Baking Survival Guide - The Vegan France - Vivez Vegan
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The Vegan France
Baking
Survival Guide
www.vivezvegan.com
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Vegan Baking in France
If you’re a keen baker who’s recently moved to France, you might be
scratching your head when faced with the array of ingredients in the
supermarket. There’s a wide range of flour, all bearing different names and
some strange numbering system. There doesn’t seem to be any caster sugar
and though you’ve searched the shelves high and low, nothing resembles the
tubs of baking powder you may have been used to in the UK. Alternatively,
maybe you’ve kept away from the Great Bake-off arena, but you’re intrigued
about making vegan cakes. Perhaps you wonder if it is even possible to make
something like a traditional Victoria Sponge Cake without eggs.
This short Vegan France Baking Survival Guide covers the different basic cake-
making ingredients, what they are called, any differences from UK-type
products and how this will affect your recipe, what to buy and where to get it.
Then, there are ten tried-and-tested vegan cake recipes, all using French
ingredients that you can buy in your local supermarket.
These are all recipes that I’ve adapted and tested endlessly, as the waistlines
at VV HQ bear witness. The photographs are all genuine cakes, just out of the
oven, so there’s no fancy lighting or Instagram techniques at work. This is
genuine, homemade vegan baking. Bon appetite!
Liz
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How to check if a product is suitable for
vegans
This problem is less likely to crop up when shopping for cake ingredients as,
with the exception of eggs and dairy products, most ingredients are vegan in
nature. However, you may need to check out a tub of margarine or some
flavouring, so here’s quick run-down of the current labelling.
There is no single recognised label or mark in France that denotes a product
is suitable for vegan diets but look out for the following.
The EU vegetarian label
One label you may come across is the smart green and
yellow ‘V label’ on vegetarian and vegan food packaging of
the European Vegetarian Union. This is a voluntary
organisation based in Switzerland with members from all 28
EU countries. Some 800 food producers across the EU use
this label, including giants such as Aldi, Alpro and Unilever. Increasingly, this
label is appearing in France and can be spotted on both brand and
supermarket own-brand products. Watch out for the lettering below the V
though, as the label is applied to both vegetarian (may contain eggs/dairy)
and vegan products, so check for ‘vegetarian’ or ‘vegane’ below the V.
The Vegan Society
Although a UK-based organisation, the Vegan Society’s reach is
long. Its registered trademark with the distinctive sunflower is
quite common on vegan products across Europe, especially
those produced by multinational brands.
French vegan certification
Expertise Vegane Europe – EVE VEGAN – is a French-based
startup based in Chartes. Launched in 2017, it offers a
certification service with its green and white EVE VEGAN logo.
Products awarded the label range from vegan croissants and ice cream to wine,
beer, handbags and cosmetics.
These are the three main vegan symbols to look out for, although individual
manufacturers and brands may label a product as ‘végétal’ or ‘vegane’ or use
stylised versions of their own vegan leaf or symbol.
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Basic baking ingredients
Flour
There’s a whole range of flour in the baking aisles of most supermarkets, but
none bears any resemblance to the choice between self-raising, plain and
bread flour that you find in the UK. Flour is often the source of much anguish
for expat bakers, and I have seen many online complaints about the poor
quality of French flour (usually they have bought the wrong type) and the
failure of cakes to rise (not adding enough, or indeed any, raising agent).
French flour labelling is regulated by a law established in 1963, which divides
flour into six categories numbered from T45 to T150. The number is
calculated on the basis of the amount of ash left after burning ten kilos of
flour. The higher the number the stronger the flour, so T150 is equivalent to
wholewheat flour. In addition to the numbering system, many of the flours
also have names like Farine de ménage or Farine de blé (household flour –
usually T55), Farine de gâteaux (T45 with added raising agents – almost
equivalent to self-raising) and various bread flours.
