Eggless and Dairyless Fairy Cakes

[Haberdashery]

Hello. I don't have a child with allergies myself but my daughter (aged 5 in Reception) has a friend who is allergic to dairy, eggs and nuts. I'm reasonably clued up on the nut thing as I have a sister who's nut-allergic but not so good on the other stuff. Anyway, DD is having a birthday party soon and I would like to make tiny fairy cakes in pretty cases. Is there an egg and dairy free recipe that I could use for this? I would ideally like something that all the children will enjoy so that the mum of the allergic child can relax a bit. Also, any other good ideas for non-allergic party food gratefully welcomed. Also a biscuit recipe that would be good for decorating with sprinkles and icing would be nice.

Many thanks.

Choc cake -

Sieve 225g self-raising flour, 1tsp baking powder, 225g sugar, and 40g cocoa in a bowl and mix well.
Pour over 130ml vegetable oil and 300ml water.
Mix thoroughly
Pour into 24 cases and cook for about 25 minutes at 170ºC
Ice with plain icing (icing sugar & water). And most of the sprinkles/cake decs you can buy are dairy & egg free.

They keep for ages too. Didn't get any complaints from the other children.
Jelly is ok and you can buy dairy/egg-free "ice cream".

Bertha, I use that choc cake recipe too

These ginger biscuits are good. Remember to use dairy-free margarine (e.g. Vitalite, Pure spread, Sainsbury's freefrom margarine)

You could also use the dairy-free spread to make sandwiches (cut into small triangles with no crusts?) - at DS's birthday party I just put jam in one plateful and ham in another plateful (but remember to check ingredients of ham as lots of processed ham contains milk products).

Fox's iced Party Ring biscuits are okay. Some brands of Jammy Dodgers are okay.

Sausages in sticks: some brands of cocktail sausages are okay (e.g. Asda, Co-op)

Asda frozen cocktail sausage rolls are okay (also the smart price variety)

Plain Hula Hoops are fine - there is a 'may contain milk' warning on the packets, but we have never had a problem and DS is v.v. sensitive

Lots of to you!! I know your DD's friend and also the parents will really appreciate all the trouble you are going to.

Bless you (and I wish that I could show you a picture of my son's face yesterday when a friend made 'special' cinnamon muffins that he could share )

Ah, thanks so much, lovely ladies. That's great. The ginger biscuits look fab. I know the child is OK with sprinkles as she has made biscuits with sprinkles before to share at school. I would obviously check the ingredients, though. And I had already thought of jelly, which is brilliant as have never personally met a child who doesn't like it. Also Haribo for the party bags rather than chocolate.

Also, great tips on the sausages issue (I had wondered). Also, I had no idea at all about the ham thing. I have already invested in some Pure margarine so I have that covered!

I know some kinds of bread have milk issues - since you've all been so helpful, could you recommend a brand of sliced bread that won't be a problem? I will use marg for all the sandwiches so hopefully the allergic child won't have an issue with any of the food. Party rings is a great idea, too.

Sainsbury's safe brands of bread/sausage/other treat things v welcome if anyone else happens along. I don't drive so will have to get stuff from there as it's five minutes away and it will be a big shop.

Many thanks, all of you. It's a great help.

Hovis Best of Both Bread is okay -it's what we tend to use even though it's expensive. Most (but not all) Warburtons stuff is also okay.

I don't know much about Sainsbury's brands of sausages - I don't drive either so have to buy most things from local shops and the nearby Asda. But I do know that Sainsbury's have a great freefrom range and their labelling is pretty good (even so, when checking ingredients of sausages etc. watch out for 'hidden' milk and egg products).

Haribo is a great idea.

Again, bless you for doing this

Thanks very much. But honestly, no thanks needed. I would hope anyone would make the effort for me if it was my child. The rest of them will be fine. There will be sugar and juice. I don't suppose any one of them will notice no butter or eggs! And it's really not so much trouble. I like cooking so just a few new recipes for my collection, really.

I know Haribo is safe as DD's friend has had it before when we've been with her so it is an easy option with those little 10p bags you get. And I like Warburtons bread generally so will check the packets.

Thanks for helping. And I know about whey products when checking labels. Is there anything else in particular that a novice might not spot which I should look out for.

breads: Tesco oat is dairy/soya free.

hang on to the packets so that parents can check ingredients for themselves - they will find that hugely reassuring

Thank you very much for all your tips. Hopefully it will be a nice relaxed party for the parents with all of your help.

I made a delicious banana/blueberry loaf yesterday which is dairy/egg free - let me know if you need the recipe.

By the way I hear that the mini mince pies with stars on them in Waitrose are OK - will be getting some.

