Baking Notes

I've been baking for a while, and I've developed a bunch of opinions/tips/complaints/hot takes (you decide). Here they are, even though no one asked for this.

On egg "substitutes": Egg substitutes aren't real. Stop trying to "substitute for egg". Think about what the egg does in the bake and find ingredients that also do that thing. Does the egg provide fat? Try full-fat coconut milk. Does the egg provide leavening? 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar per egg. Does the egg provide structure? Add xanthan gum and avoid low-gluten content flours (e.g., cake flour) if possible. Are you whipping egg whites? Aquafaba. By the way, aquafaba does nothing if you don't whip it to develop the protein structure. It's just adding water. Also, flax eggs are terrible. They don't do anything and you end up with a grainy product. They're maybe only okay in brownies, but I still think they don't do anything, and one day when I have spare time there may be another page on this website dedicated to scientifically bringing down the flax egg.

Ingredient quality: There is no substitute for high-quality ingredients. It seems obvious, but your bakes taste like the ingredients you put in. If you are able, do not skimp on the following things: Vanilla of any kind (never buy imitation vanilla, always buy real vanilla in a glass container), flour, cocoa powder, chocolate, butter, fruit ingredients, spices, flavor additives.

Aquafaba meringue: You can overwhip aquafaba meringue. I don't know why people think you can't. This is bizarre to me.

Espresso powder in chocolate: Ugh. It does not "bring out the flavor of the chocolate". It's a disservice to the chocolate flavor, which is what you want to highlight in a really good chocolate-themed dessert. This is fine if you're going for a coffee and chocolate flavor combination, but man, there are better ways to achieve this than dumping cheap espresso powder into your bake.