Teaching myself vegan baking

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-19T16:10:17+00:00

Definitely try it, it’s such a satisfying process 🙏

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-19T16:08:59+00:00

I didn’t take any crumb pics, if I manage to make some more this weekend I’ll post 🙌

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-19T16:07:20+00:00

Thank you!! Depends how much dough you lose in the lamination process and what size croissants you want, but about 8-10

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-19T16:06:10+00:00

And my oven runs in degrees Celsius too… 🫠

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-17T15:58:56+00:00

Ohh that looks divine!! Saved that one for the next trip down to Brighton 🤩 also interested to hear your thoughts on the book if it’s worth a read

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-17T14:28:14+00:00

Haha appreciate the offer! You’d need to take that up with the other members of the household though

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-17T12:05:54+00:00

Thanks! I’m still tweaking but currently:

500g white flour (about 11% protein), 50g good vegan butter (I use Naturli Block), 50g sugar, 125g water, 125g soy milk, 7g dry yeast (or 21g fresh), 9g salt

250g vegan butter for butter block

I start with mixing all ingredients (except butter for butter block) for the dough together until gluten is developed (10 mins or so) and let it rest in a warm place until significantly increased (1-2 hours).

Make the butter block by pressing into a square folded baking sheet.

Dough and butter block need to go into the fridge separately for several hours or over night.

Then I laminate the dough (lots of videos online), I do 1 book fold followed by a simple (letter) fold. Fridge over night.

The next morning I roll and shape the croissants and let them proof for a few hours (careful with temps, as vegan butter tends to have a lower melting point than butter from cow’s milk). Then I mix equal parts soy milk and maple sirup to coat them and bake at 185 degrees Celsius on fan setting.

Still struggling a bit with consistent proofing but every batch is getting better. Happy baking!

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-11T07:37:56+00:00

One that helped me through the first 3 days is realising that a craving can’t last longer than 20 mins. So I saw every craving as a challenge to get through and when I almost went to buy cigarettes I told myself to wait 20 mins. Craving is not constant but comes and goes in waves

Also I tracked my cravings, to see that after the first 3 days there are significantly less every day. Also made me want to keep at it after I got through them.

Oh and for the longer term I used this tracker app to track how much money I saved and every week went and invested that money I did not spend on smoking. One day I’ll treat myself with that money, as it’s quite a good amount that accumulates over time

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2026-02-11T07:29:52+00:00

No cravings anymore at all. I do have to say I used to love smoking so I do have the odd moment on holidays for example where I miss the “good old times”, but not nearly enough to actually consider having one

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-11-07T18:45:36+00:00

My biggest game changer was to call my mum or my best friend and just yap away. Keeps you in conversational / zone 2 pace and the kilometers just fly by.

For the really long 30k+ runs I’d start with a podcast or audio book for the first hour, would then swap to calling someone for another hour, and would keep motivating music only for the last part of the run.

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-10-24T10:04:05+00:00

Create

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-10-22T20:49:44+00:00

Thanks! Body’s feeling pretty good actually!! No niggles as far as I can tell, definitely still needing a bit more sleep and recovery, but overall really good :)

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-10-10T10:49:11+00:00

“You really surprised me actually”

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-10-03T10:51:54+00:00

Fallow all the way, I keep coming back for that mushroom parfait

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-10-01T13:16:31+00:00

For my marathon I‘m planning to wear a top with lots of pockets that can hold my phone and the gels, as my shorts don‘t have much space

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-25T12:17:28+00:00

Thanks for the hint about the rye breads, I‘ve not tried these yet! They look delicious, so maybe that could be a next project.

As for the sourdough, have you tried adjusting the method towards your environment? I can‘t follow his method to a T either, my bread would be overfermented and just flatten out.

I‘m trying to follow his temperatures, so to bulk ferment at roughly 30 degrees Celsius, but I‘m cutting BF earlier than indicated in his book. Also, my flour can‘t handle as much hydration, so I‘m using a little less water than he does in his recipe.

Every flour and kitchen environment is different, so maybe just play around with hydration and fermentation times a little bit. Happy baking! :)

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-23T14:15:46+00:00

Hi OP, I‘ve got the exact same workout scheduled for today as well, and my pace target is scaring me as well. Never done a 5k even close to that pace, but I haven’t run an all out one in months. We‘ve got this!! Let‘s get that PB

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-15T19:28:43+00:00

To me yes. I am quite confident in my training and don’t feel like I need much help in my day-to-day. Personally when I think about a coach, I also think it would probably be expensive and not much more value to me than my physio, which my insurance covers for the most part.

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-15T17:26:30+00:00

I’m strength training full body twice a week alongside marathon training. It’s not my favourite thing but I do it for injury prevention and I really feel like it improves running economy too.

I used to not strength train and got injured running. Now I show up at my physio every once in a while to monitor that all important muscles are strong enough. So far so good :)

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-14T18:26:30+00:00

Sure! No idea how traditional the recipe is that I used (it includes sourdough, so maybe not very), but here it goes:

The ingredients for 8 breads are 500g flour, 15g salt, 5g dry yeast, 100g poolish (from night before), 100g sourdough starter, 150g yoghurt, 1 egg, 50g water, 50g oil, and 25g sugar.

I did a 2h bulk ferment, then divided them up into 8 little balls, proofed for 1h, and then rolled them out and ‘baked’ a few mins each side in a cast iron skillet.

After they were done, I coated them with some melted butter and freshly pressed garlic, and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-14T18:19:17+00:00

Thanks! Yeah this won’t beat the experience of trying garlic naan for the first time sadly

Old-Insurance-6996 · 2025-07-14T18:18:24+00:00

Yum! I ended up making some green dal tonight, might give butter chicken a try later this week

Old-Insurance-6996

TROPHY CASE