Other ideas - little flap-jacks made with dairy free margarine?

I would love the recipe, if not too much trouble, please. Flapjacks is a lovely idea.

is it my 5yr old dd you are catering for? she's also allergic to milk, eggs and nuts! (just joking!!)

Sainsburys sausages that are ok - well, i just bought 'porky whites' as they are fine for my dds... other brands may be ok, but you have to check them all.

OK biscuits are hard to find in Sainsbury's (Tesco and Waitrose are much better), but McVittie's Gingernuts are fine, I give my dds party rings if I'm there but i think they may contain milk, so you may want to avoid them in a party situation.

I'm just cooking for dd1's party and I'm doing mini-cupcakes, mini-choc crispie cakes and mini-flapjacks. Let me know if you want any of the recipes (btw the flapjack recipe is the BEST )

Crisps - plain are normally ok, but not pomme bears or hula hoops.

Breads - most un-fancy sliced bread is fine, but avoid own-brands.

I wish my dds would get invited to parties and get to eat the same as everyone else - you are one lovely lady

Really plain biscuits that use vegetable fat rather than butter are ok - so I think rich teas and the like - but you will need to double check as DS is now ok with dairy and its a while since I had to look . Also ginger snaps

I have just had a quick look at sainsburys website - lots of their stuff has ingredients on it - so you can search for things - a word of warning lots of sweet the free from stuff contains eggs if it is dairy free.

how aboutthis for muffins

Thanks so much everyone. I was going to make the biscuits so I could be absolutely sure what was in them.

The muffins look great, Alison, thanks.

Mamado, I would love a tried and tested flapjack recipe if not too much trouble to type out. Thanks in advance!

mamado, I would love that flapjack recipe too

Super-duper amazingly gooey flapjacks!

this is slightly adapted from a Celia Brookes-Brown recipe, you can add 50g coconut (scrummy), choc chips or dried fruit to the recipe if you fancy an extra flavour. We really like coconut, but since its a seed it may not suit everyone..

200g dairy free spread
200g demerara sugar
200g golden syrup (Celia would say honey but i think its too strong a flavour and the syrup makes them extra gooey, and vegan too!)
400g oats (works best with normal size rather then giant)

-Preheat oven to 180 degrees C, gas mark 4
-Line a shallow oblong brownie tin with foil
-Melt together spread, sugar and syrup (do not boil!)
-Mix in oats (plus coconut/choc/fruit, if using)
-Spread evenly into lined tray
-Bake for 15-20 mins until lightly golden
-Cool, then cut into whatever shape/size you like!
-Or wrap in more foil and freeze

Enjoy, hope you like it as much as we do! I seem to have to always have some on the go for my dds!!

Thank you very much indeed. That sounds not only delicious but very easy, too!

Banana and blueberry cake

50g non dairy margarine
Hand full of blueberries
150g caster sugar
225g self raising flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 large bananas large and very ripe
Approx 90ml of appropriate milk substitute (I use oat milk)

Preheat oven 190/375 or gas 5
Grease and flour loaf tin
Cream margarine and sugar until pale and fluffy
Add small amount of milk and fold in sifted flour and baking powder
Mash bananas and stir into cake mixture together with "milk" and blueberries. Do not make the mixture too wet.

Transfer to the tin and bake in the centr shelf for 45 minutes until the loaf is golden and springyand has shrunken a little from the sides of the tin.

Turn out onto a wire tack to cool.

Doves Farm biscuits are good :-)

You need 'Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World', it's a wonderful book (and the cakes are pretty good too). Or, look at its authors' web-site (they do all sorts of cooking but there should plenty of cakes there): www.theppk.com/

Brilliant, thank you all so much. This is all incredibly helpful. The website looks like it might be really helpful. You are all very kind indeed.

Could I ask a question about icing? It's a Christmas party so I was kind of thinking of making a really fruity Christmas cake and decorating it. Is there a way to do really thick white icing without eggs or milk? I only know of the cream cheese or royal icing options. If not, I think the banana and blueberry loaf would be good with plain lemon and icing sugar icing and sprinkles. My dad likes oat milk so that sounds like a good call for the milk substitute as he'll be visiting shortly after so I can give him any leftovers - or maybe allergic child may like some to drink.

roll out icing is normally ok and would get the right effect on a Christmas cake. I just read on here the other day that icing sugar may have traces of egg in it... I'd never even checked before as it 'just sugar' ... however, I've always used it to no ill effect for both my egg allergic dds. But i think the roll out doesn't have that risk for some reason...

I am sure the child is all right with icing sugar because she's made iced biscuits to share at school before. But I will check with her mum just in case. Thanks!