Eggless birthday dessert!

[worm@work]

I am currently in the middle of a family reunion and it happens to be my moms birthday. I want to either bake a cake or make some other form of birthday treat but face a variety of constraints:

a.) I am not much of a baker... I am a little scared of baking and usually tend to need precise instructions that i can just follow . Seem to have no instinct for this stuff somehow.

b.) My mom is a vegetarian and does not eat eggs

c.) The treat needs to be something that'll also appeal to my nieces and nephews (they're all between 5 & 9 years of age) and

d.) I have no access to a stand mixer or a food processor or a hand mixer even.. whipping (if any) will need to be done by hand

I was thinking maybe something fruit-based is the answer? Any help is really appreciated but if you give me a reco, I'll probably need recipes as well...

thanks a million!

Seema

[miladyinsanity]

There's an eggless chocolate cake recipe here.

I've not tried it out, though, so i can't tell you whether it'll work.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Three options but you know that you will get many more ideas here:

eggless cakes ... can be mixed by hand ...

eggless chocolate bundt cake

eggless carrot cupcakes which are also vegan

[Caroline923]

try web site for ochef.com

[Pontormo]

If you are able to invest in equipment you lack, this might be the time to do it.

I'd suggest purchasing an ice cream maker, especially to delight the children. You could make sorbets just in case there's some lactose intolerance in your group; it would also compensate for the fact that most ice cream bases require egg yolks.

Home-made ice cream is always impressive to anyone who hasn't made it before and if you want, you might even use it to make a frozen-dessert tart with a citrus or ginger or even bittersweet chocolate base and serve one or two fruit-based garnishes:

Lime filling with a ginger crust and blueberry sauce

Peach and raspberry with almond flour pastry

Coconut, mango and lime

Lemon and raspberry with chocolate....(Your choice: chocolate shell, lemon filling, raspberry sauce; lemon shell, raspberry filling, chocolate sauce....)

If not, simply purchase ice cream that is made without eggs and make an elaborate ice cream cake of your own. See epicurious for recipes.

Cannoli--there are all sorts of flavorings for ricotta filling, especially, to think about.

A crostada or galette with seasonal fruit and home-made frozen dessert. These open-faced rustic pies just look a bit more festive than traditional pies.

There are also molded desserts such as watermelon pudding or something you invent yourself using one large bowl, Bundt pan or fish and lobster mousse molds.

[ewindels]

The New York Times published a recipe for Amazon Cake some years ago, which I found on this web site. I speak from experience that this is really a quite marvelous cake considering that it has no dairy at all. Be sure however to use really good quality cocoa -- Hershey's won't cut it. This works amazingly for vegans, lactose intolerants, and sundry fusspots.

[worm@work]

If you are able to invest in equipment you lack, this might be the time to do it.

I'd suggest purchasing an ice cream maker, especially to delight the children.  You could make sorbets just in case there's some lactose intolerance in your group; it would also compensate for the fact that most ice cream bases require egg yolks. 

Home-made ice cream is always impressive to anyone who hasn't made it before and if you want, you might even use it to make a frozen-dessert tart with a citrus or ginger or even bittersweet chocolate base and serve one or two fruit-based garnishes:

Lime filling with a ginger crust and blueberry sauce

Peach and raspberry with almond flour pastry

Coconut, mango and lime

Lemon and raspberry with chocolate....(Your choice: chocolate shell, lemon filling, raspberry sauce; lemon shell, raspberry filling, chocolate sauce....)

If not, simply purchase ice cream that is made without eggs and make an elaborate ice cream cake of your own.  See epicurious for recipes.

Cannoli--there are all sorts of flavorings for ricotta filling, especially, to think about.

A crostada or galette with seasonal fruit and home-made frozen dessert.  These open-faced rustic pies just look a bit more festive than traditional pies.

There are also molded desserts such as watermelon pudding or something you invent yourself using one large bowl, Bundt pan or fish and lobster mousse molds.

←

Well, I actually do have all of this equipment except its all at my home and right now I'm at a vacation home we rented for the reunion! So buying this equipment was not an option. I finally made a blueberry pie because I got some really sweet blueberries from the farmer's market and figured they'd carry the taste of the eggless dessert. I did use butter since none of my family members are vegal or lactose intolerant (fusspots though they may well be ) and the pie was perfect. Everyone loved it and I even tried a lattice top for the first time ever and was pleased with the results. Thanks everyone for all the advice and help! I saw the amazon cake recipe too late unfortunately... looking at the picture, I suspect it'd have been the perfect treat for my chocaholic family! Well, maybe I'll make another dessert this week after all.