Working in the Southern Living Test Kitchen, I was extremely fortunate to work with some very talented people. Of the 35,000+ recipes we tested in those 6 years, a number pop to mind as being outstanding and one of these is a milk and butter rich breakfast roll. A few weekends ago I was seriously craving these rolls and wanted to see if I could come up with something just as good without any of the milk or butter.
Happy Birthday Uncle Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim Jim!!!!!!!
My sister called the other day to tell me Rosie wants to grow up to be "a chef like Grandma and Uncle Jim". Now I know she's only 4 and her career plans are hardly set in stone, but I have to admit, it made me a more than a little happy when she told me this. So when I went home last weekend, one of the things I looked forward to most was being Chef Rosie's sous chef while she made my birthday cake.
According to my sister, when my nephew had his very first bite of Tres Leches cake, "His eyes started to sparkle, a huge smile appeared on his face and pure joy radiated out of him."
This iconic Hispanic dessert is typically made with three types of milk (evaporated, condensed and whole milk). Making this dairy-free turned out to be easier than I thought and I actually like it better than the original. By using coconut milk, cream of coconut and almond milk I was able to add a lot more flavor than you typically see in this dessert.
Although you may be tempted to eat this cake the same day you make it, you really need to let it sit overnight in the refrigerator in order for the three milks to fully absorb into the cake. If you don't you'll end up with the outside edges of the cake very soggy while the interior is still dry. Trust me, it's worth the wait.
It may not be pumpkin season but when you find a can of pumpkin puree about to expire in the cabinet what do you do?
How about cheesecake? Dairy-free of course.
Even after switching to soy milk a number of years ago, I still can't say I'm totally in love with it. I long for the days when things didn't have that 'toasted marshmallow' flavor I typically associate with soy. So I was happy to see almond milk recently show up in my local store. It's still fairly new on the market and may not be available everywhere so if you can't find it bug your grocery manager.
I was surprised how good it was in my morning latte but the true test came when I tried to make it into pudding. In making a pudding or custard you want a nice, rich mouth feel when you're eating it. Since almond milk is pretty thin, the texture of the first batch was also thin.
Continue reading "Almond Milk Pudding with Bourbon Vanilla Bean Syrup" »
