Gelatin, which is a common ingredient in making fondant, is a processed collagen that comes from various animal by-products. So if you are a vegan or a vegetarian looking for a sugar paste recipe that will suit your lifestyle, you can substitute agar-agar for the gelatin. Agar-agar is a good vegetable counterpart for gelatin. You can buy this from any Asian groceries to make gumpaste for vegans.
Food-grade glycerin, on the other hand, extends the shelf life of baked goods and can be either animal or vegetable-based, so you need to make sure that you are using the latter for this recipe. Vegetable glycerin is usually based from either coconut or palm oil, while the other one is made from animal fats.
What You Will Need:
- 1 teaspoon of agar-agar powder
- 1/8 cup of cold water
- ¼ cup of liquid glucose
- 1 tablespoon of vegetable shortening
- ½ tablespoon of vegetable-based glycerin
- 3 ½ cups of vegan sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
What You Need to Do:
- Sift the sugar by using a strainer.
- Mix the agar-agar powder and water into a saucepan. Let it soak for a while until the consistency becomes thick and gelatin-like.
- Put the saucepan on the stove top and cook in low heat in order to completely dissolve the agar-agar. You need to keep on stirring and add water as needed so that the mixture does not dry out.
- Remove the pan from the fire. Add in the liquid glucose, the vegetable shortening, the vegetable glycerin, and the vanilla extract. Stir until everything is mixed well. Set aside the mixture in a bowl.
- Put half of your sifted sugar in a bowl. Create a well in the middle and add in the agar-agar mixture.
- Mix everything and once the consistency thickens, it’s time to begin kneading. Add the remaining sugar until it reaches the right fondant consistency.
- Form a ball out of the fondant, and place it in a ziplock bag. Store at room temperature.
You can use this recipe when making vegan cakes. Adding this gumpaste for vegans recipe to your arsenal will surely endear you to vegan dessert lovers! If you would like to make regular fondant from scratch, click here for a recipe or two!