I was asked for a dairy free cake or at least lactose free fondant covered cake... for Friday. Usually I'm fine with experimenting on my own, but their is a lack of time because I have a really elaborate cake due on Weds and I was hoping someone who knows the scientific side of recipes could check these two out and see if they're a good bet for testing and possibly making the real deal tomorrow? Would they freeze well? I typically use a doctored box recipe but I use eggs and sour cream for it....

She also wants it to be cherry french vanilla flavored and a frog cake. Will this recipe be sturdy enough? I'd have to add cherry flavor too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups vanilla soy milk or almond milk
1 T. lemon juice
2 1/4 cup flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 t. vanilla extract
1 t. hazelnut extract


Fondant recipe

Ingredients:

3 T warm water
5 t unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup liquid gluose
6 cups confectioner's sugar


Thanks for your help!

Also, I always ganache my cakes... any alternative recipes for that?

Edit: Saw another post in regards to this! Super over whelmed with so much new stuff to learn!

Gelatin isn't vegan.

Also, I hate to say this, but even the 5 star recipes on the web are nasty. This is an area where some serious experimenting is in order. With work, some really incredible vegan recipes can be achieved.

I have also been warned by some great vegan bakers that cakes/cupcakes are not always interchangeable.

I know I didn't help, but unless you have time to experiment, I would decline the order.

It doesn't need to be vegan. I just knew if I found a vegan recipe then I'd be good on the dairy free and lactose free front.


She wants dairy free, or at least lactose free. So I guess I might be making it too complicated. I just need to figure out of my box and pudding mix is lactose free, and find a replacement for sour cream.

Is MMF lactose free?

Yes mmf is dairy (and therefore lactose) free. Gelatin isn't vegan, but if you don't need vegan the gelatin in mmf and journal fondant will be fine. You could possibly use soy yogurt instead of cream cheese. you can buy soy cream cheese. The ingredients on the cake mix should state whether there is jl, milk powder, milk solids, butter, butterfat, in it.

Sorry if it's just how I read your post and you already know, but eggs should be ok. They are not dairy and don't contain lactose.
One of my friends helpfully said when I was learning what I could put in his lactose intollerent girlfriend's cake - eggs come from chickens, dairy comes from cows. It has helped me!

Thanks for the answers! Due to the time crunch, I was going to charge more and she declined. Now that I've had a request though, I am going to try some lactose and dairy free recipes so I can be prepared for next time!

Haimm01, keep in mind (I've read this in different places) that soy milk tends to brown prematurely. Baking temperatures should be reduced and baking times shortened when you use soy milk.

My son can't have any dairy, and so I make Michele Foster's Fondant using Coconut milk instead of heavy whipping cream, and use crisco instead of butter. It doesn't work as well as the regular, but it's still pretty stinking close. And it still tastes great!

Also, there are certain brands of chocolate chips that are dairy free, albertsons being one, I think. (Make sure you look for casein and whey on the ingredient list.) And you could try making ganache with that and coconut milk.

As for cake recipes, I made cupcakes out of http://cakecentral.com/recipe/vegan-chocolate-cake for a party where a girl was invited who was deathly allergic to milk. The kids and adults all loved them!

But in general for my son, (before we discovered he couldn't have wheat) I used Duncan Hines box mixes. A lot of their flavors are dairy free.

KateLS:

Oh, I'm so excited to try that recipe now! Thanks for the tips on what ingredients to watch for, that's been part of the trickier bit for me.