Here’s why plant-based desserts are a piece of cake

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Historically, baked goods have relied on eggs and dairy products, common ingredients on most farms, to help bind, moisten and leaven. Generations reinforced the notion that this is how you make cakes, muffins and cookies. My grandma’s marmalade cookies call for butter and eggs, and my family’s go-to (since the 90s) chocolate birthday cake calls for plenty of buttermilk.

But there’s no reason baked goods need to contain animal products like eggs and dairy – and baked goods that stray from tradition are not lesser versions, nor should they be considered “alternative.”

Recipe: Frozen fruit ice is so simple, I wonder why I’ve never thought of it before

Vegan and plant-based baking is a noticeable theme among new cookbooks coming out this fall: There’s Plantcakes by Vancouver-based baker Lyndsay Sung, BReD: sourdough loaves, small breads, and other plant-based baking by B.C.-based vegan chef Ed Tatton, and other books, like The Buddhist Chef’s Homestyle Cooking by Jean-Philippe Cyr, have chapters dedicated to the subject.

All offer tips to add to your culinary tool box: there are plenty of plant-based butters (a rebranding of the term margarine) out there, and firmer brick-style is more consistent in texture than tub-style spreads, which can contain more water. Vegetable oils are amazing for cakes, muffins and quick breads. Shortening made with no animal products is perfect for flaky pastry; or start with a box of frozen puff, which is often plant-based too (check the label).

Not all milk comes from a cow: Sung recommends coconut (but warns the flavour can be detectable) or soy; I also like oat or pea-based milk, like Sproud or NotMilk, for baking. There are plenty of ingredients that bind and lift like eggs, and which you choose depends on what you’re making: there’s vinegar and baking soda, a generations-old method, or aquafaba – the liquid drained from a can of chickpeas – which can be whipped into airy meringue. There are store-bought egg replacers or you can stir 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed into 3 tablespoons of warm water to mimic the binding properties of an egg. And any batter that contains pectin-rich mashed bananas doesn’t need eggs at all.

Plant-Based Caramel Apple Cake with Oatmeal Cookie Crumble

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I road-tested this recipe for a wonderful fall cake from the new cookbook Plantcakes, by Lyndsay Sung. I’ve edited it slightly for space, and used two 9-inch round cake pans instead of the three 7-inch cake pans she calls for, which are less common in most kitchens. Feel free to make it three-tiered if you have the equipment.

Cake:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. fine salt

1 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups grated apple (don’t bother peeling it)

Oatmeal Cookie Crumbles:

5 Tbsp sugar

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. fine salt

1/4 cup unsalted plant-based butter, room temperature, cut into pieces

Salted Caramel:

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp corn syrup or golden syrup

½ cup plant milk

2 Tbsp unsalted plant-based butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. fine salt

Frosting:

1 ¾ cups unsalted brick-style plant-based butter, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups icing sugar, plus more if needed

2 tsp. vanilla

salted caramel (above)

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with non-stick spray, and line the bottoms with rounds of parchment.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, applesauce, sugars and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in the grated apple.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and springy to the touch. Let the cakes cool completely in their pans.

Meanwhile, make the cookie crumbles: combine the sugar, oats, flour and salt. Add the butter and blend with a fork or your fingers; press onto a parchment-lined sheet and bake for 15–20 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. Let cool completely and break into chunks.

Make the salted caramel: heat the sugar and corn syrup along with 2 Tbsp water in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over high heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let the mixture boil without stirring until it reaches a medium amber colour, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and carefully whisk in the plant milk (it will bubble up ferociously, so go slowly) along with the butter, vanilla and salt. (If the caramel hardens, stir it over low heat until it melts again.) Cool completely.

Make the frosting: in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and almost all of the salted caramel (save a few tablespoons for decorating) on low speed to combine, then beat until light and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed. If the frosting seems too loose, add a spoonful of icing sugar at a time until creamy and spreadable. Frost the completely cooled cake and top with cookie crumbles, and drizzle with the reserved salted caramel. Serves about 12.