Delicious (preferably choc) egg-free cake recipe needed so child isn't left out?

[perfectstorm]

I am making a birthday cake for my son to take to his preschool, but one child has an egg allergy (intolerance?). I think it's pretty hard on a 3 or 4 year old to be cakeless when all the rest are tucking in, so I want to make her a cupcake of some sort - preferably chocolate, as it can have the same icing and decoration then. Has anyone any eggless choc cake recipes at all? I would be ever so grateful as I have no idea where to begin.

[perfectstorm]

Forgot to say that she is fine with dairy, apparently, it's just eggs.

[talkingnonsense]

Hmm, I don't know about egg free baking but could you do her a biscuity thing? Maybe millionaires shortbread? I'm sure she ( and her parents) will be v pleased whatever!

[perfectstorm]

I think a vegan one will be okay, having had a google, and I posted in Recipes and someone very kindly gave me one made with milk, so I think I will trial that one, and the vegan choc cake linked to lower down, and see how I get on.

They had a choc fountain at a party a while ago, and the only non-fruity dips were marshmallows. I felt really badly for her, because though strawberries are great, fruit as an alternative to a sweetie all the others are chowing down on, when you're only 3 or 4? Not my idea of fun. Don't want her to have the same experience this time.

[perfectstorm]

I'm making a chocolate hedgehog cake, so I want to make a mini one for her. She can have the Flake "spines" and buttercream icing then, just not the eggs in the devil's food cake base. And it will be nice if she has a baby version of the same one the rest all get, I think.

[harverina]

I just started a thread similar to this...about the vegan chocolate cake...here is the recipe I used. It was a huge success!!!!

(AND VERY VERY EASY TO MAKE WHICH IS GREAT AS I CANT COOK!)

[casabevron]

I posted this recipe a while back, which I made for ds's birthday. It was delicious, even if I say so myself!

I'm sure you know, so please don't think I'm patronising you, but please make sure that if you give your little guest chocolate off the cake, that not even a tiny bit of the actual sponge gets on the flake or the cream, as even the smallest bit might cause a reaction. (when you say spines, I'm picturing them pushed upright into the cake - not sure if this is what you mean? )

[casabevron]

okay comprehension fail! I see now that you mean you can use the same chocolate and cream to decorate her cake, not that you will give her some off the main cake. Forgive me, I only got four hours sleep last night [knackered]

Hope your ds has a lovely birthday!

[perfectstorm]

That's all really useful, thank you so much. And Casa not patronising at all - it'd be horrible to make a child ill, and although much less horrible, also aggravating to go to trouble for nothing.

My hope is the other kids will be envious of her dinky special baby hedgehog. Especially as she will have a chocolate-featured (choc drop eyes, Smartie nose) face, which nobody else will get except my DS, I suspect. And given all the times she misses out altogether, that makes me rather happy. Must be rotten for her. So I want to make it as yummy and pretty as possible. Luckily she is only allergic to the eggs, so all the rest of the cake is replicable.

[perfectstorm]

Also the Brookie reference made me chortle.

[perfectstorm]

This is what I'm trying to make in terms of final appearance, so I think it should size down quite nicely. That's the hope, anyway.

[imoko]

good evening perfect storm. try looking on the bbcgoodfood.com site under eggless chocolate cake (suprise, suprise) you could make individual fairy cakes and use butter cream icing to make it more child friendly or stick chocolate fingers around the side and pile it high with lovely raspberries and mini marshmellows.

[casabevron]

Thanks You are lovely lady btw to do this!

The hedgehog idea looks fab. I had a little Ladybird cookbook as a child, and I remember being so proud when I made a 'party hedgehog' from half a grapefruit with cocktail-stick spines loaded with cubes of cheese and pineapple. I think it had a cocktail cherry nose - can you tell I was a child of the seventies?! Good luck with it

[harverina]

Ah Casa that was the recipe I remember seeing a while back - I just started a thread a few days ago asking about a vegan chocolate cake recipe which I had seen on here and now I realise that it was your recipe, except it isnt vegan, but can be...in the end the cake I made is almost exactly the same as yours, except I used water instead of milk and I did a different topping (milk and egg free). Agree that it is very moist and I will def be making it again very soon.

[casabevron]

Glad you like it Haverina, it never crossed my mind that it would be the one you were looking for, sorry!

[harverina]

No its ok, it wouldnt because I had asked specifically for a vegan cake and yours isnt vegan. It really is yummy though! I plan on making it again. I literally spent about 5/10 minutes making it, it was so easy and I was delighted that no one could tell that it didnt have eggs in it. The last cake my DH made he used avocado, the one before that banana, but they just tasted like...avocado and banana haha! So, a great result yay!

