How to replace eggs in pastry recipes
Eggs 🥚 are a fundamental ingredient in pastry allow us to thicken and gel sauces and creams, create emulsions, form foams, or bind different ingredients. Although they are difficult to replace in our recipes, it is not impossible!
For this, it is important to know what function the egg whites, egg yolks and whole egg perform in each recipe, and thus to know with which ingredients they can be substituted. This is something we cover in depth in the Extended Online B·Concept Pastry Course, along with knowledge of molecules and mastery of recipe formulation.
Egg whites contain a high percentage of water (88%) and protein (11%), as well as other macronutrients in small quantities. Proteins are undoubtedly the stars of the show, as they give structure to many pastry products pastry the gelling process. They also allow us to incorporate air into textures such as meringues, mousses, and soufflés, and help bind the different ingredients in cookies and cakes.
Egg whites contain a high percentage of water, so if we want to remove them, we will have to add the corresponding percentage of water to the recipe. To incorporate air into our dough, we can use vegetable proteins such as soy, potato, or aquafaba.
On the other hand, in addition to water (50%) and protein (15%), egg yolks 🥣 contain 30% fat, consisting of both saturated and unsaturated fats. Thanks to this combination, egg yolks give our creations texture and creaminess! They also contain lecithin, which allows us to create stable emulsions in ice cream and creamy desserts. When removing them, we can compensate for the emulsifying capacity by using powdered, granulated, or liquid lecithin from sunflower or soybeans.
Finally, in recipes where eggs are mainly used to bind ingredients, substitution is easier. We can use flax or chia seeds, apple purée, bananas, or nut butters. These will help us achieve a smooth dough that won't crumble after baking!
Thanks to the growing demand for plant-based alternatives, we can create pastry , lighter, and tastier pastry recipes using a wide range of plant proteins from legumes, nuts, tubers, and seeds.
Did you know that half of the recipes in our book "pastry , Lighter, and Tastierpastry " are egg-free?
🔬 Learn how to formulate them by following our B·Concept method!