The lowdown on the numbers:
T45 Finest white flour, for cakes and baking, like Italian 00
T55 White, everyday plain flour
T65 White, strong bread flour
T80 Light brown
T110 Brown
T150 Wholemeal
For general everyday flour, for recipes where I’d use plain flour in the UK, I
tend to use basic farine de ménage or farine de blé. In fact, I’ve had great
results with the supermarket own-brand basic flour, like SuperU’s Bien Vu. You
can always sieve it, if you prefer but I find it works great straight out of the
bag. I use it for both pastry and cakes. Whilst some people do report success
with the French flour that is designed for patisserie, either farine fluide or
farine de gâteaux, as I prefer to add my own quantities of raising agent – levure
chimique – I use T55 flour for virtually everything except yeasted cakes and
dough.
If you prefer a finer flour for cakes and biscuits then look for T45 – farine
fluide simply means it is milled finer than basic household flour; it has no
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added raising agent whereas farine de gâteaux is pre-mixed with baking
powder, like self-raising flour.
Bread-making flour is widely available. Often called farine de pain, it usually
contains added yeast or raising agents, so there’s no need to add extra yeast.
Most bags are marked as suitable for ‘machine à pain’ if they can be used in
a bread machine. If you want a bread flour without the yeast pre-mixed, maybe
to make a yeasted cake, then look for farine de blé T65.
This range of flour is available in all supermarkets, large and small. You can
also find it in bio shops. Another possibility, which can be great fun, is to
check out whether you have a local flour mill (Moulin) that sells direct to the
public. These are often small artisan enterprises that grind and sell their own
range of bio/organic flours; great for buying local products and bulk-buys if
you like making your own bread.
Quick resume
Farine fluide T45 fine, pastry flour
Farine de gâteaux T45 cake or pastry flour, with added raising
agent (nearest to self-raising)
Farine de blé T55 plain flour
Farine de ménage T65 household flour (usually low cost)
Farine de blé T65 strong flour (usually white, bread flour)
Farine complet T110+ whole wheat (brown) flour; may be
cereal too
Speciality flours
Speciality flours have a whole range of uses in baking, not just for gluten-free
diets, but in some traditional recipes, too. Blé de sarrasin (buckwheat flour),
which is gluten free, is the flour used to make the popular French crêpes. In
2016, France was the fourth largest world producer of sarrasin (ble noir). It is
most often grown in Brittany, hence the popular Breton crêpes
The country also grows some more unusual crops. Chestnut trees grow all
over France. In fact, the chestnut leaf is the symbol of the Limousin region,
where the chestnut trees thrive in poor quality soil, although production here
tends more towards timber. However, the best edible chestnuts grow further
south, in the Ardèche, Provence and Languedoc areas. The Ardèche even has
its own appellation farine de châtaigne, AOP. Chestnut flour has a long usage
history, dating back centuries to when it was a basic pain du pauvre (poor
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man’s bread) for Corsican peasants. Rice and chickpeas are also grown in the
far south, around the Mediterranean coast areas and both can appear as ‘made
in France’ flours.
If you’re baking for someone with a gluten allergy or intolerance, the good
news is that most supermarkets now stock a range of free from type foods,
usually found next to the organic products in the bio aisle. Most large chains
stock own-brand GF products and the well-known Gerblé ‘sans gluten’ brand,
too, amongst others. If you are searching for other speciality flour, like rice
flour, chickpea flour or cornflour then check out the supermarket first.
Cornflour is also widely available, the most popular brand being Maizena.
All the bio sops sell a good range of speciality flours, and usually GF products
too. Grand Frais is another option, if you have one nearby, and I’ve also picked
up some very good value rice and chickpea flours in the Asian supermarket.
As with many vegan products, online shopping is another option. All of the
French-based online vegan shops stock a good range of speciality flours, as
does Holland & Barrett if you’re planning a UK order.
Quick round-up of speciality flour types
Blé de sarrasin (also called blé noir) Buckwheat flour
Farine de mais (common brand: Maizena) Cornflour
Farine de pois chiche Gram flour or chickpea flour
Farine de l’épautre Spelt flour
Farine de siegle Rye flour
Farine de riz Rice flour
Farine de chataigne Chestnut flour
Fecule de pomme de terre Potato flour
Sugar
There’s not quite the same wide range of sugars available in France in
comparison to the UK, in particular in the supermarkets. Many recipes call for
different types of brown sugar – demerara, muscovado, light brown and
unrefined caster sugar. If you need to find these, the best place to look is in
the self-serve dispensers at the BioCoop or similar stores. Otherwise, in
supermarkets the choice is usually between white refined and brown cane
sugar. All of my recipes use either white or brown sugar and suffer no ill
effects.
