AI made a red velvet cake this weekend, and I don't have access to the dairy free cream cheese. So, I made my regular wilton recipe frosting using a dairy free sub, and I added some DH cream cheese can frosting in. I thought it was good. I know that can icing make some peoples skin crawl, but when I make a cake I never use dairy. My DD is deathly allergic, even when it is not for her I still won't use dairy products. I just thought I would share how I did it. Also, I added more PS and it colored well too.

Thanks for the input.  Keep them coming.  I do similar things at my house, for my granddaughter.  When she comes to my home, I want her to be able to eat with the rest of us.  And without having to say, "I need a pill"!  She's 3.

I sympathize with you! I have twins that will get really sick if it is even in the same room with them. Dairy-free is a hard one, but if you make it right now one will ever know! I'm in the same boat as you. The funny thing is, I know butter tastes funny in cakes and buttercream now. Thanks for sharing, I had no idea canned frosting was dairy-free, a nice short cut for the future! I typically use a dairy-free yogurt in place of the liquid in mine to give it a tangy/sour taste.

AMy daughter is almost 3. She is the reason I got into baking/decorating. Just because she has a dairy allergy doesn't mean she should have to go without. So,by researching and teaching myself, she now will be able to have a decorated birthday cake, cake on holidays and the occasional cupcake.

AMost canned frosting is not dairy-free. DH whipped cream cheese frosting definitely contains dairy, and DH creamy homestyle cream cheese contains lactic acid which may or may not be derived from dairy (you would have to contact the manufacturer to find out, and sometimes they don't even know). There's also the issue of cross-contamination, especially when the manufacturer makes other products that contain dairy.

AI have never had a problem with the homestyle, but you never know, it just depends on the kid. I would always suggest that a parent make the call after reading labels. I hope that the FDA will make it so that manufacturers have to put all information on labels, including if it has a chance of cross contamination.

AI actually called DH, they said that "the latic acid is not derived from dairy and it comes from carbs and sugars." I know that latic acid can come from milk it is also known as milk sugar. But like I said before, labels should be read, at least 3 times, and the parent should make the call as to what to give their child or feed themselves. And as far as the cross contamination goes, you might as well consider every product cross contaminated, unless it is stated "manufactured on allergen free equipment." We always take great care to prevent an attack in my home and we always have epi pens where they can be reached in a matter of seconds. She has never been in anaphylactic shock, except for the day that we knew she had an allergy and that was two years ago.

AIt's great that they were able to confirm the source of the lactic acid. We made everything from scratch so I haven't talked to DH specifically, but of the manufacturers we did talk to about half were able to give us satisfactory answers in terms of ingredient sourcing and procedures to protect against cross-contamination even if the equipment was not dedicated to that product.

Hmm. I've only had to do dairy-free once with cookies (used Earth Balance instead of my usual 50/50 mix of butter and margarine), and once with frosting (a single cupcake, for a dairy-allergic colleague, frosted with a dairy-free maple-cinnamon glaze that, as I recall, consisted of nothing but powdered sugar, Vermont Grade B, and cinnamon).