The past few weeks Adria has complained of a stomach ache - more so than usual. We have suspected she is lactose intolerant like Ryan for awhile now, and she had been taking the same pills he takes, but she still complained a fair amount. We finally took her to the doctor and he said she needed to go a dairy free diet for 2 weeks. At the end of 2 weeks we can try her on some hard aged cheese. If she does ok with that, we will know it's a lactose intolerant problem. But if that bothers her stomach than it's a milk protein allergy. So the 2 weeks ends on Christmas day, but in the meantime we have been working on diary free food for her. She isn't very happy about it! We have tried to find substitutes that she can eat: Dairy free (AKA vegan butter), dairy free whipped cream (coconut milk), and dairy free chocolate (Trader Joes). After some internet searches we found Earth Balance buttery sticks are the best for cooking and so far they've been great- I have a gingerbread cake in the oven right now made with it, and I used it for all the other recipes too.
So for Christmas Adria wanted a panettone. We had bought one before we found out about doing the dairy free diet and it has milk in it. So I made some instead. I tried 2 different recipes. They both turned out great. The hard part was making my own Panettone molds. I did that with some card board, staples and flour glue. I go the idea from this website here. I tried a recipe from Zoe Francois. She has published several cook books and I have watched some Craftsy classes she taught. The second recipe I tried was from King Arthur Flour. They both turned out well. But they both really browned. I think next time I will cover them with foil sooner. I did use a thermometer to make sure they were cooked to 190 degrees.
We are going to John and Andrea's house for a Christmas Party tonight. Grandma Andrea always buys whatever dessert they have at Costco and they aren't milk free. So I told Adria I would make here whatever dessert she wanted. She wanted cupcakes with frosting. I didn't think she really liked chocolate that much, but I was wrong- that is the one thing she has complained about the most during the last week or two. She's not a dark chocolate fan either but I think she's learning to like it more now that she can't have milk. Last night she said the Trader Joe's chocolate was really good.
Adria asked for vanilla cupcakes and chocolate frosting. I suggested adding peppermint and she thought would be great - with CANDY CANE Sprinkles!
Cupcakes
1 and 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp white vinegar
In a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the soy milk, vanilla, oil and vinegar and mix briefly to remove any big lumps. Line a 12-cupcake tray with cupcake liners and divide the batter evenly between them. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean. Transfer the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Chocolate Peppermint Frosting
I used this as a guide, but mostly just added stuff until I had enough frosting that tasted like we wanted -Pretty much how I always make frosting.
1/4 cup vegan butter
3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
3 to 4 Tbsp soy milk
Crushed candy canes
Cream the powdered sugar with the butter. Add the cocoa powder and peppermint extract. Mix well. Add milk a little at a time to get the right consistence for frosting. Add more sugar if needed and more cocoa powder if you want a darker chocolate flavor. Put frosting into a piping bag and pipe onto cupcakes. Sprinkle with crushed candy canes.
Since I made these on our anniversary, Ryan bought me a cupcake holder for an anniversary gift! I told him that's what I wanted.
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