We usually don’t recommend substituting ingredients in baking recipes. Why? Because baking is a science. There’s a reason for each ingredient and even why each ingredient is precisely measured. Both of these things combined is how you achieve baking perfection.
Sure, not everyone has measuring tools or even the right ingredients at the time that they want to bake something delicious. This is where ingredient substitutes come in. There are some easy ingredient swaps you can do: use evaporated milk diluted in water instead of fresh milk, use chopped chocolate instead of chocolate chips, and use peanuts instead of walnuts.
However, not all ingredient substitutes are as easy to do. In fact, substituting an important ingredient can make your baking recipe fail! We do realize, however, that one of the major ingredients in many baking recipes is eggs.
It’s hard to substitute eggs for another ingredient. Eggs act as more than just an ingredient to make your food taste delicious. Whether you use just the yolks, white, or both, eggs play a critical role in baking recipes. It can act as a binder, a leavener, a thickener, or even color and flavor. That’s why using another ingredient in place of eggs is difficult.
However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done for cake recipes.
If you have run out of eggs or are leaving it out for any reason, here are possible substitutes for eggs in cake recipes that you can use:
1 Mash a banana.
We know this may sound odd but use a banana or two. According to Gemma Stafford from Bigger Bolder Baking, who is a professional baker, you can mash a banana and use that in place of an egg. You’ll have to measure out around 1/4 cup per large egg. She recommends you use 1/2 medium Cavendish banana but if you’re using a Lacatan or Latundan banana, 1 banana should be enough. Just to be precise, measure out 1/4 cup mashed banana per egg that is in the recipe.
Just note that this will add a banana flavor to your cakes but we think that’s not a bad thing.
2 Mix baking powder, oil, and water.
If you don’t want to add bananas to our cake, according to SheKnows, you can use a combination of these three ingredients to replace an egg in most baking recipes. This is what you do to make this emulsion: mix 2 tablespoons water, 1 teaspoon oil, and 2 teaspoons baking powder together in a small bowl.
3 Use taho.
Tofu may be the most useful ingredient for vegetarians. It’s the meat substitute for many meaty dishes, so it’s no surprise that tofu can be used in baking, too. In this case, it’s an egg substitute.
To use tofu for the egg in cakes, SheKnows recommends to measure out 1/4 cup silken tofu or taho per egg that you need while BiggerBolderBaking suggests 4 tablespoons tofu is perfect for cake recipes.
4 Make buttermilk or applesauce.
According to BiggerBolderBaking, you can also use buttermilk or applesauce in place of eggs. Just like the tofu, measure 4 tablespoons buttermilk or applesauce.
5 Mix ground flax seeds with water.
If you happen to have an allergy that might be triggered by eggs or just want to eat healthier, this substitute may be in your kitchen already: flax seeds or flaxseeds. According to Kids With Food Allergies, this is one of their recommended egg substitutes. To make this into an egg substitute, grind up enough flax seeds to make 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds and mix this with 3 tablespoons warm water. Let the mixture become gelatinous, about 1 minute, before using for an egg.
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Now that you know what you can use as a substitute for eggs, try it with any of these recipes:
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