I need to make a cake completely dairy free for a family member. It has been requested that I make a carrot cake. I usually put sour cream in the frosting, but I thought I might substitute a soy based product. Has anyone ever tried this? and how does it come out. I also usually use evap. milk inlieu of water ( I used doctored cake mixes), can I substitute soy milk...and what type of icing (other than a palin BC) would be a good substitution for the traditional creamcheese icing??? Thanks, I"ve been wracking my brain over this and I"m coming up blank!

how about using a swiss butter cream, substiture crisco for the butter and add a little lemon for flavouring... or you could use the 7 minute frosting

I would recommend SugarShack's buttercream recipe as it is all shortening and uses hot water with non-dairy coffee creamer mixed in for the liquid. If you have access to LorAnn flavored oils, they make a cream cheese one that is surprisingly good!

non-dairy creamer is not dairy-free unless you buy a soy-based non dairy creamer--my boys have dairy allergies and I learned that the hard way. For milk I usually use rice milk--soy milk has an aftertaste that we don't like. You may also use coconut milk. For cream cheese if you live near a whole foods store there is a vegan cream cheese in the refridge section it has a good cream cheese flavor.

Here's the dairy-free cream cheese recipe I use:

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated shortening (Spectrum or Earth's Balance)
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened (Tofutti)
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/vegan-cream-cheese-frosting-293102#ixzz1Wtj71hBf

Also be careful of the cake mix, most of them have dairy in them.

I did a carrot cake awhile back for someone with a dairy allergy and used a shortening based frosting and added maple syrup for some lovely flavor. It was fantastic!