How to Make a Vegan Birthday Cake

Vegans choose not to use animal by-products or dairy products. The popularity of the vegan lifestyle is changing how fine dining, grocers and fast food restaurants choose selections for their menus. If you have a friends who are vegans, you can bake vegan cakes for their birthdays. Here's the recipe.

Things You'll Need

• Egg substitute
• Soy, rice, potato or nut milk
• Tofu
• Soy margarine
• Rice syrup or sweetener
• Soy milk ice cream

Instructions

1. Find a recipe for a cake of your choice complete with frosting, glaze or whipped topping.

2. Review the ingredients and identify any dairy products or items that contain animal fat.

3. Replace all dairy with soy, rice, nut or potato milk. If a recipe calls for buttermilk, substitute soured soy or rice milk. For each cup of buttermilk, use 1 cup of soy milk and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar.

4. Exchange the number of eggs with an egg substitute equal to recipe's measurements. Additional substitutes for eggs are 1/4 cup or 2 ounces of tofu, 1 small mashed banana or 1/4 cup applesauce per egg.

5. Instead of using butter, shortening or oils made from animal fats, use soy margarine. Vegetable oil and non-stick spray are acceptable in vegan recipes.

6. List all ingredient substitutes and shop for your items at a health food or Kosher store. Check with your local grocer as many supermarkets carry vegan products.

7. Follow the changes in the recipe and bake your vegan birthday cake.

Tips & Warnings

• Use sugar, flour, cocoa powder, spices and flavored extracts in vegan cuisine. Consider using a sweetener. Some companies process sugar with ground animal bones. Rice syrup is another sugar alternative.

• For nondairy products, eliminate any item that includes whey in its list of ingredients.

• If you purchase a birthday present for a vegan, remember not to buy leather, suede or merchandise that is an animal by-product.

Resources

• Find information about the vegan lifestyle, recipes and helpful tips.
• Browse through resources for vegans and vegetarians.