Choux pastry (the kind used in eclairs and creampuffs) is very picky,
and depends heavily on the chemical properties of eggs. Five years ago
I played
around with trying to make it eggless with aquafaba and xanthan
gum. It didn't work, but now that we have vegan
egg white protein , can we do this for real? Nope. I gave it several tries over vacation, and wasn't able to get it to
puff properly. Here's the closest I got: Panade 1/2 C water 1/4 C milk 5T butter 1t sugar 14T flour Egg replacement 9T water 1/2t powdered lecithin 3T plus 1t egg white powder 2T butter, melted but cool As with standard choux I heated the water, milk, butter, and sugar to
a boil, then added the flour. I mixed it well, let it cool a little,
and then gradually added the egg (replacement) while beating will in
between additions. The batter looked just right: But when I baked it, it didn't inflate. I tried again, and this time
took advantage of the AirBnB's nice oven to observe that there were
little bubbles on the skin. Video: youtube My hypothesis for why this isn't working is that eggs normally have a
range of proteins that set at different temperatures. The most common
(~54%) is ovalbumin which sets at 176–183F, and this is what the
precision-fermented egg white is made out of. But there's also
ovotransferrin (~12%) which sets at 142–149F, and I'm guessing this
early setting is why choux made from normal eggs forms a thin
flexible crust in time to capture steam and inflate. Whereas in my
version the steam just leaks it out. Models think I should try either potato protein isolate (149F) or
methylcellulose (gels at 140F, reverses on cooling). Thoughts? Comment via: facebook , lesswrong , mastodon , bluesky
More Failed Eggless Choux
Brief
Jeff Kaufman (2026-06-29) attempted eggless choux using a precision-fermented egg white powder, sharing panade and replacement formulas and baking observations: batter formed but shells failed to puff (only small surface bubbles). He hypothesizes the missing low-temperature-setting protein (ovotransferrin, sets 142–149°F) prevents early crust formation; recommends potato protein isolate or methylcellulose.
Why it matters
On 2026-06-29 Jeff Kaufman (medium priority) attempted eggless choux using a precision-fermented egg white powder; his panade was 1/2 C water, 1/4 C milk, 5 T butter, 1 t sugar, 14 T flour and the egg replacement was 9 T water, 1/2 t powdered lecithin, 3 T + 1 t egg white powder, 2 T melted butter — batter looked right but shells did not puff.
Key details
- Hypothesis: the precision-fermented product is mainly ovalbumin (~54%) that sets at 176–183°F, while natural eggs also contain ovotransferrin (~12%) that sets at 142–149°F to form an early flexible crust; he suggests testing potato protein isolate (sets ~149°F) or methylcellulose (gels ~140°F).