Most French serve sugar for adding to tea and coffee as ‘sugar lumps’ – sucre
en morceaux. In fact, it’s a cultural requirement for guests – so keep some
sugar lumps handy as you may receive a strange look if, like me, you offer a
teaspoon and a jar of whatever baking sugar you happen to have on hand.
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According to some French aficionados, Bèghin Say ‘La Perruche’ is supposed
to be the best cubed sugar, as it’s unrefined cane sugar.
The standard budget-brand white sugar, such as SuperU’s Bien Vu sucre en
poudre, is quite finely ground, much finer than English granulated sugar and
I’ve found works well in any recipe calling for white caster sugar. There’s not
so much choice when it comes to brown sugar, but I’ve been successfully using
sucre cassonade, which is unrefined cane sugar. It’s supposed to be available
in cuivrée (light) and ambrée (dark), although the dark version can be harder
to track down in smaller supermarkets. I’ve been steering well clear of
Vergoise brune, which is a type of brown beet sugar sprayed with a caramel
coating so that it looks like brown sugar. Personally, I don’t like the idea of
adding something to the sugar.
Icing sugar is common, and it is called sucre glace. You can also buy little 7g
packets of vanilla sugar, which are great for making a flavoured whipped
coconut cream, adding to sweet pastry or making a sponge-type cake. Two
other sugars are the little round ‘perles de sucre’ which are used for sprinkling
on the top of cakes and pastries before cooking, and sucre special de confiture
which is jam-making sugar with added pectin.
Golden syrup is only seen in the ‘English Aisle’ at a suitably exorbitant price
but substitution with maple syrup (sirop d’erable) or sirop d’agave usually
works just as well. Blackstrap molasses or English thick black treacle can also
be tricky to track down, although the French have their own version of
molasses – mélasse noire de sucre de canne. Coconut sugar, which is
becoming popular in many modern vegan recipes, is starting to appear on the
shelves. Although more often tracked down in the bio shops, I have seen it
recently in Aldi’s Bon et Bio range.
Note for veggie friends from the US: I’ve often seen reference to Sucanat in
American dessert recipes. I’ve not seen this type of unrefined cane sugar here,
but the closest equivalent is the golden brown cassonade.
Quick resume
Sucre glace Icing sugar
Sucre en poudre Granulated/ caster sugar
Sucre cristal Granulated/ caster sugar
Sucre en morceaux Sugar cubes
Perles de sucre Small round balls of sugar for sprinkling
Cassonade Brown cane sugar
Cuivrée Light
Ambrée Dark
Sucre de confiture Jam sugar
Vergoise Beet sugar (sprayed with colouring)
Mélasse Molasses
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Fat, oils and butter alternatives
Margarine is a French invention! Back in 1813 a French chemist discovered
margaric acid. However, it was not until Napoleon offered a prize for the
creation of a butter substitute to feed troops that a different French chemist,
Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès, developed a substance he named margarine. Early
versions used animal fats in the raw materials, but these were subsequently
replaced with vegetable oils. Likewise, after research raised concerns about
the hydrogenation process and dangerous trans fats in the 1990s, nowadays
most brands have phased out the use of hydrogenated oils. Many varieties are
now better for heart health than traditional dairy butter with the inclusion of
Omega-3 fatty acids and plant sterols.
The fact that many of the low fat or easy-to-spread butters and vegetable
spreads contain milk-based ingredients makes them out of bounds for vegans.
The best way to identify them is to look for the words LAIT or LATIERE in bold
on the ingredients list. The bold is used to highlight allergy advice, in this case
to show that it is not suitable for dairy-free diets. However, as the vegan
lifestyle and diet increases in popularity more and more varieties of vegan-
friendly vegetable spreads are appearing in the supermarket chilled cabinets.
The key words you’re looking for here are: 100% végétal.
