So where do you go, when you need Dairy Free, Nut Free Dairy Alternatives?

If you are one of those who are affected the the changes that Alpro are making (all their dairy free products will soon have to carry a 'may contain nuts' warning) you may be wondering what other products you can try. 

I've been doing a little research and have compiled a list of products. I cannot say how good they are as I'm not an expert in nutrition and everyone's tastes vary, so we will make no value judgements, as such, however this list may just give you somewhere to start.

Dairy Free, Nut Free Milks For Very Young Children

The bad news? At the moment, Alpro's Soya Plus 1 is the only dairy free alternative, available to buy, that up to now, has been recommended by medical professionals as a main milk drink - although others can be used in cooking. This is unless your child is allergic to soya, of course. It worries me that the only future alternative (once Alpro changes its manufacturing procedures) may perhaps be a hypoallergenic formula - for which you will need a prescription from your doctor, as they come with a hefty price tag!

We've relied on this

I have heard that there may be another product in the pipeline, but things are as yet at a very early stage, so don't pin your hopes on it, just yet!

Dairy Free, Nut Free Milks For Older Children and Adults

Koko 

Koko coconut milk is dairy free, soya free and nut free. It is enriched with calcium and it's original milk is also enriched with vitamins D2 and B12. It is widely available from supermarkets and is nut free. This is what they told me in confirmation of this: 

Our product it’s self  is completely nut free, coconut is a tree fruit and there are no nut based ingredients added. Also the factory where we produce Koko Dairy Free is a nut free site, no nut products are produced at the site.

The nice thing about Koko, is that their milk now comes in three flavours: original, strawberry and chocolate. They also come in smaller packs which are suitable for lunchboxes.

Oatly

Also widely available from supermarkets, Oatly oat milk is dairy free, soya free as well as nut free. Regarding nuts, they say:

I am pleased to confirm that all the products under the Oatly brand are nut and egg free and the factories where the products are manufactured, do not handle any nuts on site or make any other products where nuts are present.

Apart from the Organic version, it is enriched with calcium.  Although Oatly consider themselves 'low gluten', it will not be suitable for you/your child if you/they are intolerant to gluten or have coeliac disease.See here.

My Dairy Free Dream

Have to admit I steered away from My Dairy Free Dream in the beginning. I thought all they made was rice milk and I had been told to avoid rice milk, as I was breastfeeding. Rice milk is not usually considered suitable as a main milk drink for children under the age of 4.5 years (unless there are multiple allergies involved and there is nothing else to use).

Now, however, they've expanded their range, to include other types of milk. Despite the fact that they are now making Almond and Hazelnut milk, the rest of their range is nut free and all except Hazelnut are gluten free. I love this page that they have on their website, which shows clearly what their products are free from. I sincerely wish all companies would follow this example and be as transparent about their products.

Tesco Organic Sweetened Longlife Soya Milk

This dairy free milk I first heard of through Louise Jones of Nutmums. See here. However, being organic, it will not be enriched with calcium.

Waitrose Soya Milk

Fortified with calcium, I hear from Two Baby Foxes on Twitter that this has been recommended by their allergy nurse - who told them it was almost as good as the Alpro Plus One. It is, however, still lower in energy and therefore not recommended as a main milk drink for children below the age of two. 

Two Baby Foxes was kind enough to inquire about this one for me, and Waitrose confirmed that their milk is indeed nut free and is currently processed in a nut free facility. Let's hope that this is to continue - I'm not keen on the use of the word 'currently,' in case that means that they too, like Alpro, may change! 

Vivesoy

Relatively new to the UK market, Vivesoy sell a range of flavoured soya drinks. They are available in most large supermarkets alongside the other long life dairy free milks. According to their FAQ page on their website, all their drinks are fortified with 120mg of calcium per 100 ml - basically 15% of your RDA. 

Vivesoy have announced (via Twitter) that they are (and intend to remain) nut free. Huzzah!!!

Good Hemp Milk

Hemp milk has many fans, because it has lots of good attributes. This brand is another that we have reviewed in the past. See here, if you're interested in what I thought.

This milk is dairy, soya and nut free. They say:

All of our products are completely nut-free and do not come into contact with nuts at any stage of processing. 

