Knowledge Base > Fran Costigan - E is for Egg-Free Baking

Fran Costigan - E is for Egg-Free Baking
This event was on
Tuesday, April 01, 2025 at 1:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Eastern
Eggs serve many roles in baking, but there’s no single substitute that works for every recipe. Chef Fran Costigan, Rouxbe’s Director of Vegan Pastry, has been creating exceptional de… Read More.
Question:

What is the replacement for oils in baking?
— Sue Baker
Answer:
I will say that we do use some, that's a place for a fruit puree. For example, prune or date or applesauce. The those dried fruit purees are going to add moisture, are going to add moisture. Um, but you still wanna make sure to have some leavening and so on. Your result is probably going to be denser than a cake that is made with some oil. And I know that many of you know because it seems to come up almost at every live event that I made rip esselstyn's wedding cakes and obviously if you're familiar with the esselstyn's, Dr. Esselstyn prevent and reverse heart disease and rip the engine two diet and so on. That was a big honor for me. I hadn't made a cake without added fat, without oil. And I did in a funny kind of a way, meaning my daughter had forgotten to add the oil to my chocolate cake recipe and she said, it's good ma it's just a little more dense. So I played around with it. Um, so that's, you just can expect your, your result to be perhaps a little bit denser. If you use too much fruit puree, it might be a little moist but it definitely will work.