The good news is that acquiring a tub of vegan vegetable spread doesn’t
involve a trek to a specialist shop. Most local supermarkets will stock at least
one option. Some own-brand varieties are also vegan-friendly. The choice is
expanding. Currently, the following brands are 100% végétal: Tournolive, St
Hubert Soja, St Hubert Pur Végétal, Fruit D’Or Végétal, Santal’s Envie de
Végétal, Primevére 100% végétal and Becel. Fruit d’Or (a Unilever brand) has
recently gained the Vegan Society seal of approval. Many also exclude palm
oil, too.
Many recipes use vegetable oil as an alternative to a butter substitute. It’s
actually my preference and I find it makes a better, cheaper cake with no need
for the old-fashioned creaming butter and sugar method. For baking you’ll
need to use a vegetable oil such as sunflower, rapeseed (colza) or coconut oil.
They are all available in the supermarket but shop around for coconut oil if
that’s your preference as it can be pricey.
The four oils available in the greatest variety and price range are: generic
vegetable oil (usually soybean oil or a mixture of different plant-oils),
sunflower oil, colza (rapeseed/canola) and olive oil, ranging from extra-virgin
cold-pressed through to refined and light versions.
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Egg replacers and raising agents
How do you get vegan cakes to rise? That’s a question often posed by non-
vegans. If you’re new to the vegan way of cooking then this may have puzzled
you, too. There’s a whole host of alternatives to eggs. I haven’t found any of
the commercial egg replacers, either powdered or liquid, in any supermarkets
or bio shops here. If these are your preference, then you can certainly order
them online from places like The Vegan Shop.
First, yes, you can get bicarb here; just make sure it is ‘alimentaire’ quality. If
you’re from the UK, then you are probably used to plain flour and self-raising
flour. Most cake recipes of UK-origin will be based on self-raising flour. You
can buy a similar type of flour here in France, with a manufacturer’s added
raising agent. It’s called Farine de Gateaux. This is something that you might
need to experiment with. Some people swear by it, whereas I’d recommend
sticking to plain flour, and adding a sachet of levure chimique.
Levure means yeast. Levure chimique is simply a sachet of chemical raising
agent, just like mixing baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. The
proportions recommended are one 11g sachet of levure for each 500g of flour
(that’s half a bag). In the recipes, I sometimes suggest slightly higher ratios as
some vegan recipes may need an extra boost.
In most of the tried-and-tested traditional vegan cake recipes levure chimique
is used in combination with another mechanism. Baking, in its simplest form,
is really akin to a science experiment. The various ingredients react with each
other and with heat to create the cake: light, fluffy and delicious. The main
protagonists I use in my recipes are soya boisson with either lemon juice or
cider vinegar. The addition of an acid curdles the soya liquid, so it becomes
like buttermilk. Note: you must use soya as it contains the appropriate
enzymes to enable this.
Another option is a flax or chia seed ‘egg’. Here, you just need to mix one
tablespoon of ground flaxseeds (graine de lin) with three tablespoons of water,
leave it to thicken for a little while and then add to the mix. You can find graine
de lin in the ‘en vrac’ bins (loose) of most supermarkets, usually near the fruit
and vegetables. For chia seeds, check out the bio aisle, your local Aldi Bon et
Bio range or Action.
The fourth raising agent commonly used in vegan baking is aquafaba. This is
just the liquid drained from tinned chickpeas. I’ve seen reports that Aldi and
Lidl’s brands are the best, but I’ve never put this to the test. I usually combine
an aquafaba-based recipe with making a batch of hummus, or vice versa.
However, aquafaba does freeze. Other egg substitutes are mashed banana,
soya yoghurt and applesauce. Jars of applesauce compote de pomme are
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common in France. You’ll find them near to the breakfast cereals or jam, or if
you only need a small amount you can buy little 150g pots in the baby food
aisle. Applesauce is very popular here, so there’s a wide range from Top
Budget to Bio.
www.vivezvegan.com11
Ready-made pastry
My French neighbour, who is renowned for her cherry clafoutis, told me that
French women (and I suppose men, too, but she’s old school) rarely make their
own pastry. When they bake their own quiches and tarts, they turn their
attention to the chilled cabinets of the local supermarket.
