Over the past few years I have held several jobs (Taco Bell, Little Ceasars, David's Bridal, and currently Truckee Bagel), started college, lived in the residence halls on campus, got an apartment of my own, and even found the love of my life. Between working and college (plus not having a kitchen of my own) I have seriously been lacking in the baking department.But fear no longer! In my place I have a wonderful little kitchen that is just perfect for all the baking shenanigans I get into. One slight, teensie-weenie problem though: I regained my lactose intolerance over the past few months. That means no milk, cheese, butter, or sour cream for me. Boo. Cooking has not been a problem since I just look for recipes that do not require milk, but baking is a different story.
With my lactose intolerance coming back up, the one good thing is I get to choose all the fun things I get to eat now. But finding dairy-free snacks for a good price in any regular ole' grocery store has not been working for me. However, I did find VeganCuts online, which is a snack box service that mails you TONS of dairy (or gluten) free snacks every month. I bought the 6 month subscription right away. I mean, look at all the good stuff I received in my second box:Anyways, being lactose intolerance in no way means you have to stop baking. Or enjoying pastries. Or life in general. Over the past month alone I have tried so many different types of milks, cheeses, yogurts, and even cream cheese. Yet nothing seems to really compare to the real thing, that is the sad part. And when you work in a bagel shop ad cannot eat half the things in it (luckily the bagels are dairy free!) it makes it that much harder to enjoy the fake stuff.
There is one brand I like though, possibly because it is made with real milk, and that brand is Green Valley Organics. It is lactose free dairy, where they add the lactase enzyme. Now I am not all that knowledgeable about the difference between lactase and lactose, but I know this stuff is good and it does not make me sick at all. Score! I mean, even the packaging is appealing!
But back to the recipe. The original recipe can be found HERE, and the original contains both butter and sour cream. Boo again. Buuut Green Valley Organics is so tasty that I easily replaced both those things with their lactose free counterparts, and the results are aamazing. And that means this is one more recipe all my lactose intolerant counterparts can enjoy now as well! This recipe is not vegan, as it contains eggs, and not gluten free since I used regular bleached flour. I am not saying that this recipe cannot be altered to fit those diets, I just made it so it would fit mine.Because really, who wants to make something they cannot even eat?
My boyfriend is far from being lactose intolerant and even he loves this cake, he was snacking on it before it was even cool from the oven! He usually loves everything I bake, but a couple weeks ago I tried making some blueberry vegan muffins and they did not turn out okay, not even a little bit. So he was a little wary about this recipe, until it came out of the oven.
Raley's does their $5 Mondays and I actually scored 2-16oz packages of strawberries for $7 during this sale. If my porch got a little more sunlight I might try to grow my own strawberries, but store bought does just fine for now. I sliced the strawberries into slices, instead of halves like the original recipe says, just because I believe sliced strawberries are better in this recipe than chunked ones.I also had to bake the cake a little longer, since the middle was not setting very well. Despite that, the edges did not get burnt and the top is actually a really nice, crispy texture while the middle is still super soft. Also, it does seem like a lot of sugar goes on the top, but after it is baked it is the perfect amount and adds to the deliciousness of the cake. Even the batter was delicious! I had to stop myself from eating it before there was no more left for the actual cake...
Dairy Free French Strawberry Cake
Ingredients:
1 stick Green Valley Organics lactose free butter, soft
1 1/4 c. White sugar, divided
2 Large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/3 c All-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. Baking powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 c Green Valley Organics sour cream
16 oz. Fresh strawberries, stemmed and sliced
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9in round cake pan with non-stick spray and set to the side.
2. In a stand mixer, beat 1 cup of the sugar and the butter until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in one egg at a time and beat well after each one, then beat in the vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the flour mix to the butter mix, alternating with the sour cream so that you begin and end with the flour mix. Make sure you beat until just combined with each addition.
4. Fold in the strawberries with a spoon, then spread the batter in the prepared pan. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, making sure it evenly covers the cake.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Let it cool completely before cutting.
Try this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment