Shaking Up Baking

All About Food | May 6th, 2016

By Ben Haugmo

FMVeg is once again participating in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale this Saturday. The event so far promises to have cinnamon rolls, tiramisu, Almond Joy bars, and other vegan treats.

FMVeg is a group for individuals seeking to explore vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. Kathleen Keene is an organizer for the group, and stresses that you don’t have to be committed to veganism to participate in FMVeg events.

“We generally just get together and have potlucks. It’s kind of a social group for those who are like-minded. We don’t just have vegans in our group, we have all sorts of people who are interested in the lifestyle from all walks of life.”

The Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, true to its name, is an event held around the world. FMVeg is just one group that is participating. An appeal went out to the group’s best bakers to make donations for the bake sale.

Veganism was started in 1944 by Donald Watson, established with the intent of preventing, as much as practical and possible, the use of animals. This means that vegans exclude products like milk, eggs, honey, or gelatin, sometimes going as far as to avoid beaver castoreum in vanilla flavoring.

That’s not to say that the rules are completely set in stone.

“It goes back to ‘as far as practical and possible,’” said Keene. “Veganism is about doing the best you can; it’s not a perfection sort of thing. Certainly some people take it to perfection and criticize those who don’t. For example, Cheerios aren’t technically vegan because of one little ingredient--there’s animal-derived D3 in it, vitamin D3. But if Cheerios are your favorite food on the whole planet, and it keeps you from eating factory farmed animals, then eat Cheerios for goodness sake.”

While baking without the use of eggs or milk might seem like a challenge, vegan alternatives provide creative solutions.

“There are so many different ways you can substitute,” said Keene “or just make a whole new thing altogether. Falling back on milk and eggs is easy, but you can also make it pretty easy just by using flax seeds, where you grind them up and turn them into a mucilage, kind of like egg whites, and then you add that to the recipe.”

Keene also recommend using bean juice, tofu, or various commercial egg replacers such as the recently-released Vegan Egg produced by the company Follow Your Heart.

Whether you’re a dedicated vegan or just looking to try something a little different, FMVeg’s bake sale is sure to have something to suit your tastes.

IF YOU GO

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale at Makers Market

The Red Raven Espresso Parlor, 916 Main Ave Fargo, ND

Saturday, May 7th at 5 PM to 9 PM

https://www.facebook.com/events/1067350199988732