So, is ready-made pastry vegan? Yes and no. Some types of ready-made pastry
are ‘accidentally vegan’, though you’re unlikely to find any with a vegan label
on them. The packs to look out for are those marked ‘sans beurre’ or even
‘avec beurre’ and ‘pur beurre’, the latter two to avoid. Obviously, the fat
element has to be replaced with something when butter is not in the recipe
and this is usually some type of vegetable oil or margarine. On the subject of
palm oil, which is a concern for many vegans, I’ve noticed that the French are
becoming more concerned about this too, so you may well find packs marked
‘sans huile de palme’. The good news is that gluten free pastry is also widely
available, too.
Pastry vocabulary
The basic word for pastry is ‘La pâte’. Not to be confused with ‘le pâté’ - meat paté
like foie gras (yikes!) or ‘les pâtes’ - pasta. When it comes to pate feuilletée, the French
equivalent of puff pastry, the French claim to have invented it. The credit goes to
Antonin Carême, a Parisian pâtissier of the eighteenth century.
Pâte brisée – a multi-purpose pastry made from flour, fat and water. This is similar to
shortcrust pastry. Some brands do contain a small amount of sugar, but it’s barely
noticeable. Used for both sweet and savoury tarts.
Pâte feuilletée – contains the same ingredients as brisée, but the pastry is layered
with fat so that it rises rather like puff pastry. Used for vol-a-vent cases and mille-
feuille.
Pâte sablée – in addition to the usual flour, fat and water, this recipe adds in eggs
and sugar so it’s not vegan-friendly. It’s also sometimes called pâte sucrée - one to
avoid
Pâte Brick – comprises thin sheets of pastry, interlaced with paper sheets. This
originated in the Mahgreb region (north Africa and Tunisia) and is traditionally made
with semolina flour. It is similar to, but not the same as filo pastry.
Phyllo or filo – if you can get hold of it, then filo pastry is exactly the same as the filo
pastry originating in Greece and Turkey, but it can be a rare find.
Pâte Pizza – French pizza pastry is not the same as a ready-made pizza base that you
may find in a UK supermarket. It comes in a rolled-up form and is more like pastry
than a bread-type base you might be used to.
www.vivezvegan.com12
The VV Recipe Collection
10 tried and tested recipes
Luscious lemon cake.......................................... 15
Victoria sponge ................................................. 16
Rich chocolate cake ........................................... 17
Coffee and walnut cake...................................... 18
Carrot cake........................................................ 19
Triple ginger cake .............................................. 20
Betty’s boiled fruit cake ..................................... 21
Bakewell tart ...................................................... 22
Scones............................................................... 23
Apple muffins .................................................... 24
The recipes begin with four easy-to-make sponge batter cakes in everyone’s
favourite flavours: lemon, plain (Victoria sponge), chocolate and coffee and
walnut. The, there’s a simple carrot cake and another favourite –ginger. My
Mum’s boiled fruit cake underwent a successful veganisation as did Bakewell
tart, which is indistinguishable from traditional. The recipe repertoire finishes
with fruit scones and some apple muffins.
Note about buttercream filling
Cakes like Victoria Sponge and Coffee and Walnut need a creamy filling. Simply
use vegan vegetal spread and icing sugar. The spread has a high water content
so you’re unlikely to need to add any more water. Use double the amount of
icing sugar as spread, and for coffee flavour just add a teaspoon or two (to
suit your taste) of good quality instant coffee powder. Just beat the spread and
sugar together until creamy (the food processor does save time here)
www.vivezvegan.com13
Baking shopping list
You can make all of the cakes in this guide with a store cupboard of the
following ingredients. This might seem a long list, but if you’re likely to have
many in stock and if you are new to vegan baking you can build up your store
cupboard over time. The easy batter cakes, like the lemon sponge and the
Victoria sponge, can be made with just flour, sugar, levure chimique, oil and
lemon or vanilla flavouring.
