Hello fellow Dopers, I’m looking for good suggestions. I have a celebration event (not a birthday or anniversary) for a friend, and it’s an event where normally I’d get a cake. But he has food allergies, and so does his fiancée.
His food allergies are: gluten, dairy, eggs and apples.
Her food allergies are: fish (highly allergic); and gluten, tomatoes, avocado, walnuts, and pecans.
I’ve contacted local bakeries to see if they have any suggestions, and the ones I contacted don’t. She likes ice cream, but he can’t have it. Maybe he can have sorbet. I can put a candle on a scoop of sorbet, that’s doable, but it’s not the same as a nice looking cake.
Just Google “vegan gluten-free desserts.” Lots of options, even while avoiding nuts.
Google for vegan bakeries in your area, if you can find one they’ll almost certainly have gluten-free options as well. Lots of consumer overlap in those two categories.
What we’d do is call the bakeries. If that’s not working, yeah, maybe a chocolate confection. Watch out for sorbets–some have dairy even if the word “sorbet” suggests they don’t. Ben & Jerry’s makes several GF DF EF ice creams. Check for nuts.
Ben & Jerry’s Non-Dairy Cherry Garcia:
ALMOND MILK (WATER, ALMONDS), LIQUID SUGAR (SUGAR, WATER), CHERRIES, SUGAR, COCONUT OIL, CORN SYRUP, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), PEA PROTEIN, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONCENTRATES (COLOR), GUAR GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR (COCONUT), LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, CARRAGEENAN, SOY LECITHIN, VANILLA EXTRACT, LOCUST BEAN GUM, CITRIC ACID, WATER.
On occasions like this, I always turn to the domestic goddess herself, Nigella. She has a whole section on her website on gluten free baking, and many of these are dairy etc free as well:
Including this one. It has a tiny splash of pistachios in it, but you could exclude those:
I make a really nice fruit salad when I’m juggling allergies like that. But I suppose you can’t stick a candle in it. Maybe serve a fruit salad in a bowl made of a large fruit (pineapple, melon) and stick a candle in that?
I’ve had a nice chocolate “cheesecake” made with tofu instead of milk and eggs. I can probably find the recipe if you are interested.
I made a pretty good “cheesecake” based on pureed cashews once. That was more for some friends who were doing the keto diet. But I think it met your requirements.
My apologies, I seem to have lost that recipe. But it was very similar to this one:
The quality of the final product is going to heavily depend on the quality of chocolate you use to make it. Do check for dairy-free chocolate. It’s not hard to find, but a lot of chocolate can contain or be contaminated with milk.
If I were tasked with making dessert based on those dietary requirements, here’s what I would do.
I would make a good-sized batch of sholeh zard — it’s a Persian “sweet rice pudding” accented with saffron. The classic version is garnished with pistachios, but if the pecan/walnut restriction applies to other nuts you can leave that out. It’s very creamy, but if made traditionally, it has no dairy. Here is a typical recipe:
I would then spoon the finished pudding into individual ramekins, as many as you need for however servings are required. Like so.
I would then sprinkle the top of the rice with white granulated sugar, and brown it with a torch, a la crème brûlée. This makes the dessert feel a little fancier than just a bowl of rice pudding, and is not that much extra work.
For serving, I would garnish each one with two or three pieces of small fruit, like a raspberry and two blueberries. This can be anything, really, as long as it tastes good and adds a little color. If you want to be traditional with the sholeh zard, add a small dried rosebud. Or if you want to be extra fancy, you can use a stencil to sprinkle a spice pattern (cinnamon, cardamon, say).
Big advantage of this: All of the main prep can be done ahead of time, so you aren’t futzing around during the event. Have them in the fridge, pull them out and add the fruit, and serve.
The best part is, it’s easy to poke a little hole in the celebrant’s brûlée crust to hold the candle.
I got a birthday cake on my birthday. I certainly couldn’t have any. But it was still fun and a nice gesture. I enjoyed seeing everyone get some no I didn’t, I wanted to scream at them all at how unfair this was😊
I have made vegan chocolate mousse using only coconut cream and high grade cocoa powder. Mind you, the calorie count is through the roof. I suggest using it to replace cream and or chocolate in another recipe because of the calories. I served it as is with fresh raspberries. It is sublime.
I also like the idea of putting fruit in a gluten free/dairy free crust. The crust can use vegetable oil in place of butter. But I admit that finding a crust that is gluten free and behaves like a crust should is tough. But I think once you start searching, you will find plenty of options.
I’ve made various flourless, sweet potato based brownies in the past, that while not a perfect substitute, were still darn tasty, and had the visual appeal of a more traditional baked dessert.
Was the closest I found to the one I used last, which did have eggs, so I looked for one without. I do echo the advice from upthread though, the quality of the chocolate and cocoa powder is essential for all these options. And of course, you’ll want dairy free chocolate chips, which, along with the pecan topping are option and in the fiancee’s case, forbidden!
I have had several gluten free pie crusts, served to me by friends who are good cooks. And they’ve all been… Let’s just say that i would have been much happier with no crust. They’ve had a mediocre consistency and a weird bitter aftertaste.
You could do a fruit crumble. You can make a nice crumble topping with gluten free oats (not all oats are gluten free, you need certified ones) and the usual sugars and spices.
For the fruit crumble (or crisp) you do not need butter, you can use a different fat, but steer clear of canola and corn oil. Canola can taste funny when baked and, though I personally love the taste corn oil gives, others pooh-pooh it.
When i make vegan pie crusts, i use palm oil shortening. It’s chemically very similar to lard, and can be substituted in any recipe that calls for lard. The flavor is lighter and “cleaner” than lard, and goes well with fruit.
That doesn’t help make a gluten-free pie crust, but it would work for other stuff.
Do check for dairy-free chocolate. It’s not hard to find, but a lot of chocolate can contain or be contaminated with milk.