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Soy Milk in desserts


bloviatrix

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Ok, I know this is sacriligous, but I need some help.

I'm planning my menus for Rosh Hashannah, and most of meals will be meat based. This means I can't serve dairy-based desserts. Does anyone have experience using soy milk to make pastry cream or ice cream? If it's doable, I'm thinking about that as an option.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Screw the fake dairy. Go with sorbets.

Also some sesame-based desserts would be cool, like Halvah. Or maybe marzipans.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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It's just that I would really like to do a nice fruit tart with a pastry cream. I think it would look impressive.

As for halvah, I can't seem to find a recipe for it (I was on a quest about 4 months ago - pre-egullet). Do you have one? My m-i-l is addicted to halvah. I would make a lifelong ally if I could make it from scratch. :smile:

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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I need to rant for a moment. I know that all desserts taste better when made with butter, cream, milk, etc. I've confined my cooking to dairy only this summer, and as a result, my desserts have been nice and rich. Before this summer I never kept a steady supply of heavy cream in fridge, but this summer I've gone a bit wild. So, now that we're going back to fall and the holidays, I'll be returning to cooking meat meals, which means finding the appropriate desserts. And I'm feeling the frustration of being limited. I know sorbets are an option, and I have pareve equipment for my ice cream maker. Last year I made a mango-star anise sorbet that went over well. Gordon Ramsey has fruit gelees in his book, and that looks promising. I can always go the poached fruit route, and I've done that many times. It's just that I want to do something different. Hence my thoughts about soy milk.

This is when kashrut is a bitch.

End rant.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Theres no need to rant. That's why we're tying to help you come up with solutions.

However, I feel that "fake dairy" really should not be attempted when there are perfectly good, delicious, valid, non-dairy desserts that can be served -- especially authentically Jewish ones like Halvah.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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Jason, believe me, I appreciate the suggestions. As I've already said, halvah is a great idea. And I'm open to other ideas (perhaps I need to start a new thread call desserts w/no diary?).

I'm far from traditional when I cook my meals, so the ideas don't have to Jewish in nature.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Any thoughts on that Almond Breezes stuff from Blue Diamond?

Here's a Rice Pudding with Almond Essence recipe that includes some nice rehydrated, dried cherries.  Although I'd skip on the non-dairy whipped topping suggestion!

Your post reminded me that I have recipe for a Couscous pudding made with coconut milk and that might be a good idea.

As for Almond Breezes, I'm not sure if it's kosher. I'll have to take a look at it.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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I read this post much earlier today and it just hit me now: Perhaps you could visit a vegan shop where they might have such things as non dairy cream cheese. While I have never had non dairy cheese myself, I was thinking that if it isn't just plain gross, you could make a nice no bake tart topped with fresh berries. The filling would simply be cream cheese, sugar and some fruit juice, and lemon rind, well beaten. You could use a graham crust done with margarine, toss the fruits with some preserves and spread it over the filling. Gourmet had a similar recipe using marscapone, but I have never seen non dairy marscapone. :smile:

Anyway, just though it might be a suggestion.....

On another note,if you can figure out how it's made, I have had tofu ice cream and I loved it....

Edited by jersey13 (log)
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If you're sticking with the fruit tart idea, I would second the frangipane suggestion.

EDIT: I have an easy recipe for pear and frangipane tarts. They are really beautiful. :smile:

Edited by NeroW (log)

Noise is music. All else is food.

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Please educate the ignorant: What exactly is frangipane? :biggrin:

Frangipane is almond cream. Think sugar, almonds, butter, eggs, and flour. When baked, it becomes cakey.

The problem with frangipane is that it calls for butter (at least the Payard recipe calls for it). This means using margarine as a substitute. And although Payard's tart dough is suprisingly flakey with margerine, I don't know how the frangipane will taste.

Edited by bloviatrix (log)

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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Thanks. Now that you describe it, I recall having it before I developed an allergy to almonds.

I generally find that substituting butter in things that really rely on it for flavour tends to be a mistake. That;s part of the reason I suggested the tart with graham crust. It's not butter dependent and you can add a dash of ginger or some lemon rind for flavour. Or, use ginger cookies instead. I know it sounds like something right out of a Kraft commercial, :raz: but we're working with a special dietary need.. (as you well know). You could try a normal crust using butter Crisco (I know, I know) and sweeten it, so as to imitate a sweet short crust.

I love butter. (Sorry, just had to get that out). :laugh::laugh::laugh:

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Frangipane is a mixture of almond paste, sugar, butter (or in Bloviatrix's case, parve margarine), flour, and eggs. It is heavenly with pears, or probably any stone fruit. The extra flavor from the almond paste more than makes up for the lack of flavor from the margarine or vegetable shortening. It's a great suggestion.

Katherine's suggestion to try your dairy recipes with soy milk is also excellent. Although you'll probably find that you're happier NOT trying to substitute. I once had a "creme brulee" at a kosher steakhouse -- had to see what it was like -- and I regretted it on the first spoonful. You simply cannot substitute for some ingredients, when they contribute such a high proportion of the flavor -- and the fat in dairy is one of the elements that carries the flavors of the other ingredients. My mother used to refer to the "Ice cream" we'd be served at weddings and bar mitzvot as "frozen Spry." True, true.

As for beans's question about Almond Breezes: I make an iced almond milk that is just great (not just my opinion). I got the recipe off a carton of Italian almond milk. When I tried making it with AB, it was just not as good: the flavor of roasting was stronger than the flavor of almonds. But that was my taste; you might like it fine. It can work well as an ice milk. It will never have the richness of ice cream, though.

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If you're sticking with the fruit tart idea, I would second the frangipane suggestion.

EDIT: I have an easy recipe for pear and frangipane tarts.  They are really beautiful.  :smile:

Are you willing to share your recipe? The only one I have calls for heavy cream, which defeats the purpose.

"Some people see a sheet of seaweed and want to be wrapped in it. I want to see it around a piece of fish."-- William Grimes

"People are bastard-coated bastards, with bastard filling." - Dr. Cox on Scrubs

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I sometimes sub in coconut milk for regular milk in all sorts of recipes. I bet it would work in a pastry cream, and would taste pretty good to boot. Hmm, ginger-flavored crust, coconut pastry cream, and sliced tropical fruits might make a tasty pareve tart for the holidays.

I have cooked with Edensoy soy milk (which I regard as the least offensive soy milk) with moderate success. Some soy milks have a tendency to split when cooked for a long time, so I usually add them at the end of cooking. I've used them more like I would real cream to finish a sauce or soup than as the base of something like pastry cream, but it's worth a shot. BTW some people vehemently disagree that Edensoy is the least offensive, and I've learned over time that different soy milks can be better for different activities. I think Vitasoy froths better for a soy milk cappuccino (sorry Lesley), for example, but it's not as rich as edensoy. And for some, rice milk or almond milk simply taste better than soy milk.

Go to a natural foods store and buy single-serving containers of soy and other milks, it's the easiest way to sample several types. Then give it a shot and tell us what happens. Maybe you could make a soy pastry cream and a dairy pastry cream and compare them side-by-side if you really want to feel rueful. :laugh:

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Oh yes, coconut milk. You could make a Thai rice pudding with coconut milk, with the mango slices on it.

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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