Basic dry ingredients Liquids Spices/condiments
T55 white flour Rapeseed or colza oil Cinnamon
White sugar Vanilla essence Ginger
Brown sugar Treacle or golden syrup Candied ginger
Levure chimique sachets Maple syrup or agave Nutmeg
Flax seeds Lemon juice (bottled) Salt
Icing sugar (sucre glace) Apple cider vinegar Jam
Walnuts Soya milk Chocolate
Flaked almonds Applesauce
Pumpkin seeds Vegan spread/margarine
Sunflower seeds Coffee essence
Dried fruit Orange juice
Ground almonds
Fresh ingredients
Apple
Ginger
Lemon
Carrots
www.vivezvegan.com14
Equipment & weights
You don’t need any fancy equipment to make the cakes in this guide. There’s
no need to use a food processor, stand mixer or any electrical gadgets for
most of these recipes, although it can sometimes save time and energy. You’ll
also notice that I cook using cup measures. Some folk aren’t keen, and
sometimes this is seen as more of an American way of cooking, but I just find
it a quick and easy way of baking. For a long time I just used an old plastic dry
measure than came free with a bag of dog food, though I have since bought a
cheap set of metal cup measures off Amazon and I do also use my Mum’s old
Tala measure occasionally.
Basic equipment you’ll need:
1. A large mixing bowl ~ Mason Cash traditional bowls are nice, but they are heavy. I
often use a stainless steel litre bowl from Ikea
2. A couple of smaller bowls if you like to weight or measure ingredients as prep
3. A glass or plastic one litre measuring jug
4. A set of cup measures, a Tala dry measure or a graduated cup measure (or an old
teacup, approx. 220ml)
5. A teaspoon
6. A tablespoon
7. Metal mixing spoon
8. Rubber or silicone spatula
9. Flat metal spatula
10. Small saucepan
11. Box grater
12. Wire cooling rack
13. Metal skewer
14. Tins or silicone baking trays: 2lb loaf, 2 x 7”, 2 x 8” tims12-hole muffin, baking sheet
www.vivezvegan.com15
Luscious lemon cake
Ingredients
½ cup maple syrup
1/3 cup lemon juice
¼ cup oil
¼ cup non-dairy milk
¼ tsp vanilla essence
1 ½ cups flour + 2 tablespoons
¼ tsp vanilla essence
1 sachet levure chimique (1 ½ tsp baking powder)
Zest of one lemon
Method
Loaf tin (2lb size): oven 180c: 40 minutes
• First, mix all the wet ingredients in a jug.
• Next, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Pour the wet mix into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well to form a stiff batter.
• Then, pour the batter into a greased and lined 2lb-size loaf tin.
• Bake at 180c in pre-heated oven for about 40 minutes
• Check it is cooked through by inserting a metal skewer. If it comes out clean, then
remove from the oven.
• Cool on a wire rack and make sure completely cold before slicing.
www.vivezvegan.com16
Victoria sponge
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups plain flour
1 cup white sugar
1 sachet levure chimique
½ tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
2 tsp vanilla essence
⅓ cup colza oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Method
2 x 7 inch round tins: oven 180c: 30 minutes
• First, make a ‘buttermilk’. Measure the soy milk into a jug and add cider vinegar. Allow
to stand until curdled and lumpy.
• Next, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Pour the oil and vanilla essence into the now curdled milk mix and stir lightly, just to
mix the ingredients, try not to break up the lumps.
• Add the wet ingredients to the bowl of dry mix.
• Mix really well, use a balloon whisk to ensure the batter is smooth and silky.
• Pour the batter into two greased and lined 7” round tins.
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 30 minutes.
• Check the two cakes are cooked through by inserting a metal skewer. If it comes out
clean, then remove from the oven and turn out onto a wire cooling rack
• When cold, sandwich together with vegan buttercream and jam and dust top with icing
sugar.
www.vivezvegan.com17
Rich chocolate cake
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1 sachet levure chimique
½ cup cacao
1 ¼ cups sucre glace
1 ½ cups soya milk
½ cup dark dessert chocolate (about one-third of a 100g bar)
¼ cup colza
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp maple or agave syrup
Method
2 x 8 inch round tins: oven 170c: 30 minutes
• Place the broken-up chocolate pieces in a jug with 1 cup of milk and microwave to
warm and melt chocolate, whisk to combine.
• Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
• Add the remaining milk, oil, vinegar and syrup to the jug and mix well.
• Pour the wet mix into the bowl and whisk well to a thick but pourable batter.
• Pour equally into two well-greased and lined 8” tins.
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 C for about 30 minutes.