[Maz007]

You are so lovely to be so thoughtful - if any of my DD's friends' parents went to half this much effort I think I'd blub! Again, really not wanting to be patronising but I'm assuming you've spoken to the little girl's parents before going to all this trouble? I only say because depending on how severe reactions are etc some folks would be wary of letting others cook for their LO. I'm sure you have and they're really grateful! Just to add to the comments about cross-contamination as eggs are so sticky... I'd make the egg free cake first to reduce
risk of spoons getting mixed up / egg getting on taps / cloths etc. It isn't rocket science and I really wouldn't want to put you off... it wouldnt occur to most people to even think of doing what you're doing and it makes such a difference when people go the extra mile to include children with allergies :) You are a star!

In terms of recipes I've used egg replacer and just substituted it for eggs in lots of old family favourite cakes and they've come up really well. You can get it in supermarkets and it works nicely. As dairy is not a problem you should have lots of choice.

Hope it's a lovely day!

[perfectstorm]

Preschool said she is okay with traces, so as long as I do my best and absolutely do not include any egg products in the cake, it should be fine. I will email to confirm what that means before starting to bake, though. They are excellent there and she is now in her second year with them, so I really do trust their advice. I don't want to ask her parents because my brother has SN, and I remember how skin-crawly people's special concern could be. Really creepily self-congratulatory and pitying. I'd hate to be like them, and the parents think I was after weirdy virtue points. I just remember being a greedy little girl who loved cake, and it would have upset me to watch all the other kids eating one when I couldn't, week after week. And I like baking, anyway. If I were someone who bought my son's cake I couldn't do this, so may as well take advantage of one of my few Proper Mother skills. (I am crap at all crafts without the greed incentive!)

My plan is:

Scrupulously clean the worksurface I will use for her (it's granite so you can really scrub the hell out of it) and keep that as "her" worksurface, opposite side of the kitchen to the main one.


Make her mix in a bowl by hand, with a spoon (as it's a small quantity), on the extreme opposite worksurface. Bake the egg-free cake mix in cupcake cases, on a bun tray that has also gone through an intensive wash (though obviously the paper will act as a barrier). (Will need separate baking as shorter time, so will get out and cool in the tray while putting in the main cake.)

Make the main cake in the stand mixer, using silicone beater attachment. bake.

Wash main bowl by hand, then put through heaviest wash in machine, then again by hand. Can then use that bowl and the metal beater attachment to make the buttercream icing. Do same thing with the saucepan and another bowl for the chocolate ganache.

Ice and decorate baby hedgehog.

Put the baby hedgehog into a sealed cardboard cake box before the other cake gets out of the oven to cool/ice.

Does that sound okay? I want to put a layer of buttercream icing in the middle of both cakes, and then choc ganache on top to stick the Flakes into, but I can always make her buttercream in another fresh bowl if the beater one might be a worry? (It's a steel one, so you really can be sure it is clean, I think.)

Thanks for the advice, I am genuinely appreciative. I want to do something nice for her, not make her ill! So any extra tips will be gratefully received.

[perfectstorm]

Though I could ask preschool to ask their permission? That way they will feel more comfy saying no as well than they might to me directly. Can be guided by the Head on that perhaps.

[monsterchild]

Why dont you make the entire cake with the eggless batter? then you only have to do one. I have successfully used applesauce for eggs. And with that much icing, I seriously doubt the kids will care about the sponge!

It's an adorable cake, BTW!

[perfectstorm]

Because my son's absolute favourite cake is this one, and that's what he's asked for, and yanno - his birthday. (He will notice and mind. Really, he will.)

[monsterchild]

Fair enough! I totally understand now!
Sorry if I seems obtuse there, but the hedgehog is sooo cute!

[perfectstorm]

You weren't being obtuse at all, you were trying to make my life easier! Was very sweet of you.

[Maz007]

Well that sounds super conscientious! Even a twitchy old thing like me could relax with that level of care :) Much more than they'd probably take in most restaurant kitchens.

I know what you mean about the potential awkwardness of it - I'm sure they'll be so grateful as in my experience it doesn't even occur to most folks.

What a lucky bunch of children! And to my mind baking is one of the best Proper Mother skill super-power going :)

[heliotrope]

Looking forward to an update and picture! I've made that hedghog with a vegan choc fudge cake batter (see other thread (Dairy and Egg Free Recipes) for recipe, and it worked well.

[perfectstorm]

Well I've ordered a whole box of Flake 99s from Amazon today so I can separate enough to make thin "spikes" - we may be sticking the remnants of my failures on icecream for months!

I think the devil's food cake and the vegan batter should both work well with the hog. Will happily post photos, though be gentle - my cakes tend to taste better than they look, I warn in advance.