Why Aquafaba Is One Of The Best Egg Substitutes For Vegan Cake

Vegan alternatives: don't knock'em before you've tried'em! While sticking with regular ingredients may seem like the safer option, vegan substitutes are a delicious and inclusive choice. When baking vegan cake, one of the trickier adjustments can be substituting for eggs — traditionally used to add moisture to most baked goods. But have no fear, aquafaba is here to save your cake.

Aquafaba is the liquid from chickpeas and other legumes that are cooked, and it is the reason why you should never get rid of leftover liquid form canned beans. It can be used in its more watery state or whipped into a fluffier mixture, both versions add moisture to your vegan cake. Given that it thickens and emulsifies the batter like eggs do, aquafaba is a great vegan alternative for all baking. Note that aquafaba can also be added to any flavor of cake or muffin, so you can use it in a variety of recipes. There is nothing worse than a dry slice of cake, especially for a vegan guest who may be watching others take luscious bites of non-vegan dessert. So, try this no-waste vegan switch that will have all mouths watering.

Aquafaba — which roughly translates to "bean water" in Latin — is a product you've likely been buying for years without knowing. Whenever you strain a can of chickpeas or beans, the liquid that you dump is actually the key to more moisture. Aquafaba blends seamlessly with your other ingredients and supplies liquid that has a similar density and effect as eggs. This way, your vegan cake will still be light and fluffy without being too watered-down or oily.

So how do you incorporate your aquafaba into your recipe? If you look up vegan cake recipes, many will tell you how much you need, but let's break it down. Most cans of beans contain between ½ to ¾ cup of liquid — that's the aquafaba. Knowing how much liquid your recipe calls for in relation to the cans tells you how much to buy. Additionally, if you're using a non-vegan recipe and want to substitute the eggs, it's important to know that one egg is the same as around 3 tablespoons of aquafaba. There are around 8 tablespoons of liquid in your canned beans, so do the math accordingly.

Finally, no, your vegan cake will not taste like beans! While there may be a hint of chickpea smell in your raw batter, baking the cake will meld the ingredients and eliminate any overpowering taste of the bean.

Aquafaba is only one of the ways to elevate your vegan cake and vegan baking as a whole. There are plenty of dairy substitutes for milk, but one of the best for vegan cake is soy. Soy milk actually has a similar emulsifying effect to aquafaba, and mimics the role of egg yolks in non-vegan baking. This ups the moisture content again, and also packs extra protein in your cake.

You can also keep the magic of the aquafaba going when you move into the decorating phase of baking. Aquafaba can be easily whipped into a meringue — as long as you avoid common meringue mistakes — or silky batter that allows it to be easily combined into a frosting or vegan buttercream. You can use a low-moisture vegan butter to combine with the aquafaba for lightness and some sugar for sweetening to top your vegan cake. And, since aquafaba mixes to be white, it's easy to add food coloring and make your decorations all your own. You can also mix up a fabulous aquafaba chocolate mousse that can either be enjoyed on it's own, or between the layers of your cake.