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We begin with breakfast.

Those who are used to starting the day with creamy scrambled eggs can still do this the vegan way. The magic word is tofu, more specifically an elegant mixture of natural and silken tofu. The natural tofu is seasoned and coloured with turmeric, broken up with a fork and fried for a few minutes in a little oil. The puréed silken tofu is mixed into the natural tofu. Then the tofu scrambled eggs are seasoned with salt and pepper and sprinkled with chives, spring onions/scallions and, if liked, chopped tomatoes. A good tip for everyone who particularly likes good aromas: if you replace half of the salt with kala namak, black Indian salt, your vegan breakfast takes on the most amazing taste.

Also, breaded dishes can be adapted to the vegan way of life without a problem. Replace the beaten egg with 1 tablespoon of cornflour/cornstarch or even with spelt, soy or chickpea flour, mixed with 3 tablespoons of soya milk or water. This mixture makes superfluous not only eggs, but also the countless powdered egg substitutes that can be found in health-food shops – these fulfill their purpose, but are, as rule, processed products which contain additives which are best gone without.

A hot topic for many is that of vegan baking. In vegan cooking, the egg is replaced by soya flour or additional baking powder: 1 tablespoon soya flour or 1 teaspoon baking powder take on the function of an egg. In fruit cakes or bread dough, linseeds or chia seeds puréed with a little water can take on the binding function of the egg – or, even more simply, apple purée or a mashed banana.

Light sponge mixture can also be made in the vegan way without a fuss. Sparkling mineral water supplies the carbon dioxide which makes the mixture light and fluffy (see the recipe on page 215). The same trick can also be used to make vegan pancakes. For cake glazes and fillings, you can again try the trusted mixture of silken and natural tofu, see above.

This is an extract from Vegan Love Story by Hiltl and tibits, recently published by New Internationalist, to celebrate World Vegan Month.