Interviewing Auntie Loo

 

January 3, 2012

By Deb Gleason

 

One of my favourite things about living in Ottawa is knowing I can get amazing vegan baked goods from Auntie Loos’ Treats. I LOVE their amazing cupcakes more than I would like to admit. When determining who to interview for my expert interview series for my upcoming  30 Day Health Tune Up Mandi Lunan the owner/genius behind these fantastic sweets was at the top of my list. I met with her last week and I picked her brain on how she veganized her grandmother’s treats.

 

Mandi is one of the most down to earth and authentic business people I know and so much fun to spend time with. One of the things she was really clear about is that Earth Balance is an amazing butter substitute and the best high quality vegan margarine out there. She warned people to use this product instead of cheaper brands if they want great results. When it comes to replacing milk in recipes it is easy, soy, rice and almond mild all work really well. She also mentioned vegetable puree as a key to her baking when substituting eggs. I have used apple sauce myself for muffins but the Nutritionist in me got really excited when she started talking about using vegetables like beets in their pureed form to replace eggs. This is a win-win as far as I am concerned. So long cholesterol and salmonella, hello nourishing whole vegetables. The amazing part is the end product is always so divine you would never even know it was good for you.

 

Mandi’s formula is to use 1 TBSP of vegetable puree and 3 TBSP of water for each egg you want to replace.

 

Happy Vegan Baking!

 

PS: There are still a few spots left in the 30 Day Health Tune Up program and it is going to be a tonne of fun. Email me if you would like to chat about one of those spots.