For the ganache, I warmed half a cup of milk, half a cup of sucre glace and the rest of the bar
of chocolate, broken up, in a small saucepan. Once all melted, I added about three
tablespoons of nut butter and mixed thoroughly. Chill in the fridge to thicken and then spread
on cake to sandwich the two pieces and coat the top.
www.vivezvegan.com18
Coffee and walnut cake
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups plain flour
1 cup white sugar
1 sachet levure chimique
½ tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp extrait de café liquide
⅓ cup colza oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Method
2 x 8 inch round tins: oven 180c: 30 minutes
• First, measure the soy milk into a jug and add the cider vinegar. Allow to stand until
curdled and lumpy.
• Next, mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Pour the oil and coffee extract into the milk mix, and stir.
• Then, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in the bowl.
• Mix really well, use a balloon whisk to ensure the batter is smooth and silky.
• Pour into two greased and lined 8” round tins.
• Bake in pre-heated oven at 180c for 30 minutes.
• Check the cakes are cooked through using a metal skewer; it should come out clean.
• Turn out to cool on wire rack.
• When cool, sandwich together with vegan walnut buttercream made from 1 cup of
sucre glace, 1 tsp coffee extract, 1–2 tsp soy milk, ½ tablespoon vegan butter/spread,
mixed to consistency of buttercream-type filling and then stir in half a cup of finely
chopped walnuts.
www.vivezvegan.com19
Carrot cake
Ingredients
1 ½ cups grated carrot
¼ cup agave syrup
⅔ cup brown sugar
¼ cup oil
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp ground flax seed
¼ cup applesauce
⅓ cup chopped carrot
½ inch fresh ginger
½ cup orange juice
2 cups T55 flour
3 tsp levure chimique (1 ½ packets)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ cup sultanas/raisins
Method
Loaf tin: oven 180c: 60 minutes
• First, grate up the carrots. It is quicker to use a food processor for this, but a box
grater works fine.
• Then, put the grated carrot, agave syrup, oil and lemon juice into a large bowl or
jug and mix well.
• Put the flax meal, applesauce, chopped carrot, ginger and orange juice in a
liquidiser. Whizz until really well pureed. You can mash these with a fork or pestle
and mortar but on this occasion a liquidiser is preferable. Add this to the wet mix.
• Next, use another bowl for the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, levure, spices and
dried fruit, this will be the main mixing bowl, so use a large one.
• Pour the jug or bowl of wet mix into the dry, mix well. The batter should be quite
stiff, if it is too wet add another tablespoon of flour.
• Pour batter into lined 2lb loaf tin. Bake at 180C for exactly an hour. Cool in the tin.
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Triple ginger cake
Ingredients
1 ½ cups plain flour
1 sachet levure chimique (or 1 ½ tsp baking powder; ½ tsp baking soda)
2 tbsp candied ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp chopped nuts
2 tbsp seeds
Flax egg: 2 tbsp flax meal & ¾ cup non-dairy milk
½ cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp oil
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp black treacle or molasses
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
Method
Loaf tin size: oven 180c: 45 minutes
• First, make the flax egg, by mixing ground flax with plain water, and leave to stand
• Then , measure out and mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry (flax egg, oil, molasses, fresh ginger, vanilla). You
can mix them all in a jug first, but I tend to just add them one at a time and stir the
mix.
• Next, mix well to form a stiff batter; you need to mix thoroughly.
• Pour the batter into a greased and lined (or silicone) loaf tin, smooth top.
• Bake at 180c for about 45 minutes.
• Test the cake is cooked through by inserting a skewer – it should come out clean.
• Remove from the oven and allow cool in tin before turning onto rack. If you’re using a
silicone tin then make sure the cake is completely cold before turning out.
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Betty’s boiled fruit cake
Ingredients
1 cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 packet levure chimique
1 ½ cups (heaped) dried fruit
60ml vegetable oil
30ml plain water
1 flax egg made with 1 tbsp flax meal mixed with 3 tbsp water
Method
Loaf tin: oven 160c: 60 minutes
• First, melt the oil, sugar, and dried fruit in a small saucepan with the water.
• Bring to a very gentle boil stirring all the time, then reduce the heat to a simmer.
• Keep simmering and stirring, eventually the whole mix will become a lovely sludgy,
glossy mess.
