What’s
the difference between these two lemon drizzle loaves? They are both light and
lemony and have a crunchy top to them. The one on the left is the traditional,
never-fail Mary Berry recipe I have used for years and the one on the right is
a vegan version…and you really can’t tell the difference!
For the
past four months I have been the sole provider of cakes for Bora Coffee Co, an
independent coffee shop in Shirley near Shirley in the West Midlands. I make a
range of different cakes and slices – pear and ginger, banana, tiffin,
cranberry and chocolate flapjack, sticky ginger bake with a lemon cream cheese
topping, carrot cake, scones, fruit bread – the regular range of goodies you’d
come to expect from a coffee shop. At the bottom of each of the labels is VGN;
all of the cakes are suitable for vegans. Vegans don’t believe that they are
suitable and when they do, they like the range of bakes on offer. Those who are
not vegan can’t tell the difference. We don’t market the bakes and ‘vegan cakes’
but cakes that sure suitable for vegans and this is where the difference comes.
The traditional image of vegan cakes is that they are very healthy and use
alternatives to sugar, nothing refined and often a random vegetable or piece of
fruit. These clearly have an important market, but working with Bora, we wanted
to go for the ‘indulgent vegan’ market, after all, if you go out for coffee and
cake, you want to indulge yourself, don’t you?
Until I
started baking for Bora, I had never made a vegan cake and was quite anxious
about how they would work. In reality I have found that there are so many
alternative ingredients and methods, that I now really enjoy baking in a vegan
way. I am forever looking at how I can make cakes that are suitable for vegans –
the last was a Christmas cake traybake. It was so popular, I had order from
customers for entire cakes to take home!
I have
had to ‘unlearn’ some of the methods I have used for years, and my beloved
KitchenAid mixer rarely gets used. The art to vegan baking is light mixing and
combining rather than creaming and folding. This makes many of the cakes quick and
easy to make.
Rising
comes from a combination of flour and raising agents. Instead of using eggs,
ground flax seeds combined with lukewarm water have never failed in a darker
coloured bake such as my pear and ginger loaf. Egg replacement powder is used
for some of the lighter bakes or in cookies that are the chewiest I have ever
made. Sometimes no binding agent is needed at all – I’m still not entirely sure
why, but I know that the bakes still work really well. Buttercreams and cream
cheese toppings can still be made and enjoyed, with non-vegans unable to tell
the difference. Even many kinds of chocolate are dairy free and they don't need to cost the earth - look at Vegan Womble's blog, you'll be amazed!
So in
this Veganuary, try something different when you’re baking, give vegan a go!
Here’s my recipe for a lemon drizzle loaf that is suitable for vegans, not a
vegan lemon drizzle loaf!
Ingredients
250g
self-raising flour
150g
caster sugar
½ tsp
baking powder
½ tsp
bicarbonate of soda
220ml
soya milk
120ml
vegetable oil
zest of a
lemon
For the
topping
100g
granulated sugar
juice of
a lemon
Method
1. Pre-heat the oven to 180/ 160/ Gas
Mark 4 and line a 2lb loaf tin with either parchment paper or a loaf tin liner.
2. Put all the dry ingredients and
the lemon zest in a bowl and mix lightly.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together
the oil and soya milk
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry
and gently stir in until just combined. Try not to overmix as it can make the
finished cake heavy.
5. Bake in the centre of the oven for
35 to 40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Meanwhile, mix together the
granulated sugar and lemon juice.
7. Use a cocktail stick to make holes
across the top of the loaf while it is still hot and pour over the lemon and
sugar.
8. Leave in the tin until cool
A great
inspiration and go-to book is Ms Cupcakes Naughtiest Vegan Cakes in Town. If you are ever in Shirley, pop along to Bora and try for yourself! I'm there on a Thursday morning too.