Why don't I empty the water from canned peas or beans?

All my life I've been throwing away water from canned peas and beans. In extreme cases, I added it to the soup for taste. But a friend told me a secret! It turns out that this liquid whips up perfectly! No worse than egg whites.

The liquid from canned beans is called aquafaba. It contains a lot of starch. After heat treatment, it becomes viscous and turns into a weak jelly.

A friend uses aquafaba to make lean mayonnaise. I went even further - and make dough, cream and even meringues from it.

Lenten mayonnaise in 5 minutes

To prepare mayonnaise I take:

• 60 ml aquafaba;
• 200 ml vegetable oil (preferably olive);
• lemon juice – 25 ml;
• salt, black pepper - to taste.

If you use aquafaba from beans, choose white varieties. Red mayonnaise turns out dark. It tastes exactly the same, but not pretty.

It's very easy to cook.

1. Whip the aquafaba until thick foam.
2. Pour in vegetable oil and continue whisking. Add oil gradually. Add a little and beat until smooth foam. They added more and beat it again.
3. Add lemon juice and spices to the sauce. Use any - dried garlic, nutmeg, sweet mustard, dill-parsley.

I store the finished mayonnaise in the refrigerator, but no more than a week. This is a natural product without preservatives, so it can easily turn sour.

How to use pea water to make dough

The general rule is: 2 tbsp. l.aquafaba replaces 1 medium egg white. If a recipe requires yolks, use natural eggs. Aquafaba is not good here! But the meringues turn out great.

To prepare you will need:

• 100 g sugar (or 150 if you like very sweet desserts);
• 150 ml aquafaba;
• 1 tsp. lemon juice;
• a pinch of salt;
• vanillin.

Beat the aquafaba until stiff. Gradually add sugar, lemon juice, salt and vanilla.

At this stage you get a very tasty meringue cream. You can fill eclairs and decorate cakes. Continue whisking for another 5-7 minutes. The cream should become very thick. I check by pulling the mixer out of the foam. If stable sharp peaks remain after the whisks, it’s ready.

I bake meringues at a temperature of 100 ^OC in convection mode.

1. I line the sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
2. I place cream “stars” from a pastry bag at a short distance from each other. Meringue does not increase in size during baking, so the cakes will definitely not stick together.
3. I put the sheet in the oven and wait about an hour. Cakes are not so much baked as dried.

The finished meringue is light, dense and crispy.

These cakes can be topped with chocolate glaze or caramel. It makes a delicious Lenten dessert. Or you can assemble them into a “pyramid”, covering each layer with cream. I use custard or beat boiled condensed milk with butter. It turns out a quick and very elegant cake without a gram of flour.

By the way, I completely forgot. If you like nuts, add them to the prepared meringue before baking. Meringues with hazelnuts or almonds are delicious.