Monday, February 21, 2011

Vegan, alllergy free cake - Egg, Dairy and Soy free... and still yum!

Our son is turning two and so I've been searching out good recipes for the party. This cake tastes great and is super moist and super light. I first made it in small paper cupcake liners. This turned out great, but only cook it for 15 mins or so since it will cook quicker. Our son has loved peeling off the "skin" and the variety of colours we've had by doing it this way.

I've also frozen some for a quick snack and they still taste quite nice. Keep an eye out for another post of his real birthday cake. I'm undecided whether to go for a motorbike shape, or perhaps just decorate it like the cakes we see in story books so our son feels like every other kid for once. Either way, I'm sure he'll eat the icing first and then chomp through the rest.

As with everything else, there's always a special twist when it comes to multiple allergy kids: I come from Chinese heritage, so as I grew up, scrimping and saving has been the order of the day. So, apart from saving wrapping paper, we also save birthday candles. Afterall, you only light them for a few seconds... and why waste? Well, as with so many of my other ideas... from now on, it's new everytime! I wanted our son to practise blowing out candles, for the perfect birthday photo of course. But just as I went to insert the candles, I realised the base of the candles were probably contaminated with who knows what. So, cleverly, I must boast, I quickly wrapped a small amount of glad wrap around the base before inserting the candle. Problem solved, and one happy boy equals one happy mum.

2015 POSTSCRIPT: Our son is now 6, he has a younger brother who is 3. Our cakes have gone from strength to strength while still being completely free from dairy, eggs and all nuts. We still use this recipe as a base cake for most parties - it is just so easy and quick to make, and still tastes lovely. For these fondant cakes, I've used Satin Ice Rolled Fondant, available at Spotlight. It is dairy, egg, nut free and easy to use - just like playdoh. Make sure you check the ingredients yourself each time, just in case. The last cake was made for friend's party, so my boys could both enjoy a slice too :-)



Dairy, egg and soy free Cake

1¾ C plain flour
1 C sugar
¾ t baking powder
¾ t bicarbonate soda
½ t salt
1 C water
1/3 C sunflower oil
1 T white vinegar
1 t vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 175deg C. Line 20cm square tin with greaseproof paper to reduce chance of contamination. Grease and sprinkle lightly with flour.
2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the centre and add water, oil, vinegar and vanilla. Beat gently until smooth. Pour batter into pan.
3. Bake 30mins or till done. Allow to cool.
4. Decorate with frosting.

Frosting recipe
½ C Nuttelex
1 C pure icing sugar
A few drops of food colouring

Cream together the Nuttelex and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Addd food colouring one drop at a time until you get the colour you want. Spread over cooled cake.

Adapted from “Fast Ideas – safe recipes for kids” published by Ilhan Food Allergy Foundation Ltd.




 

5 comments:

  1. Looks great!

    How much Nuttelex is needed? I think you missed the measurement...

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  2. Oops, thanks Joy. Hopefully the recipe works better now.

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  3. Motorbike! Last years car was pretty creative too :)

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  4. Ok, one vote for the motorbike... make that two if you count our litte boy... stay tuned!

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  5. I thank you for the information and articles you provided

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