My son is allergic to dairy and soy, and he has his first birthday coming up in August. I can make a cake without dairy and soy, but the icing is tricky! I can't use crisco because it has soybean oil in it! Whipped cream is out because of the dairy.....I don't know what else to do!!

Any suggestions??

Thanks,
Valerie

Hi, can you make it with margarin?

Hi, can you make it with margarin? I found this if its any help,

http://surefoodsliving.com/2008/02/10/dairy-free-soy-free-margarine/

It would be a fluffy icing, but what about non-dairy cool whip? Mix it with powered sugar?

Cool Whip makes a nice icing actually but I think it does have a milk derivative in it.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081220075816AAcoGP6

This tip says to use lard instead of shortening. Don't know anything about it but its worth trying.

Hi, I have made many cakes dairy free. At Whole Foods you will find a few different shortenings. The two that I have used are the 365 Whole Foods Brand and Spectrum. Both give good results. For butter I substitute with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (also found at Whole Foods). They contain soy oil, but Earth Balance carry a soy free buttery spread that you could use instead. None of these substitutes contain trans fats either.

Had to do one for dairy, nuts and egg allergies - used a margarine called Nucoa. There were components of milk in others (whey, casseine). Anyway, used that for the buttercreeam beneath Satin Ice fondant. Not my favorite buttercream but everyone liked it.

Hmmm.....I'll have to check into the lard and the margarine that someone mentioned. Most margarines actually have a milk derivitive in them or they have soybeal oil. He can't have ANY soy or dairy, even trace amounts.

Thanks, if anyone else has any suggestions, please chime in!!

We're in the process of doing an elimination diet to find out what else he's sensative to. Hopefully it's not eggs or wheat!!

Lard has a flavor that I don't think would lend itself well to frosting.

It sounds like for future birthdays, fondant might become your best friend As long as you could make it with a soy-free shortening. You could put it on the cake with some preserves instead of buttercream underneath.

what about the old fashioned boiled frostings?

From the Dr. Price Cookbook, published by the Price Baking Powder Factory, 1929

Boiled Frosting
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup water
½ tsp. Dr. Prices Baking Powder
White of 1 egg
½ tsp. flavoring extract
Boil sugar and water until syrup starts to spins a thread at 238 degrees. Pour very slowly into stiffly beaten white of egg and beat until smooth; add baking powder and flavoring and mix well. Allow to stand about ten minutes and spread on cake.

From Reliable Recipes, no publication date but booklet looks like it is from the 1920s.

Boiled Frosting
2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1 T. corn syrup
2 egg whites
Boil sugar and water until syrup starts to spins a thread . Pour very slowly into stiffly beaten egg whites. Add flavoring and beat until smooth enough to spread.

And finally here is a recipe from the Five Flours Cookbook, 1938.

Boiled Frosting
2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup corn syrup
1/3 cup water
2 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
Cook sugar, corn syrup and water until syrup will spin a long thread when dropped from the tines of a silver fork. Remove from fire. Have ready the stiffly whipped egg-whites. Pour hot syrup slowly onto the egg-whites, while beating constantly. Add vanilla and beat until mixture until mixture is almost cold, is creamy to taste and will hold its shape when spread on the cake.
Grated lemon or orange rind or almond flavoring may be used instead of vanilla; chopped nuts, chopped dried fruits or cocoanut may be added.

Have you checked with the dr about crisco? I know that my friends' son has severe allergies to soy, but could still use crisco since it was so minuscule. Good luck!