I’ve gone dairy free for my baby daughter, but I’ve still been baking.  Here are some of the dairy-free delights I’ve made recently.

The cupcakes are the baby grand base made with G&B cocoa and frosted with Almond Milk Ganache.  I poured the ganache while still liquid and it set in a matte fashion. 

The other cake is the lemon meringue cake—entirely dairy free—I used some Earth Balance “butter subsitute” in place of the butter in the lemon curd…I know it’s heresy—but 4 Tbsp. substitution is not significant compared to a cup of butter in a butter cake.

Couldn’t post all pics in post… check out my lopsided meringue! LOL—my 20 second work of art!

The log is the chocolate biscuit—RHC pinecone…my cake seemed really short and had flour pellets—next time I’ll try the cloud roll instead so I can avoid folding flour.  It is filled with the almond breeze ganache left from the cupcakes.  The ganache was very soft at room temp. so I refrigerated the roll with the ganache applied to the roll to help firm up prior to rolling.  The glaze is 200 g 70% chocolate with 243g almond breeze milk and 2T corn syrup plus a splash of Cognac.  I drizzled 70% choc that was thinned with glycerin.

I’ve also been dabbling in sourdough…here’s Bubbles my starter.

Well hello, Bubbles! 

Sherrie, they all look wonderful!  Can’t believe how well you’ve done without dairy.  Love how you’ve decorated the lemon meringue with a daisy center of lemon curd.  How did you do the sides of that cake?  So, so pretty.

Your roulade and cupcakes are beautiful, too.  Sorry about the pellets, they normally come from either not enough folding, or from adding butter before all the flour is incorporated (but I don’t think that has butter).  And though I haven’t made the chocolate variation, the vanilla and almond biscuit roulades that I’ve made were thin, too, I think it’s meant to be that way to help you roll without cracking.

Is dairy-free doing the trick for your daughter?

Sherrie, that is some gorgeous baking!  The baby grands are beautiful.  The meringue designs on the side of the cake are wonderful!!! And the drizzle on the log—yum!!!  I will have to pass on wishing I could sample Bubbles, though.  However, I know she’ll give her all and make a great bread for you!  Congratulations on all your dairy-free endeavors!!!!

BTW, you can make your own almond milk by whirring almonds (preferably soaked overnight) with water in a food processor and squeezing it all through a nut milk bag (which is made of a very tight mesh).  It’s very rich, creamy and delicious.  Almond-to-water ratio is to taste.  Use just enough water at first to help grind the almonds, then add more to make a paste, then add as much as you want, then strain.  I’ve used the leftover nut meal in cookies, etc.  Might even work nicely dried in the oven, then browned and used as crumbles (or in crumbles).

Thanks Julie and Anne!

Julie—I did the sides of the lemon meringue by pressing some daisy cutters into the meringue (with the hopes the imprint would darken).  The dairy free has helped her congestion, but now with environmental allergy season starting, it is worsening again.  She’s still fussy—the list of other common allergens is depressing…and I don’t know if I could survive without wheat and chocolate - though I know some people feel remarkable after they go off of wheat).  As far as the pellets…I’ve sworn a few curses following genoise…that lovely balance between not folding completely and folding too much!

Anne—Thanks for the tips on Almond Milk…I’ve been going through litres of it so I’m likely to forgo the effort of making my own.  My son loves it too, so I’ve been going through more than I’d use myself. 

I’m just happy to bake a wee bit when I can and have some desserts that taste good for everyone!

Everything looks gorgeous!  The roll is especially beautiful drizzled with the ganache.  One of my daughters just came down with some kind of allergy/asthma thing last week too.  We had to spend a week on the nebulizer, 3x a day…not fun!  Good luck with your daughter’s allergies.  She is lucky to have such a creative mom!

I hope the no-dairy works for you, there was a time with my daughter when it seemed like I was only eating turkey and rice!

everything looks delicious!  Great job…and thanks for the dairy - free info…one never knows when that will come in handy.  I never even heard of almond milk