It is fairly widely available in large supermarkets, Holland and Barrett and independent health food shops.

Dairy Free Nut Free Yoghurt

Wot no dairy?

This dessert is made with pea protein and is enriched with calcium. It is dairy free and soya free as well as nut free. They say:

Wot no Dairy? Yoghurts are produced on a nut free site, and that the ingredients have a nut free statement too!

These desserts come in five flavours (cherry, raspberry, strawberry, plain and peach and apricot). They can be obtained most easily from Holland and Barrett, although health food shops tend to stock them too. They are long life and the pot is just the right size for a lunch-box. 

Just right for a lunch box!

They are enriched with calcium (270mg per 100g). Please read our blog post, for more information.

Co-yo

Another product we have previously reviewed. See here. It is a dairy, gluten, soya and nut free product, made from coconut. They say:

Our natural yoghurt is made with just 3 ingredients and none of these come into contact with nuts; our factory is a nut free environment, we do not produce anything with nuts in it... We believe very strongly in preparing our product in an allergen free environment...

The pots are a little large for a lunch box, and can be bought from many health food stores, as well as through Ocado. 

Co-yo

Co-yo is only made from three ingredients and is sugar free. They tell us that it contains 14mcg of calcium per 100g of yoghurt. As such it is not fortified, but they may do so in the future. Because it is made from coconut, I have been advised that Co-yo will contain saturated fats, about which one ought to be careful.

Joya

These yoghurts are made from soya. They are dairy, egg, gluten and nut free. They say:

We can confirm, that the recipes for our sojagurts don`t contain any milk, eggs, nuts or gluten.

Our sojagurts, however, are produced in a factory that also handles milk, cereals containing gluten and nuts. To reduce the risk of cross-contamination to the technological minimum appropriate measures are taken, for example cleaning of equipment. The success of the measures are verified by accurate controls, for example each batch is tested for milk protein.

They are a nice size for a lunch box, come in a couple of flavour and can be bought from the chilled aisle in Sainsbury's. Concerning calcium, they told me:

Our Joya soya base for the soyagurts contains ca. 20mg / 100 ml, which is 2,5% of the daily requirement of calcium.

New kid on the block

Dairy Free Nut Free Cream

Please note: none of these appear to be enriched with calcium.

Oatly

The cream, like the milk is made with oats. It is similar to single cream, can be used in cooking and is widely available from supermarkets but unfortunately it is not enriched with calcium.

Soyatoo

This cream is made from soya or rice or coconut, depending on which product you buy. It comes in several forms, variously suitable for whipping or in a spray can. It is dairy free and does not contain any nut ingredients. Soyatoo tell us:

Our Soyatoo! products are dairy and nut fee, however our focus is on vegan and organic foods, not on foods for allergy-sufferers. Our creams are not made in a protected environment and are processed in a plant that also processes products other than ours. Therefore, although the facility is thoroughly cleaned before batches and our analyses have shown no trace of allergens so far, we cannot guarantee that no unintentional cross-contamination will ever take place. For this this reason we do not make any allergen-related claims and to be on the safe side cannot recommend our products for consumption by people who react to smallest traces.

However, I have heard from another allergy mum, who blogs (@parrlox on Twitter), and is quite particular about such things, that her family have been fine with them.

They can be obtained easily online through good Vegan outlets, such as the Vegan Store, and some heath food stores stock them too.

For our review of some of these products, see here (but ignore the second product - it's not nut free).

The lesser spotted rice version!

Mimilicious

This 'clotted cream' is made from oats. It is dairy and soya free and appears to be nut free, in that no nuts are listed in the ingredients. When I checked with them earlier in the year, they had this to say:

The product itself has no nuts in it, nor any ingredients derived from nuts. The equipment used to make it is solely used for this product. However the building itself is not nut–free and we cannot guarantee the cross contamination issue with regard to the ingredients either as we don’t know what environments they came from.

As this was about six months back, you may wish to check with this company for yourselves, if at all unsure. 

Look! A dairy free 'clotted cream'!

Mimilicious can best be obtained by mail order, as far as I know. Find out more by reading our review, here.

