Gretchen Price - Modern Vegan Baking: The Ultimate Resource for Sweet and Savory Baked Goods

Copyright 2018 by Gretchen Price

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Photography Melina Thompson

ISBN: Print 978-1-62315-961-0 | eBook 978-1-62315-962-7

This book is dedicated to everyone who is consciously living life on this planet as cruelty-free as possible. We are all one, we are all connected.

contents

W elcome to Modern Vegan Baking. Maybe youre already vegan, or maybe youre on the fence. Maybe you have friends or family who have allergies to eggs and dairy. Maybe you think vegan baking is harder or more limiting.

Im here to tell you its not so hard.

As a Culinary Institute of America graduate with more than 20 years of experience in the professional baking industry, I teetered for a long time before deciding to go vegan. Even after I went vegetarian, I was still eating eggs and cheese on a daily basis. My bakery, YouTube channel, and blog all used animal products like eggs, milk, and cream cheese. But as I worked on these projects, I felt a painful conflict between my personal beliefs and my business ethics.

For me, the biggest reason I didnt go vegan sooner was because I was afraid I would never get to bake again. Baking is my life. Ive always loved the whole experienceespecially the science behind it.

So when I finally overcame my fear of becoming vegan, it was bakingof coursethat revived me, sparking a new obsession with innovative vegan baking ingredients and methods.

Vegan baking has evolved exponentially in just a few short years. Gone are the days of bland desserts baked with odd and hard-to-find ingredients. Today, vegans can make and enjoy decadent cakes, cookies, brownies, breads, and more, using familiar ingredients from the grocery store.

I want to teach you what Ive learned: that vegan baking can be every bit as delicious and authentic as traditional baking; that new ingredients and methods are opening up exciting new options in the world of vegan baking; and that everything tastes better without animal products. Nothing would make me happier than sharing my favorite recipes with you, and helping you feel confident in your newfound baking skills. Your health will thank you, the planet will thank you, the animals will thank you, and I sincerely thank you for coming on this journey with me.

Vegan baking has come a long way.

Before I learned about the fantastic range of ingredients that are now available, I was completely mystified byand I will admit, terrified ofbaking without eggs, butter, and milk. After all, isnt that what baking is?

Alternatives for these ingredients have always existed in nature, but they were rarely farmed, harvested, sold, and used for bakinguntil now.

My first experience with a vegan cake recipe came, oddly enough, from a Depression-era cookbook. In those days, ingredients like butter, eggs, and milk were scarce. But people will always want cake, and you know the saying: Where there is a will, there is a way. So they found a way. I was nonetheless impressed that a cake could come out as well as it did without those three major baking ingredients.

The alternative dairy industry has so much to offerfrom soy milk to almond milk to oat milk and others in between. Milks made from coconut and rice are now getting whipped into cream. Vegan butter is showing up in the most obscure places, which means vegan alternatives are in demand and the suppliers are listening to us.

Good egg substitutes have been the most elusive of the vegan baking ingredients, but we are seeing more and more options hitting the markets. These range from branded proprietary blends to simple ingredients like flax, chia seed, and the magical aquafabaa recent discovery that is sweeping the vegan world.

In this book, youll learn how to use all these ingredients, as well as how to know which ingredients are best for different types of baked goods. Youll also find recipes for some of your pantry staples in case you arent able to find store-bought versions easily. Even if your grocer doesnt carry vegan butters and cheeses, delicious ingredients are never out of reach.

tools of the trade

As a professional baker, I have a pretty big arsenal of tools and equipment, but over the years I have found myself purging many of them and only holding on to the essentials I cant live without. Most of these essentials are basic tools, so even if you are just a rainy day baker, you probably already have them in your kitchen pantryor that scary drawer in the kitchen. Yeah, we all have that drawer.