Dairy-free baking with Michelle Darmody
Most of these cakes are made with what I call the paddle method; the ingredients are stirred together rather than whisked or folded.
If you are using a mixer you would use the paddle attachment, hence the name.
I just use a wooden spoon and a large bowl and they work as well.
Milk contains lactose that does not agree with everyone’s digestive system.
There are a variety of good milk substitutes available and many of them work well in baking.
I like to use coconut milk as it gives a very creamy texture. Soya milk or rice milk also work.
Vegetable oils are good butter substitutes. I use a light rapeseed oil here but a pure sunflower oil also works.
The buns are a quite quick to make and the amount of ripe banana allows for a low amount of sugar used in the recipe.
The blueberry loaf is wonderful on the first day it is baked, when the berries are still oozing and warm, melting in with the sweet coconut cake.
These nut and seed bars are a good pick-me- up snack, containing plenty of dried fruit.
Blueberry loaf
3 eggs
220g of caster sugar
250mls of a light rapeseed oil
60g of desiccated coconut
300g of self-raising flour
175mls of coconut milk
3 tsp of vanilla extract
140g of blueberries
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and line a 2lb loaf tin.
Whisk your eggs with the sugar and oil.
Mix the desiccated coconut and flour together.
Stir a third of the flour mixture into the eggs, add a third of the coconut milk, and continue until it is all combined. Add the vanilla extract.
Stir the blueberries into the mixture and scoop it onto the prepared tin. Bake for an hour until golden on top or until a skewer comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin.
Banana and apple buns
4 ripe bananas, mashed well
3 cooking apples, cored, peeled, and stewed — about 5 tbs
200g of plain flour
100g of caster sugar
1 ¼ tsp of baking powder
½ tsp of bread soda
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 egg whites
Handful of walnuts, chopped
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and pop bun cases into a cake tin.
Combine all of the ingredients well and scoop into the 12 prepared cases.
Bake for 30 minutes until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean.
Nut and seed bars with lots and lots of dried fruit
80g of almonds, chopped
250g of porridge oats
10 dates, destoned and chopped
100g of honey
6 tbs of peanut butter
1 tsp of cake spice
a pinch of sea salt
20g sunflower seeds
20g of pumpkin seeds
30g of golden raisins
30g of dried figs, chopped
30g of dried apricots, chopped
Heat your oven to 180 degrees and line a 9 inch square tin with baking parchment.
Spread the oats and almonds onto a baking tray and bake for 15 minutes until turning golden.
Blend the dates with 100ml of warm water.
In the meantime, gently heat the honey and peanut butter together.
Stir all of the ingredients together and press down into the prepared tin.
Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top. Leave to cool in the tin and then slice.