Dairy Free Nut Free Desserts

That'd be none, that I know of - that are like Alpro's dessert pots and custard! I thought I saw some desserts in Holland and Barrett today, but then I realised that they were made by Provamel - Alpro's sister company!

Orgran

However, Orgran make these Chocolate mousse mixes, which are free from most allergens, including nuts and dairy. As well as this custard mix. They are both available online through 'Free From For Kids'.

Swedish Glace Ice Cream

You could try Swedish Glace ice cream though - another recommendation by Two Baby Foxes! It is made from soya and is easily available through most UK supermarkets as well as Holland and Barrett.

Meanwhile if you're thinking of making your own, Dribble Delights recipe book may be worth buying. See here.

AND today a dietitian I follow on Twitter put together this post about making similar desserts for little ones, using other dairy free milks. 

And Finally

I sincerely hope this post helps all those who need it. We ('Baby' and me), although dairy free, are not nut free ourselves. However, we are affected by this issue personally, as she belongs to a group for little ones that has recently become nut free. Also we are soon to choose a school for her and both our current preferred choices for school are nut free too. his means that she will not be able to take her current milk to school, or the dairy free Alpro desserts, that she loves.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There may be additional information to follow, which I shall publish via our Face Book page, before adding to this blog post. 

If you know/think you know of any other products that we have left out, please leave a comment below.

Please note: 

This is not the place for people to comment on how evil soya or rice milk might be. It is not helpful to those struggling with this current situation, so I'm afraid that such comments will not be published. People with multiple allergies do not have multiple choice!

Warning! Alpro soya milk may contain nuts!

This post is a bit rough and ready I might pretty it up a bit later, but we're off for the weekend, and I've had to write this on my mobile. Thing is, I'm driven by a sense of disbelief and urgency. Alpro who are a leading manufacturer of dairy free milks in the UK are making changes that may affect a large number of those of us who completely rely on their products!! 

Basically, up until now, their soya milk and their nut milks have been manufactured in separate facilities. For those who have nut allergies, and are dairy free, this is a Godsend.

As many of us who suffer food allergies/intolerances know, they rarely come on their own - where there's one, others may follow. Which is why, even if nut allergies are not a problem currently for you, I'd ask you to keep reading and show your support for others.

Tweeter 'parrlox' (Lucy's Friendly Foods) recently noted that the allergy warning on Alpro soya cream had changed. As I understand it, further enquiry led to the information that Alpro would be combining their soya and nut production in one facility and that from 2014 all Alpro soya drinks will carry the nut warning.

The new allergy warning is already appearing on Alpro products (Photo by parrlox)

Furthermore, this will affect all Alpro soya products: milk, cream, yoghurt etc. meaning that if you have a nut allergy and are also dairy free you could be playing Russian roulette if you consume any Alpro soya product. This is critical as, to the best of my knowledge, Alpro are currently the only manufacturer of reasonably priced and easy to obtain dairy free soya yoghurts (an important source of calcium for many) that are nut free.* 

Note the current allergy labelling on an Alpro soya product

It leaves me questioning whether the nut milks that Alpro produce will also carry a soya warning, as they will now be produced in a factory that processes soya. This could potentially cause me a problem. 

So what can we do? Well I don't believe apathy gets us anywhere. There is already a bit of a stir on Twitter. My plan is to email Alpro and find out whether they are prepared to listen and change their plans. I know that others who have concerns will be blogging on this too, so watch this space, I'll link them in. And please, if you use Alpro let them know your feelings too!

Here's where to send your thoughts/feelings: 



info@alprohelpline.co.uk

*Co-yo are also dairy, gluten and nut free, but are expensive and hard to come by, for some - hence schools and nurseries would not contemplate buying them.

Other blogs, you might like to read:

yesnobananas: Alpro - get yer nuts off our soya

Nutmums: Alpro soya products no longer dairy free?


Important Update 18th August 2014:

Result!!

Today, I was so pleased to read the  following on the Alpro SOS Face Book page:

Dear AlproSOS

As you know, a year ago we decided to label all our plant based products with a 'may contain traces of almonds and hazelnuts' claim. This was to give consumers advance warning of the integration of products containing almonds or hazelnuts into its production facilities.

After thorough investigation and without compromising Alpro's ethical aims of bringing delicious and safe products to the market, we are PLEASED TO CONFIRM THAT WE WILL BE GRADUALLY REMOVING THE 'MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF ALMONDS AND HAZELNUTS' CLAIM FROM OUR SOYA, RICE AND OAT DRINKS AS WELL AS OUR PLANT-BASED ALTERNATIVES TO CREAM AND DESSERTS.

As part of a major investment in our facilities, we will ARRANGE OUR CURRENT PRODUCTION LINES TO BE DEDICATED TO PRODUCING SOYA, RICE AND OAT DRINKS OR ALMOND, HAZELNUT AND COCONUT DRINKS. ANY AVOIDABLE RISK OF CROSS CONTAMINATION IS THUS EXCLUDED, WHICH MEANS THE WARNING CAN BE REMOVED from our soya, rice and oat drink products and our plant-based alternatives to cream and desserts.

We apologise for any confusion relating to the nut claim, but our intention regarding labelling has always to keep consumers fully informed of the changes as early as possible. Now that production plans have changed, the claim is no longer necessary on soya, rice and oat drinks and our plant-based alternatives to cream and desserts.

These recent decisions and measures will allow all consumers to continue to enjoy Alpro soya, rice and oat drinks and our Alpro plant-based alternatives to cream and desserts in the future.

Ann De Jaeger
Vice President, Division General Counsel & Corporate Communications


Well done to all involved in the Alpro SOS campaign!!

Alpro SOS added the following comment: 

We need to clarify the situation re Provamel, which is an Alpro brand, but the rest seems pretty self-explanatory…



So keep watching this space!

Breakfast with Udi's - dairy free, gluten free, soya free

Are you new to Udi's?? I am. Was. Not now! 

I'd heard of them knew that they were gluten free and that was about it - until I went to Tesco the other day and discovered that all the dairy free chocolate had GONE from the shelf!!!!!!

In their place, was a whole bunch of stuff by Udi's. 

'Hmm!' I thought, 'these are new! And some of them are dairy free, soya free as well!' 

Still disgruntled, I packed some into my basket and trundled off.

Now, usually for brekkie I have the same thing every day. Following various upsets, I usually play it safe and just stick to puffed rice with almond milk.  Bit boring, but there it is.

However, these products by Udi's have given me the opportunity to branch out a bit and try something new.

First up, this granola:

Not a huge pack for your money.

I have to be a bit careful with oats these days. Sometimes I'm okay and then I'm not. Oats with dried fruit is a complete no, no, NO!! This mix wasn't the only choice, there were other granolas by Udi's on the shelf (Naturel and Cranberry), however I thought I'd try this one as it includes other bits I know I can eat safely (honey and almonds) and see what happened.

I tried it with with my usual almond milk and have to say I thought it was lovely. 

I'm really hoping my gut remains okay with the oats, because I'd really like to add this into my breakfast repertoire. Not everyday though, as it is not the cheapest option!

Price: £2.75

Next up, these pop tarts. Well Udi's call them 'Pastries' but they look like pop tarts to me!

Actually they look nicer in real life than on the packet!

In my former life (before I was gluten and dairy free) I would not have ever bothered with pop tarts - they're very processed and not very filling. That doesn't mean I haven't ever eaten one, but it was a long, long time ago, when I last did. 

That said, I would say that this version was jolly good. I think it tasted like the real deal. I probably wouldn't choose to eat this regularly as I don't think they would keep me going until lunch time. like the 'real deal' I think they're a bit too processed for my liking and even a bit salty. However, I could definitely see these in my luggage if I was travelling - they come in little individual packets and could come in very handy indeed!!

'Baby' has never had the 'real deal' It didn't matter - she loved hers!! Even though she could see it contained strawberry. It disappeared completely!!

You can also buy these in Apple and Cinnamon.

Price: £2.50 for a packet of four

Then there were these breakfast bars:

Strawberry again!

Again I would say that they definitely tasted like the 'real deal'. Like the pastries they were still rather processed but perhaps less salty. They could provide a great mid-morning snack, if you were in a hurry, but I'd rather have a decent home made flapjack! 

