Hi there, have you been wondering what to do when real dairy is not an option anymore and you are so far into the vegan game that you must have non-dairy options?
Good news! It's super simple now that there are so many different plant milk products on the market.
But this guide is not about you buying the products from the grocery store. We will show you some easy steps on how to easily whip it together at home, with ingredients you might have already as a vegan eater in your fridge and pantry. Butter and eggs is not the only thing when it comes to vegan baking. Many recipes call for buttermilk, cream cheese, heavy cream and more....
Let's get started, shall we?
How to make BUTTERMILK:
Use 1 cup of unsweetened Soy Milk and 2 tsp of Apple Cider
Vinegar or Lemon Juice, depending what you have in the house, they both work just fine.
Leave the milk to bind and thicken for 3-5 minutes. Congrats, now you made Buttermilk.
Wasn't that simple?
If any recipe calls for CONDENSED MILK:
Just use simple unsweetened canned coconut milk. Done!
CREAM SAUCE (example vanilla sauce):
For 1 cup of cream add 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp of soy milk and whisk with 3 tbsp of vegan butter.
How to make dairy-free HEAVY CREAM:
Whip up a can of Coconut Cream. Best brand is Iberia “Crema de Coco”, whipping takes about 10 min. so please be patient. Silk now offers an off the shelf, ready to use version.
CREAM CHEESE:
Best option here is coconut whipped cream. You can make it yourself by placing a can of regular, not light, coconut milk inside the fridge for over 24 hours. Once it has been refrigerated for several hours, open the can and use only the thick cream from the top of the can. For cream cheese flavor add 1/2 tsp lactic acid. Do not shake or whisk it, simple spoon it out and add into a bowl. Whisk the cream until ready to enjoy.
A great substitution is ready to eat whipped coconut cream from 'So Delicious'.
Another way of making cream cheese is using soft Tofu and adding it to a blender and add 1/2 Tsp of lactic acid to it.
Ever wonder how to make Aquafaba whipped cream? This is great for mousse dessert or just a spoon on top of your favorite ice cream or latte.
For that you will need chickpea juice from a can. Pour the liquid into a sauce pan and heat over medium heat on the stove, until the liquid reduces to about half. It will turn browner as it reduces its water.
Let the chickpea brine cool to room temperature and cool for a couple of minutes inside the fridge.
Now take the brine and whisk on high speed for at least 5 minutes. It is best to add sugar to the cream as chickpea have a strong taste. The more sugar and dry flavors you add to your cream the better. Do not add liquid ingredients to your cream as this will ruin it if you are looking for a stiff cream that can form spikes.
Whipping Aquafaba usually takes 2 to 3 times until you get it perfect, so don't give up.
DIY Dairy-Free Cream:
Cream can be made also with cashews, soak cashews overnight and blend them in a mixer with diary-free milk the next day. 1 cup of raw cashews have about 1-2 cups of liquid depending on what texture you want your cream to be.
We use this method in our vegan cheesecake recipe (see Blog).
Let's look at the options that you can buy in store:
Tofutti Brand available items in store: Cream Cheese, Ricotta and Whipped Cream Cheese - great for anything that calls for it in a recipe such as cheesecake, cake and cupcake frostings.
Other brands are Kite Hill, Daiya Miyoko's, Violife.
What to use for cake frosting - Buttercream?
We like to mix up Toffuti cream cheese, Earth Balance butter and some powdered sugar!
