1)Below are ideas I have found for egg white substitute, I know many
people who have used this to replace egg whites. It is very goopy, but i
have never tried it for gingerbread house icing glue. I may try it soon
though. My 8 year old son is dying to make a gingerbead house.
2) We also do not use cornstarch becuase corn is now genetically modified
in the U.S. But I discovered that it is very easy to make your own
powdered sugar. Take a spice grinder and put in any kind of granulated
suger. Turn it on. Viola, instant powdered sugar!
3) Regarding non-corn syrup candy. Try a health food store. We get all
kinds of organic candies that do not use corn syrup. There are also a lot
of non-organic ones there that do not use corn syrup.
4) If you ever need to replace cornstarch, arrowroot powder (available in
health food stores) can be used exactly as cornstarch. We make puddings
and use it as an egg replacer also. It works great.
If you need other ideas for non-egg and non-corn recipes let me know.
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Whole Flax Seeds
Use 1 part seeds to 4 parts water (the seed sellers say to use 1 part seeds
to 3 parts water, but they're in the business of selling seeds, aren't
they?). Simmer for 5-7 min.
Proceed as described under "Straining".
For 1 egg, use 4 tsp. seeds to 1/3 cup = 80 ml water (some will boil off).
Efficient Method:
Use 1 part seeds to 12 parts water, e.g. 4 tsp. seeds per
cup of water, or 1 tsp. per 60 ml of water. Soak from 1 hour to overnight,
whatever is convenient for you. Simmer for 20 min, and be sure to let gloop
cool completely before straining.
Straining
Allowing the gloop to cool with the seeds in it makes it
thicker. When it is thick and cool enough, pour it into a bowl lined with
cheesecloth. Gather up the edges of the cloth and gently squeeze out the
gloop, until the cloth contains only seeds. (If you're trying to use a
strainer and it works, your gloop is too thin! Simmer it a bit more...)
Compost the seeds (hide them somewhere in tonight's dinner?), and use the
gloop.
To replace 1 egg, use
a scant 1/4 cup gloop
50 ml gloop
Ground Flax
Many vegan baking books suggest the use of ground flax
seeds mixed with water as an egg substitute. I've tried this, and it is a
good method for making baked goods that rise well and have a good texture.
The down side is that the flax seeds have a strong and distinctive flavor,
which is good in things that are meant to taste granola-ish, but not so
good in things with more delicate flavors. I recommend this method for
baked goods which get a lot of their flavor by nuts and seeds.
1 Tbs. ground flax seeds plus 3 Tbs. water replaces one egg.
That's 5 ml milled flaxseed plus 45 ml water
Mix them together, and let it sit a couple of minutes (it
gets wiggly!), then add as you would eggs
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Rachele Shaw
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