Again, they came in individual packets, which would be great for packing in hand luggage if you were planning on flying and weren't sure what you were going to be offered. 

'Baby' wasn't so keen on these, but they were ever so slightly gritty in texture, which could be why.

Price: £2.50 for a packet of five

Lastly I tried these:

I like my bagels with jam - sweet tooth!

Wow! Honestly, these were good! I tried one on The Hub and he agreed!

Before going gluten free, I used to love Cinnamon and Raisin bagels by the New York Bagel Company as they're dairy free. I could have had Udi's version, but sometimes raisins do something to me, so I left those and went for the plain ones. I wasn't expecting much, BUT I would say that I prefer these to the New York Bagel Company's gluten filled ones. 

They were so soft and actually less dry than the bagels I remember. I will definitely be buying these again!

Price: £1.80 for a packet of four

Other new Udi products included a loaf which was made with soya, and some new crisps, which were flavoured with cheese or jalopeno, so definitely out for me! However, I was encouraged to see that there were a number of new products that catered for me, as my current Tesco seems mainly to cater for just the gluten free! Hence no dairy free chocolate - just as well there's a decent Sainsbury's nearby!

Update:

Since writing this review, I have been back to Tesco to buy some more, and have discovered that they've undergone a bit of a price hike!! The granola now costs £3.25 - which is a LOT when you consider that there isn't very much in the packet. The bagels now cost £2.30. When you consider that you pay about £1.60 for a packet of five New York Company bagels (non gluten-free), this is truly shocking. I shall not be able to justify buying these regularly, now, but only as a treat. :(

On the plus side, Tesco now stock dairy free Moo Free chocolate at the lowest price I've seen it yet - 50p for a regular bar and £1 for a pack of three! Let's hope these don't undergo the same sort of price hike as Udi's!!

Baking with Baby 11 - The Chocolate One

Well, as you may know, the other week it was The Parents wedding anniversary - the big golden five-oh!

It having fallen to me to make the cake (being the 'awkward' one - with food allergy/intolerance/whatever) I decided to go for a cake with two layers. The bottom one was to be fruit and the top chocolate - for those who aren't that keen on fruit (like 'Baby').

Having leaped right out of my comfort zone, with the fruit cake (see previous post), I must admit I was really tempted to play safe and opt for a cake mix. Usually, I love Hale & Hearty's cake mixes but even though I was running short of time, I opted to do it the hard way and bake from scratch.

I have to say that it could have been a whole lot simpler if I could have managed to bake it without 'Baby' - who these days, being a bit older, is much too vocal and determined for her own good! I had been puzzling over why I hadn't baked much with her recently... setting to work, I soon realised why!

After a fairly extensive search, looking at various gluten and dairyfree recipes, I decided to use a recipe which wasn't either of those. Just by chance, it happened to be another recipe from Delicious Mag, see here.

The main reason I went for it was because it looked simple and I like simple! It was simple - in that pretty much all have to do is just bung all the ingredients in one bowl and mix. Like so:

Don't worry - we didn't do it all by hand!

It was also simple in that it was easy to substitute the dairy products with non-dairy alternatives. We used Pure sunflower margarine instead of butter (which worked well, as it is quite a lot softer than Stork, so was easier to beat), almond milk instead of milk and Hotel Chocolat dark chocolate buttons for the chocolate. Not having the vinegar in the recipe, I just used some white vinegar that I had in the cupboard. 

The other thing I liked about the recipe was that it also involved chocolate - real chocolate! This involved melting. Now, of course, 'Baby' loves chocolate too, and the best way to keep her quiet, I discovered, was to give her a bowl to lick - the one in which I'd melted the chocolate. And she did lick it too - quite literally!

This is not a carefully staged photo - this is what she actually did!

So what did I learn from this one?

Make sure your tin is the right size, before you start (mine wasn't tall enough, so I just made sure the grease proof paper stood taller round the edge of the tin. Which sort of worked.

Looks alright here!

Except this happened:

Oops! Nothing a little judicious trimming can't solve!