• Stir in the flax and the flour, cinnamon and levure chimique.
• Mix well, it will be quite thick and sticky.
• Pour into a greased or lined tin (or even better, a silicone loaf tin) and pop into the
oven at 160c for about an hour.
• Check it is cooked through by inserting a metal skewer. If it comes out clean, then
remove from the oven. Any sticky bits of fruit it needs a little longer.
• Make sure the cake is cold before slicing.
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Bakewell tart
Pastry (or use a pack of vegan ready-made pastry)
21/2 cups T55 flour
1 cup (scant) vegan spread
3 tbsp sucre glace
2 tbsp chilled water
Frangipane
150ml vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups ground almonds
1 cup T55 flour
1 sachet levure chimique
100ml soy milk
1 tsp cider vinegar
3 tbsp raspberry jam
Handful flaked almonds
Method
Flan tin/pie dish: oven 190oC: 40 minutes (split)
• First, make the pastry. Rub the spread into the flour, stir in the sugar, then add the
chilled water gradually. Mix well, knead lightly and then chill for 30 minutes. Roll out,
line greased pie dish and blind bake for 15 minutes or so.
• When the pastry case is cooled, spread three or four tablespoons of raspberry jam over
the base, set aside and then make the frangipane.
• Add cider vinegar to soy milk and set aside to curdle.
• Measure the oil into a large bowl, then add ground almonds, flour and levure chimique,
mixing well each time.
• Add the soy ‘buttermilk’, and mix well to a thick batter.
• Spread the frangipane over the jam, making sure all covered. Sprinkle top with slivered
almonds.
• Bake at 190c for 20 minutes, then cover top with foil to stop almonds burning, and
cook for a further 20 to 30 minutes until top firm
• Cool in the tin.
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Scones
Ingredients
3 cups plain flour
½ cup of vegan spread
1 ½ sachets (3 tsp) levure chimique
4 tablespoons white sugar
¾ cup of soya milk (must be soya)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
½ cup dried fruit
Method
Baking sheet: oven 190c: 20 minutes
• First, make a ‘buttermilk’, so mix the lemon juice and soya milk in a jug and set aside
to curdle.
• Then, mix flour and levure chimique in a bowl, and rub in the vegan spread with
fingertips until the mix is like breadcrumbs (you can also do this in a food processor).
• Stir in the sugar and dried fruit.
• Pour in the jug of ‘buttermilk’ and mix well.
• Turn out onto a floured worktop and knead very lightly for a couple of minutes.
• Flatten the dough with your palm so that it is about 2 cm thick.
• Use cutter (I used 3”) to cut scone shapes, and place on a greased(or silicone) baking
sheet.
• Bake at 190c for about 20 minutes; remove from oven when risen and golden.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• The scones are best eaten on the day of baking.
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Apple muffins
Ingredients
2 cups plain flour
1 sachet levure chimique (baking powder)
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp lemon juice
2/3 cup soya milk (must be soya)
¼ cup vegetal oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp applesauce
1 cup diced apple (one medium apple)
Method
Muffin tin: oven 180c: 30 minutes
• First, prepare the vegan buttermilk by putting one tablespoon of lemon juice in a jug
and adding soy milk to make two-thirds of a cup, allow it to curdle while you start on
the cake.
• Next, mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
• Add the buttermilk and the wet ingredients to the dry mix.
• Then, mix really well – the dough will be quite stiff.
• Finally, fold in the diced apple and mix well again.
• Pour the thick batter into a greased 12-hole muffin tin, silicon works best for this.
• Bake at 180oC for about 30 minutes, until risen and golden brown.
• If using a silicon baking tin, allow to cool fully in the tin before turning the muffins
out.
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Vivez Vegan supports the Big V Sanctuary, in
France, a vegan animal sanctuary.
Their vision is “to create a peaceful world for
all living beings, built on justice and respect,
no matter what the species; not only those
who we usually recognise as companion
animals but also farmed animals”.
If you have found this free PDF guide helpful, then please consider making a
donation to Big V to help them continue their fantastic work, rescuing and
caring for animals in France. You can find out more at
www.bigvsanctuary.com
© Liz Brown & VivezVegan 2019
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