Florida Crystals® knows today, nearly every diet is unique.
Whether it’s due to allergies, sensitivities or simply a conscious choice to eat differently, modified diets today aren’t the exception—they’re the norm. So, when you bake up your next batch of something delicious, chances are you’ll have someone in your household or at your event who may need their dish prepared differently.
Thankfully, all of these modified diets have led to a ton of trial and error to determine how to still bake delicious desserts even without gluten, dairy or eggs. A few common substitutions include:
Dairy:
Almond milk, coconut milk and soy milk are easily accessible and work perfectly in most dishes. For heavy cream, you can even cook down almond milk to get a thicker, richer consistency. When it comes to butter, depending on the recipe you’ll find bakers using everything from actual vegan butters bought at the store to creamy avocado to replicate its smooth, silky feel in countless desserts. Ghee, a form of clarified butter that’s simple to make yourself and extremely low in lactose, is another great option for those who are lactose intolerant but crave butter’s rich flavor.
Gluten:
Thanks to innovations like almond flour, coconut flour and cauliflower flour, baking up gluten-free delights is easier than ever. These alternative flours are available in virtually every store and taste great when substituted into your favorite recipes, or worked into creative new ones. When substituting, our chef recommends using weight to determine the amount of flour needed. Gluten-free baking flours differ in the type of grain and nut flours blended. For equal replacement use the guideline that 1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs 4.4 oz.
Eggs:
Flax eggs are one option that’s popular among vegans, and sour cream or Greek yogurt can often stand in the place of eggs in creamy sauces. For sweet recipes, an extremely ripe banana or applesauce actually works quite well in place of eggs, and it seems most households always have a quickly browning banana on hand. If you are in need of a whipped egg white substitute, then whipped aquafaba will do the trick. Eggless meringues, anyone?