Yes... It cracked and burned baby, cracked and burned! So obviously I had to hack the top of the cake off altogether. But the cake needed slicing in half anyway, so this tutorial really came in handy. Only SHE makes it look so smooth, so easy. It aint!! 

Apparently, it's a good idea to leave a cake overnight before trying this - any crusty bits go soft - much easier to cut through! Only I couldn't, 'cos I was strapped for time. Oh, well now I know!

Another thing I discovered was that covering sponge cakes in fondant is a whole lot harder than covering a fruit cake! The fruit cake is a lot more firm, which really helps! Sponge cake moves all over the place. It was a good job I watched this tutorial. Covering the cake with buttercream first definitely helped - hold it together that is! I used Betty Crocker's Buttercream Style icing - it's good stuff! See here!

So, who knew (hands up)? You should always knead regal icing really well to soften it, or it will crack, when you try to lift it it,to place it on the cake. Which happened to me - as you can see in this picture:

The gold colour couldn't cover the cracks!

To be fair, this was going on whilst I was trying to cook dinner and manage a toddler!

I would have lifted the icing off and re-kneaded it... except for the fact that it was now covered in chocolate crumbs and buttercream! I had hoped the icing polisher would do the trick, but it was beyond even its capabilities. So I decided to spray the whole thing gold and hope it would cover the damage, but no! The icing was still cracked - albeit now a fetching shade of gold! 

Loved these products! *

I have to admit, I was bitterly bitterly disappointed!

Instead of following my original plan for decoration (white hearts on gold background) I tried to cover the cake with as much hastily whipped up decoration as I could (with a bit of 'help' from 'Baby'), but still the cracks showed through.

At this stage, I was tempted to ditch the whole chocolate layer altogether, and just stick with the somewhat more classy-looking fruit layer, but... I didn't. I knew the kiddies just wouldn't touch the fruit cake. So I took it anyway, thinking they really wouldn't care if the icing was cracked - they'd be just happy with the chocolate. And, you know I'm glad I did. You see, Family can be ever so forgiving. The Parents were thrilled with the cakes - both of them! Sister Number Two thought I had bought the cakes (what was she thinking???) and the cake which disappeared the fastest?? Yep, the chocolate one!!

Moral of the story: Never underestimate a cracked cake... especially if it's made with chocolate!!

More dairy free baking adventures can be found by following the links on this page.

*I'm not paid, sponsored, endorsed etc. by anyone - all views concerning products are completely and honestly my own!

Baking with Baby 10 - It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas??

Mmm! It certainly did smell a lot like Christmas, in our house last week, but no, we haven't baked our Christmas cake... just yet. Last weekend we celebrated my parents golden wedding anniversary. 

They didn't want any fuss, but fifty years of marriage just has to be celebrated in some form or another, so we arranged a family meal. 

Then I got to thinking about cake. Well you've got to have a cake for an anniversary, don't you?? Hmm! That got me thinking!

A few years ago, when we celebrated their seventieth birthdays (their birthdays are very close, so we did it in one) I bought a dairy free celebration cake - you know, one of those that are a bit like a Christmas cake - a rich fruit cake. This one was ready marzipanned and iced with plain icing (I wasn't gluten free at that stage) all I had to do was add some ready made decorations on the top. 

The Parents seemed happy with that (they like fruit cake) - job done!! However, being gluten free presents more of a problem - you don't exactly find gluten free celebration cakes in most shops now, do you? So I knew (big gulp) it was all down to me to produce the goods, because it wouldn't occur to my sisters to sort it out and even if it did, I wasn't sure that they would be able to avoid cross-contamination!

Not having made any cakes of this sort before (I've never needed to, someone else - usually my mum - has always made them for me) I consulted my guru - t'Internet and hey presto! I found this Christmas cake recipe from Delicious Magazine. A recipe that is specifically dairy and gluten free - result!! You can find it HERE by following the link.

It is a great recipe, in that it details everything stage quite well, but there's a few little things I'd like to add:

1. It might sound a bit silly... if you do a lot of baking you probably won't be too bothered, but I didn't want lots of little left-over bits of packets of fruit and nuts - just in case I don't get 'round to using them before they go off. Tesco's packs are all the wrong size for the quantities required for this cake, so, for example, you have to buy more than one pack of pecans and then you have too many. The same with the figs and the glace cherries. I gave up looking for my ingredients there, when I realised that! In Sainsbury's, however, you can buy the ingredients in packets which are all about the right amount.

