Replacing Eggs and Dairy

Learning objectives

• List the major functional roles of eggs in cooking and identify the best plant-based replacement for each.
• Compare soy, oat, almond, and pea milks on protein, fat, and behavior in cooking.
• Explain why a "barista" oat milk foams when a regular oat milk doesn't.
• Describe at least two architectures for vegan butter and how they differ from margarine.
• Match a vegan cheese style to the right family of techniques.

What an egg actually does

Asking "what replaces an egg?" is like asking "what replaces a knife?" — the answer depends entirely on what you're using it for. A whole egg can do all of the following, often within a single recipe:

Replacements by function

For binding (1 egg ≈)

• Flax egg: 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 Tbsp water, rest 5 min. Mucilage acts as a binder; works in burgers, cookies, quick breads.
• Chia egg: as above with chia. More noticeable texture; good in dense batters.
• Mashed banana / applesauce: 60 g. Brings sweetness and moisture; not neutral.
• Aquafaba: 3 Tbsp. Surprisingly versatile; closer to whole-egg behavior.

For leavening

• Whipped aquafaba: the gold standard for replacing whipped egg whites — meringues, macarons, marshmallows.
• Vinegar + baking soda: in cakes, the released CO₂ replaces beaten egg's lift. (See: classic "wacky cake.")

For emulsification

• Aquafaba + mustard: the basis of vegan mayo (you made one in Module 3).
• Soy or sunflower lecithin: a single concentrated emulsifier. ¼ tsp covers a cup of dressing.
• Mustard mucilage alone for vinaigrettes.

For coagulation / structure (think quiche)

• Silken tofu + chickpea flour: blended together, baked, this is the workhorse of vegan quiche, frittata, and "scramble." Tofu provides the protein gel; chickpea flour adds eggy color and a subtle sulfur note.
• JUST Egg / mung bean isolate: a commercial product whose mung bean protein coagulates in a hot pan very much like a beaten egg.

For glazing / browning

• Plant milk + maple syrup brushed on pastry browns nicely (sugars + proteins → Maillard).
• Aquafaba + a dab of oil for a glossier finish.

For flavor

• Kala namak (black salt) — the indispensable ingredient for "egginess." Its sulfur compounds (notably hydrogen sulfide) read directly as cooked egg. A pinch in a tofu scramble is transformative.

Plant milks — not all created equal

A "plant milk" is, structurally, a colloidal suspension: tiny particles of plant solids and oil droplets dispersed in water, often stabilized by added emulsifiers and gums. Different base plants give wildly different milks.

Why "barista" oat milk foams

Standard oat milk has plenty of fat and starch but doesn't foam well — proteins are too few to stabilize a froth. Barista versions boost foaming via two tricks:

• Higher fat (often via added rapeseed oil), which builds richer microfoam.
• Added stabilizers and emulsifiers — usually a touch of dipotassium phosphate (an acidity buffer to prevent curdling in espresso) and gellan gum (suspends solids).

The split in coffee

Coffee is acidic (~pH 5). Plant milks low in protein (especially almond) lose their colloidal stability and curdle. Two fixes: warm the milk first, then add coffee (gentler), or use a milk buffered against acid (most barista versions).

Vegan butter and cream

A good vegan butter is a water-in-oil emulsion with carefully tuned solid fat content — solid enough to spread, soft enough to bake with, melty enough to feel right on hot toast. Two common architectures:

The margarine route

Refined vegetable oils (sunflower, rapeseed) blended with a smaller fraction of fully-saturated fat (cocoa, palm, or modern engineered fractions) to hit a target solid-fat-content curve. Emulsified with a little water, salt, lecithin, and color/flavor.

The cultured route

A blend of coconut oil + cashew cream, lightly cultured with LAB to add the buttery diacetyl note, emulsified, salted, and chilled. This is roughly the Miyoko's-style approach. Result: a softer, richer butter with the slight tang of cultured dairy.

Whipped cream

The classical trick — full-fat coconut cream chilled overnight, the solid layer scooped off and whipped — works well thanks to coconut oil's high saturated fat content. Add powdered sugar for stability (sugar binds water, slows weeping). For a more neutral flavor, whipped aquafaba + a little stabilizer (xanthan, agar, or gelatin analog) achieves similar peaks.

Vegan cheese in one paragraph (we covered it in Module 5)

Three families, each with its strengths: hydrocolloid-based (fast, melts well, modest depth — pizza & nachos); cultured nut/seed (longer process, more complex flavor — spreads & aged wedges); and the emerging precision-fermented casein products that perform identically to dairy cheese because the casein protein is, molecularly, identical to dairy casein. See Module 11.