somewhere that seems fairly foolproof - I'll try and dig it out.

Pob
Feb 22nd, 2006, 10:37 AM
A friend suggested this using this recipe:

http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=124

Make two of those and then:

Put 4 ounces of margerine in a bowl, soften with a fork then gradually add 12 ounces of sieved icing sugar, mix well then add 1 ounce of melted chocolate and mix. Spread a little between the 2 layers and smother the rest of the cake with it.

Tastes great using spelt flour instead of wholewheat flour, too.

Note - I assume the cup measure is the US size - 8 fluid oz.

Maisiepaisie
Feb 22nd, 2006, 02:28 PM
Mr Flibbles cake recipe is the best one I ever made. My 2 boys loved it too! I'm going to take some round to my mums later. Thanks Mr Flibble :D

Mr Flibble
Feb 22nd, 2006, 03:46 PM
I'm just the messenger, it's Cherry's recipe :)

Maisiepaisie
Feb 22nd, 2006, 04:41 PM
I didn't realise it was Cherry from this forum. Awsome site ...thanks Cherry :D

Cherry
Feb 22nd, 2006, 04:56 PM
:)

Gorilla
Feb 22nd, 2006, 05:04 PM
if you can get hold of a copy of a little booklet called The Cake Scoffer, it's got some great recipes in it. i think Animal Aid sell it. the fruit cake is lovely :)

Simple Treats is another good vegan baking book and you can buy it from the Dr Hadwen Trust or the Vegan Society i think.

meatless
Feb 22nd, 2006, 11:25 PM
I have made the Vegan Chocolate cake and Triple Layer Cake from this site www.veganmania.com and they are phenomenal.

Lentil
Feb 22nd, 2006, 11:50 PM
If you don't mind adding to your book collection I can heartily recommend Vegan Feasts by Rose Elliot. It is the best vegan cookery book ever.

LOL, I'm always happy to have "any" excuse to add to my collection :D I like Rose Elliot, I have a couple of her vegetarian books which are good (and contain lots of vegan bits).

Thanks for all the recipes & thoughts all - I feel quite spurred on :)

Cherry, I've looked through your site quite alot over the past few weeks - it's excellent! ;)

Wanda
Feb 23rd, 2006, 03:20 AM
My favorite cookbooks for desserts are:
- 'Great Good Desserts' by Fran Costigan
- 'Simple Treats' by Ellen Abraham

I also like 'The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook' by Lorna Sass.
This book doesn't have a lot of desserts in it, but I really like her nut pie crust (use it for almost all my pies), pumpkin pie and oatmeal raisin cookies.

I have some sample recipes (http://www.veganpeace.com/recipe_pages/recipe_sources.htm) from these cookbooks on my website.
You should definitely try the 'Double Fudge Pecan Brownies' from Simple Treats. I actually won a brownie contest with them (even though I don't eat chocolate myself :) ).