Oo! Get me! Very 'Saturday Kitchen' - with all my ingredients in little dishes :)

2. When the recipe says you need to beat the sugar and fat until the mixture becomes lighter, it means keep going for some while... and then some!! It may not have helped that I used Stork margarine (the block not the tub version - the block version is the ONLY Stork margarine that isn't made with dairy). Usually I would have used Pure sunflower margarine, which is a lot softer.

It turns out that even though I gave it a good go, I didn't beat mine quite long enough (my hand mixer got rather heavy and my arm started aching). Consequently, the mixture looked like it had split, and I discovered later that this may mean that your cake won't rise as much as it should. Personally, I think this recipe alone is grounds for buying a Kitchen Aid - to take the strain out of it, but The Hub is yet to be convinced on that score ;) Despite all that, I don't think the cake came out too badly.

Fresh from the oven

3. Add more booze! This coming from one who hasn't knowingly touched a drop since she was pregnant (still breastfeeding now). I opted for the port, rather than the rum. Having measured everything carefully and boiled my fruit, it seemed a bit dry, so I chucked in another 30ml, gave it a bit of mix, decided it needed a bit more. At this stage I realised I didn't have enough plain flour. Not wanting the fruit to get all dried out overnight, I sloshed in some more port before I went to bed... and a bit more next morning. I the end I must have used he best part of half a bottle, but to be honest it could, perhaps, have taken more?? Certainly my sister thought so, and I think I would agree.

4. Always use an oven thermometer! Thankfully I trusted mine and NOT the thermostat on our new oven (which came with the house). The thermostatic control was way out!!! This was the position of the knob on the oven, when the oven was at the correct temperature for the cake:

Believe it or not, it's 180 degrees C inside the oven.

5. If, like me, you have a small determined child living in your house... do yourself a favour and do all your baking when they're asleep. Just saying!! Let's just say that trying to bake with the LO around led to a few bottle royals and leave it at that, shall we?

'Baby' added the jam layer - which I 'tidied up' once she'd had her fun!

6. If, like me, you're new to adding a layer of marzipan to your cake, there are online tutorials that can help you out. Such as this one, by BBC Good Food. If you like, you can get Dr Oetker's or Tesco's ready rolled marzipan (I got mine half price because it had a short date). This really took the stress out for me, as I was trying to get it all done as quickly as I could. You just unroll a roll of marzipan over the cake. 

Ready rolled!

However, I thought the layer of marzipan was a bit on the thin side.

See? Went on quite nicely but quite thin!

7. You can, of course make all your own icing - indeed I have all the stuff in my cupboard, BUT, being short of time, I decided to cheat. Here's what we used: 

NOT a promotion for Dr Oetker's - promise!

Please note none of the Dr Oetker products stated that they were specifically gluten free, but there were no gluten containing ingredients, or dairy, for that matter, either :)

As for applying the icing itself,  I watched this tutorial here. However, the vital part (how to iron out the folds around the side) was strangely missing!! I found one of these was the answer (I bought mine from Hobby Craft):

Great for buffing your icing!

Finally, however, the cake was completed and looked like this: 

Not perfect, but could be worse!

Of course the test of any cake, is not how well it looks, but how well it tastes. This cake seemed to go down okay (my Dad particularly loved the dried figs), but not as well as the other layer I made (blog post to follow). Although a little dry (probably my fault 'cos I always worry about my cakes being under baked) I thought it was quite yum too, but I think I might just sub the figs for something else another time (maybe prunes) as I'm not so keen on all the little pips that you get in figs! 

Unlike the gluten free Christmas cake I bought last Christmas, this one didn't cause my gut any unpleasant reactions and now I have decided I am going to make another for Christmas - but this one will get plenty of 'feeding' to see if I can keep it nice and moist :)

Delicious!

