Help! Need dairy-free starter and dessert ideas!

[BattleofBeamfleot]

Calling all MNetters who have experience cooking for a dairy-free diner!

A lovely friend is visiting from overseas with her family and one member of the family is dairy intolerant. I've offered to cook but while I have an easy crowd-pleaser for mains, I am finding it harder with desserts because everything seems to have butter or cream (or recipe searching I'm turning up all vegan and free-from everything, which is double the complexity/ingredients I don't tend to have - and I also don't need it to be gluten free, nut free, soy free etc... with a lack of experience in this arena, I am likely to end up making it taste-free too).

I'm going to do a Spanish tomato bread and olives and charcuterie which might get me over the starter hump (unless any other brilliant ideas?), but I'm stuck with desserts. Please help!

Bonus Q: If I have to use my existing plan and swap in a dairy substitute, are dairy subs REALLY any way close in taste (and if so which ones)?

Get a dairy free cake from a supermarket, Sainsbury’s have dairy free custard or plant cream

Most cakes and desserts (non cream based ones anyway) are easy to make dairy free with baking block and oat milk and dark chocolate (check it's dairy free). The Oatly vanilla custard is nice too.

Sorbet and fruit
Pavlova with whipped cream as an addition at the table

What about some berries in champagne jelly

Or this sort of thing is one of my quick, standby puddings. https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/strawberry-gratin-kirsch-vanilla-sabayon/b70d82a3-3b90-43d3-b845-d8b25d1b33fe

I like it with pink and ruby grapefruit. I gratin it with a blow torch and lemon sorbet goes nicely. But you can do it with any fruit you like

This cake from Nigella is seriously good. Dairy and Gluten Free. I serve with raspberries and some coconut yogurt.

Delish!

www.nigella.com/recipes/chocolate-olive-oil-cake

You could make a chocolate mousse - just eggs, sugar and dark chocolate.

Or I've also in the past done homemade meringues with fruit and whipped cream for dairy-eaters, coconut milk whipped cream for dairy-free. It's genuinely nice - you get full fat coconut milk and chill it in the fridge to thicken it, then whip it like normal cream.

A nice crumble with dairy free ice cream/custored. To be honest dairy free is easy just buy stork/marge instead of butter.

Now gluten free that's the hard one.

I've actually managed to make a fairly decent dairy free chocolate orange cheese cake before now. You just need to get the dairy free cream cheese, there is one that works well, dark chocolate orange essence and soya cream. I'm not sure we could tell the difference.

Oat milk for custard and dairy free spreads - jam roly poly, apple sponge, fruit crumble

Starters - depend what main you are doing - I might just do dips with Tomato salsa and guacamole ( you could have a sour cream one for dairy eaters )

Or even simple retro - melon slices

Garlic mushrooms with toast also work ( you can add a splash of oat cream )

Or for more substantial- the sabuskhka ( tomatoes sauce with fried eggs )

There are loads of options, so many dairy free alternatives out there now. What comes to mind for a starter is most rest roll pastry is dairy free so you could do some fancy mini bites (with salmon, or prawns, or cranberry) for starters.
You could make a crumble topping with dairy free butter for pud. Serve with dairy free ice cream - again there's very good alternatives out there which I would say you can't tell the difference when comparing two vanilla ice creams next to each other.

Thank you all so, so much for these great ideas!

Really good to hear that there are nice dairy free custards and that baking block works - I might do a crumble and go a bit "Best of British" for my overseas visitors.

Good shouts on the sorbets too - i actually have some in the freezer but they are alcoholic! Probably will get them out anyway; I'm sure there'll be some takers 😂

You are all heroes and I'm definitely bookmarking some of these recipes to try for myself later!

Easy to make dairy free chocolate brownies that taste as good as dairy ones.

So make a separate one or make it dairy free for all.

Then get alpro cream or dairy free custard alternative. Serve warm 🙂

I once made gluten and dairy free cupcakes and no one had any idea other than those with intolerances!