"Here Comes the Science" or "Where is that vegan christmas cake recipe?"

A few posts ago I promised you I'd work out a vegan version of my Christmas Cake recipe. I've been trying, really I have, but in fact I haven't got even close to baking a trial run and here's why - I can't find a vegan shortening (baking fat) that I'm not allergic to. 

Trust me, I've tried. I've stood in various supermarkets reading the back of all the dairy-free margarines and fats, I've tried health food shops, pestered vegan experts, heck I even went across to the other side of a neighbouring city to pick the brains behind a wholefood warehouse and still no luck, every one of them seems to contain either coconut oil or palm oil or both. For the packets that just said 'vegetable oil' I've taken a note of the customer helpline and either phoned or emailed them to see what the fat might be. Most of the brands I've contacted have been very helpful only a couple declined to tell me if their products actually contained coconut or palm but even then they did tell me that "it is not suitable to your dietary needs".

When I come across a problem such as this I like to ponder on the science of it before I come up with an answer, if there is one. Sometimes I'm sure the word 'science' runs through me as surely as the words through a stick of rock. In fact science is my rock. So here is my theory......

First off you need to understand that different fats have different melting points, in fact a high melting point is pretty much the definition of a fat because if it's already melted at room temperature we tend to call it an oil. For example, sunflower oil turns from a solid into a liquid (melts) at about -17ºC where as butter melts at 35ºC, in fact the only natural vegetable oils which are still solid at room temperature are coconut and palm (though both melt at about 25ºC so your room better not be too hot!)

So could we alter any natural plant fats to make them melt at a higher temperature? Yes, we can take them through a process called hydrogenation, where hydrogen gas is forced through the oil under very high pressure. This adds hydrogen atoms to the fat molecules making them in effect heavier and so have a higher melting point. (I know it's actually more complex than this but I'm trying to avoid an A-level chemistry lesson here).  Furthermore it has the added advantage of stopping the fat from going off (rancid) so it stays fresher for longer. So why don't we see hydrogenated fats on supermarket shelves? Well you used to see a lot of it, then in the 1990's scientists began to notice that the more hydrogenated fat a person consumed the higher their cholesterol was. This is NOT a good thing, higher cholesterol of this type has been linked to weight gain, heart disease and diabetes. Most food companies are therefor trying to reduce the amount of hydrogenated fat in their products (sometimes they needed a little pressure from the government to do it though).

OK, so if I can't get a room temperature fat that works then how about using an oil? Lets look at what the fat does in baking. Fat carries flavour, it tenderises, it makes the food feel nice in our mouth and it gives that quintessential element called 'crumb'. But most of all we need fat in baking to help trap the air bubbles that stop our cakes being like 'dwarf-bread', more weapon than food. 
When we whisk the butter and add sugar the purpose of our whisking is to trap air. This is why you need the butter gently softened but not melting, in fact better to start with the butter too cold and keep whisking until it goes 'plastic' and starts to hold air than risk it completely melting under the heat of the beaters. Use an oil and it just wont trap any air, so swapping the butter for sunflower oil just isn't going to work and if you are going to use coconut or palm to do the job you'd better be cooking in a cool room (remember it melts at about 25ºC).

So to put it plainly I can't get a vegan alternative to butter that I'm not allergic to because unless you get something that's hydrogenated (and I think we are all agreed that that would be very bad for our health) it's going to contain either coconut or palm and much as I love you and cooking I'm not prepared to spend days in a darkened room suffering for it!

IF you really want to make a vegan version of my Christmas Cake here's what I suggest; replace the eggs with egg replacement powder which you can get from some pharmacies and plenty of health food shops then replace the butter with vegetable shortening (not vegetable margarine which wont trap enough air and contain too much water), if you've never used that before I suggest you look for Trex which is easily available in most supermarkets and can be used as a direct replacement (do not reduce the fat by 10% as it suggests on the packet, it is working as shortening not margarine). And don't forget to keep the room cold while you are whisking.

Fear not though, I can and do bake vegan cakes on a regular basis without the need for a diary-free margarine, I will treat you to the recipe for the chocolate one shortly.

So as one customer service agent said to me recently "thank you for your understanding". xxx