By the way, just in case you're wondering, no, I was not paid a sausage for mentioning any products. I bought everything I used myself. However if Kitchen Aid are listening seeing as The Hub's not convinced I need one... ;) 

Oh, who am I kidding?? THAT would be most unlikely. Still, I can but dream :)

Other posts about baking dairy and gluten free can be found by following this link.

If you're looking for ideas to do with Christmas here are some posts from 2012:

Dairy free ways to decorate your tree

Oo! Ah! Christmas Chocolat!

Treating Father Christmas

Dilemmas of the Christmas cake variety

Baking with Baby 8 - Gingerbread

Baked to Taste Pies and Cakes

One of my 'Holy Grails' (you know, the things you've missed since going dairy/gluten free, that are usually the preserves of a gluten and dairy-filled diet) for some time now, has been pastry. 

I've run a bit scared of making it myself, as I'm no expert in the kitchen anyway and don't want to end up with a dreaded 'soggy bottom' (one for the fans of The Great British Bake-Off there). I know I ought to give it a go. I even have a few cheats up my sleeve, such as a Mrs Crimble's packet mix, but that's not seen the light of day for a while (hope it's not gone out of date)!

Partly, it's because 'Baby' is a fussy chick. There's nothing worse than slaving over a hot stove, or oven, or whatever, to make something you think she'll like, only to  have her reject it. At times like these, if she's decided she doesn't want it, then it doesn't matter what you do, she won't touch it and you can't always just whip another option out of thin air.

The other reason I haven't touched pastry is that so many pastry recipes involve desserts and we don't really do desserts in our house. 

However, there are times when I've secretly craved something carboholic and pastry covered. SO, what to do? 

Well, I've finally found a way of having my pastry and eating it - dairy and gluten free. They're by a small company, based in Devon, called 'Baked to Taste'.

I first came across their wares at a local garden centre a few months ago - there were just a few cakey type things, nothing that screamed 'pastry' at me. Then, at Celiac's Fayre, one lunchtime, when I felt like departing from 'my usual' and it was suggested that I might like to try a pie. I could hardly believe it when I heard that they were both dairy and gluten free, as I've come across pastries that are either gluten or dairy free, but none that are both! I had to examine the packages for myself, to make sure, and yep, there it was in black and white, so I went for it! 

That day I had the chicken pie, and it was so good that I ended up buying some more 'Baked to Taste' products and taking them home, to store in my freezer - including a steak pie, an apple pie, (which I ate cold and was yum) and a vegetarian pie, made with butternut squash and cannellini beans! 

Since then I've tried the steak pie too. All were good but I think the steak pie was particularly so. Not only was the pastry 'right' (just what I'd been hankering for and nothing like the supermarket Free From pastry products), but the quality of the steak in the pie was amazing - no horrid gristly or fatty bits, but really good meat in a lovely rich gravy.

The steak pie

A few weeks later, when I made my way down to Deli Divine, I picked up a few more 'Baked to Taste' products, to try. I already knew that they did a few cakey/cookie type things, but this Lemon Drizzle cake (mentioned in another post) really is amazing! The sponge soft, the topping tangy. I really couldn't fault it. It didn't taste 'free from' in anyway whatsoever!

A lemon drizzle to die for!

Another 'Baked to Taste' find, was a packet of ready made pastry, which I've yet to try, but I've stored in my freezer, for the right moment. I'm not sure when that will be, but now that the summer's gone, I quite fancy making a treacle tart, served with some yummy warming custard.

So, you've heard a bit about the products, but how do you get your hands on them? Well, the good news, is, that if you can't make the journey to Celiac's Fayre or Deli Divine, you don't have to go without. You can buy them online from Deli Divine, or, if you have enough room in your freezer, 'Baked to Taste' sell their products online from their own website, however you have to buy in bulk (boxes of twelve). 

Be warned not all their products are dairy free - their quiches, for example, are made with 'normal' cheese and quite a few of their cakes are too. Neither (for those of us who can't have soya) are they all soya free. The sausage roll is made with soya. 

Well, I've had my say, now it's over to you, to give 'Baked to Taste' a try and see if you agree that they are, as their packaging states, 'Filled with Imagination.'

'Filled with imagination?'

Related Posts:
Celiac's Fayre Gluten Free Cafe
Deli Divine - The Deli with a Difference