Culinary Cement

• The properties of eggs are so varied they've been called "the cement that holds together the castle of cuisine" by the American Egg Board. When used in cooking, eggs bind, thicken, leaven, emulsify and retard crystallization. They also add flavor, texture, moisture and nutrients to foods. When used in baked goods, eggs bind ingredients together so that cakes don't fall apart when sliced. The egg's protein forms a barrier around the air sacs that are incorporated into the egg when it is whipped, creating permanent air pockets that give baked goods their light, airy texture.

The Can Can and Cannot

• Canned, condensed milk varies slightly from its thinner cousin, evaporated milk. Condensed milk is sweetened and thick, with a viscosity similar to heavy syrup. Manufacturers remove much of the water, similar to the process used to create evaporated milk, but then add sugar so that the final sugar concentration reaches about 45 percent. While this sweetened milk adds nutritional value and moisture to cake mix, it does not have the same binding and leavening properties as eggs. A cake made with commercially packaged mix and condensed milk but without eggs will be crumbly and flat.

Binders Are Not Just School Supplies

• Binders in cooking help hold ingredients together. Eggs are good binders, but milk and sugar are not. Because cake needs both a binder and a leavening agent, you can blend several alternative ingredients together to get properties similar to those found in eggs. To bind, use a ripe, medium banana, 1/4 cup of applesauce, about 3 1/2 tablespoons of liquid gelatin or 4 tablespoons of ground, moistened flax seed. Mix any of those ingredients with a mixture of 1 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of water and 1 teaspoon of baking powder per egg.

Calling All Subs

• If you don't have or don't want to use eggs in cake mix, you can substitute xanthan gum, a white powder that is cultivated from the exoskeletons of bacteria grown on corn sugar. Xanthan gum acts as a binder but does not have the same leavening properties as eggs, so the cake may not rise as much and may have a denser texture. Add 1 teaspoon per recipe in place of eggs.