ok, let us get rid of this earth balance, corporate PVC (Processed vegan crap). Who knows why it behaves the way it does but to put it simply, i do not trust it. So today, we replaced it with coconut oil. Amazing results in the crust! Absolutely wonderful texture and no pvc in site, no silly corporations to have to give money to, thus life is better.
of course, it gives a bit of a coconut flavor to the ruggelach, not traditional in the least but a great flavor. Will keep experimenting but i think coconut oil is the answer to the "butter" problem of this dish.
on the other hand, the prune/almond filling was not so successful :)
i'm personally not a fan of the taste/aroma of *refined* coconut oil (love the unrefined, though), but couldn't the refined work, if one doesn't want the result to be coconut-y?
ReplyDeleteearth balance is just various oils, salt, and a butter flavouring, right? i'm guessing that the lactic acid (derived from beets) is where the 'buttery' flavour comes from? i don't know...
on a related note, when baking pies and such, what do you use in place of shortening?
i use unrefined coconut oil. Been messing with earth balance. Yeah, they are oils and some kind of processing that makes them solid at room temperature which i am uncertain about.
ReplyDeleteThe slight coconut flavor in the ruggelach dough was quite nice, actually!
I've never used coconut oil, but I'm sure the markets in Loma Linda carry it. I'll have to look out there next week. Have you ever used palm oil for anything? I know it's essential for African cuisine, but I've always been afraid of its weird reddish gloppiness.
ReplyDeletei have not tried palm oil except eating items cooked in it in some Southeast Asian restaurants. Never tried to cook with it myself.
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly the palm oil that helps to keep EB (and shortenings) solid at room temp. I'm in the process of eliminating Earth Balance from my recipes as well as I learn more about the negative environmental impact of palm oil production. I recently found a good post on palm oil and Earth Balance from a few years ago: http://invisiblevoices.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/earth-balance-palm-oil-rainforests-and-ran/
ReplyDeleteI hope more vegans research sustainable alternatives and start to move away from EB. Unfortunately, it has become such a staple in so many households (mine included) and from what I've been reading lately in a lot of vegan forums, not very many folks are willing to give up this product. For sure, it works wonderfully as a butter substitute, especially in baked goods, but it's just not worth it to me...