WITH the outbreak of bird flu affecting supplies of eggs, shoppers may have to start getting creative in the kitchen.
We told this week how customers at Lidl and Asda have been limited to two or three boxes of the cupboard essential, with more supermarkets expected to follow suit.
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Used in breakfast dishes around the world and as a binding agent for baking, eggs are a versatile ingredient and a shortage could leave shoppers in a panic.
But the good news is there are plenty of alternatives, including some that you may already have in your kitchen.
From mayo to bicarbonate of soda and bananas, Hayley Minn made pancakes using six substitutes and rated each out of five for taste, texture and overall.
Let’s see which ones gave her cracking results . . .
Yoghurt
TEXTURE: 2 TASTE: 3 OVERALL: 2.5
I’M a fan of Greek yoghurt, but I couldn’t imagine it as a replacement for egg.
As advised, I mixed ¼ cup with 50g of flour, and 150ml of milk, but it looked very lumpy even after stirring.
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And the soggy and sticky texture was impossible to flip.
On my plate, it looked ugly and unlike a pancake.
It tasted quite sweet like yoghurt and seemed like it was raw.
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Mayonnaise
TEXTURE: 4 TASTE: 4 OVERALL: 4
I’M not a fan of mayo, so I wasn’t looking forward to using three tablespoons in place of an egg.
But this really worked in both texture and taste.
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It looked and tasted like a pancake, although more of a savoury one, so I’d advise topping with lots of sweet treats – I used honey.
This was a very surprising result.
Bicarb of Soda & White Wine Vinegar
TEXTURE: 5 TASTE: 1 OVERALL: 3
I THOUGHT someone was having me on when I read a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and one tbsp of white vinegar can substitute an egg in pancakes.
I feared it would be worthy of a Bushtucker Trial, but as I mixed them together with the flour and milk, the thick batter looked spot on.
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lt bubbled away nicely in the pan, too.
But no amount of honey could cover up that vinegar taste. Yuk!
Oggs alternative
TEXTURE: 2 TASTE: OVERALL: 3
AS one of the two products specifically created to replace eggs, I had high hopes for Aquafaba, especially as, at £1.68 for 200ml (the equivalent of four eggs), it’s quite pricey.
While the taste was extremely similar to that of a pancake with eggs, the same cannot be said for texture.
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It thinned out in the pan and burned easily.
The end result was that of a floppy bit of pastry.
Banana
TEXTURE: 3 TASTE: 5 OVERALL: 4
AS a very popular accompaniment for pancakes, I expected this to be the best.
But I wished I had a blender as it was extremely hard to mash with a spoon and fork.
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In the pan, the batter was quite lumpy – most likely due to the aforementioned banana, but once finished, it looked OK.
The taste, on the other hand, was amazing – if you like bananas, of course.
It was it was like tucking into a banana fritter!
Free and easy egg replacer
TEXTURE: 4 TASTE: 5 OVERALL: 5
ON the pack, it says it is gluten, dairy, soya and egg-free – and I thought fun-free too, before I tried it.
But there is no denying this was the product that gave me pancakes as they should be.
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The batter was easy and quick to mix, the texture light and fluffy, and I was able to successfully flip this pancake!
When it came to taste, you would never be able to tell it didn’t contain egg.
And at £2.60 for 45 “eggs”, it is my winner.
