Question
Arleen Sharp
A question about lecithin. A recipe on the Rouxbe webs site for Cashew Cheese Cake calls for • 3 tbsp lecithin. Could Protein powder be substituted for this? If so, would 3 tbsp still be required? What is lecithin and why would it be desired in cooking.
Answer
So, you know, let's start from the tail end okay of your questions here Arlene and I'll first say that you know less than is a substance that we typically use as in emulsifier and in emulsifier means that it's going to help water and fat right or water in and often oil stay together, right normally those two substances substances want to repel each other and but there are some times when we want to get those to stay together. And so we need some sort of a go between and so something that we call in emulsifier that will bring those two things together. And so that's where a lesson comes into play and a classic place right where we hear about less. And is with hollandaise sauce and so Hollandaise sauce is one where we have egg yolks and other water-based substance substances, like vinegar that come together with clarified butter and it's the lecithin that's naturally occurring in the egg yolk that helps bring those two together to result in that classic sauce. Okay now in the plant-based world because you know, we don't use egg yolk as that common source of lecithin. We will use isolated varieties of it and soy lecithin is most common. You know in liquid or dry powder form, it's also available in granules. And then also if a person wants to avoid soy products for whatever reason sunflower lecithin in both liquid and dry form or also commonly used and so, you know in this recipe for the cashew cheesecake it calls for a lot of lime juice which is a water-based substance and then also a fair amount of coconut oil. So that's your fat and we want to get those to mix very smoothly and in a stable way. And so that's where the lesson comes into play. I'm gonna suggest that you stick with lecithin, you know in one form or another liquid or powder or even granules. Rather than string. And you know using a protein. Okay, you're gonna get yeah, I think initially any way that the best results doing that my experience with this recipe is with the powdered version of lecithin. Although you should be able to use the same amount in liquid form to to get that stability in bringing the fat and water components together. Okay. I hope you'll give that a try and I mean otherwise it's a lovely cheesecake recipe and you know with a little bit of repetition you're gonna find that balance between sweetness and the acidity from the lime juice as well as the flavor that comes in from the zest. And yeah, I think you'll find that balance that you and your audience your friends and family will enjoy. Thank you.
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