Sugar-Free

Name: Mangonada Fruit Smoothie Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 1 10” or 2 8” or 3 6” cakes or 24 cupcakes
Ingredients: 2.5 cups mango purée (540g); 2 cups sugar (400g); 2 tablespoons ground flax seed; 5 tablespoons hot water; ———; 3.5 cups flour (440g); 2 teaspoons baking SODA (bicarb); 1 packet of Peach Mango Koolaid Powder (optional); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 c chamoy

Silk Vegan Heavy Whipping Cream Review

January 3, 2020 // by Meggan Leal// 8 Comments

Wondering if the new dairy-free, vegan heavy whipping cream alternative from Silk is perfect? I asked the questions and found the answers.

First of all, this post is NOT sponsored by Silk or any brand other than myself – Cooking on Caffeine. What you’ll find here are my own personal, honest opinions, based on how I use the product and my own tastes.

I stumbled on this product at my local Walmart today while looking for my favorite oat milk creamer (which they didn’t have, and I am upset). It was next to the dairy whipping cream, and was flanked by their new dairy-free half and half (which I didn’t purchase).

Of course it caught my attention, and of course I bought it. I have so many questions! I have so many recipes to test! Does it go well in coffee like cream? Does it actually whip up (and stay whipped)? Does it make perfect, luscious ice cream? How does it cook? Does it give a silky mouthfeel like dairy cream? Does it separate like dairy cream? Can I overwhip it?

Whew. So many questions.

The most important question is obviously whether it’s good in coffee or not.

And I’m sure you have the same questions I do, so I’ve decided to do all the testing and post the answers here because we all need answers!

Let’s get the dairy-free whipping cream party started!

What’s it made of? Is it safe for my allergy or diet?

According to the packaging, it’s certified gluten-free, so that’s the one allergen you can be 100% sure you’re safe with here.

Unfortunately, there is a cross-contamination warning for dairy, soy, and tree nuts. What does that mean? It means this product is made in the same building that houses those allergens – they aren’t included in the whipping cream, but they can’t give a guarantee that particles haven’t found their way into it.

Super special thanks and shoutout to Raechel Carr from the Deliciously Dairy Free Facebook group for sharing the screenshot below of her email response from Silk regarding cross contamination with us!

Silk's email response regarding cross contamination risk

If you are extra sensitive and risk anaphylaxis if you consume dairy, tree nuts, or soy – this isn’t the product for you. if you are allergic to coconut, this is not safe for you as coconut is a main ingredient. It also contains fava bean protein, which is a legume – so avoid if you’ve got a legume issue. It also contains guar gum and sunflower seed oil and lecithin – so avoid if needed. See the email above for more info.

The bottom line is that if you’re avoiding animal products, this is safe. If you’re dairy-free by choice, you’re safe. If you’re only mildly intolerant of dairy, tree nuts, or soy, you make the call but you should be ok.

If you don’t have to avoid cross contamination, this is an exciting product because it’s made without soy ingredients! It has historically been very difficult to find whipped cream alternatives that are soy-free – so now the soy-avoiders can rejoice!

It’s also sugar and carb-free, so the keto/low carb community will rightfully be dancing for joy when they find this product!

You will also notice a complete lack of carrageenan – which is nearly unheard of for dairy-free alternatives.

Beyond just ingredient items, this vegan whipping cream is Non-GMO Project Certified, which will put a lot of minds at ease who are concerned about that sort of thing.

Guess what’s also missing? Palm oil. It’s pretty much a win win win win.

What does it look like?

It’s pure white and thicker than milk.

How does it pour? What’s the viscosity like?

It isn’t as thick as I imagined it would be – more like a half and half type consistency than heavy whipping cream – but definitely better than any plant milk I’ve come across, except for super fatty canned coconut milks.

What does it taste like?

It tastes like.. nothing really. It’s not sweet at all, but there are no bitter or sour notes either. It’s completely neutral.

Is it great in coffee?

Um, YES. I absolutely loved it in my coffee!

Back in my dairy days, I drank my coffee with half and half – and this is exactly like it.

I was afraid it was curdling as I poured it into my hot coffee (which I brew quite strong) since most plant milks separate right away. It looked like it was doing it, but as soon as I stirred it all smoothed out.

And guess what? It stayed that way! It didn’t separate at all over the 45 minutes I had it sitting. Huzzah!

Does it whip?

This answer is a little more complicated.

Yes, it whips. But not well. I used a cold bowl and cold beaters and cold whipping cream, and I added some pure powdered sugar since whipped cream should be a little sweet, but could only get it to very soft peaks. It would be perfect for dolloping over hot pie or fresh fruit. (Note: I was using my humble four-speed Kitchenaid hand mixer. Something more powerful may have been able to get to stiff peaks)

After mixing for a little more than five minutes on high speed, it started to separate – badly. Just like dairy whipping cream (which I guess could be considered a good thing? It’s like dairy except that I couldn’t get it to stiff peaks).

HOWEVER! I drained off the liquid “whey” (I poured the contents of the bowl into a fine mesh sieve and stirred it around with a rubber spatula, pouring out whey as I could) and whipped what was left AND IT WAS GLORIOUS. It was super stiff, fluffy, smooth, creamy, and delicious. I put some on my coffee and it was amazing.

The only issue here is that there is the faintest aftertaste of coconut since it’s concentrated, now. It isn’t bad though. I dislike coconut and it’s not enough to bother me. Other than that, it’s just like fresh dairy whipped cream!

So does it whip? Yes, no, yes.

As for the “whey”, I’m going to try using it as milk in a cake recipe. (Update: I ended up using it in my coffee as creamer and it was darn delicious)

It’s kind of disappointing that half of the whipping cream is going towards “whey”, but the quality of the concentrated whipped cream is high enough that I may just keep buying it for things like flavored butters.

Can I overwhip it?

Yes, yes you can. See the above paragraph. 😉

Does it stay whipped?

It will if you fridge or freeze it immediately. Within an hour, the room temp whipped cream was already super soft and melty. Because of this I don’t recommend trying to put it between cake layers unless the cake layers are absolutely frozen, going straight into the freezer, and going to be served while cold. To see the before and after freezing, check the paragraph below – but here is a before and after of the room temp whipped cream:

And here is a before and after of my refrigerated whipped cream, two hours between photos:

Does it freeze well?

After being whipped, YES! Here is a before and after photo of it being whipped, separated, and whipped again (as outlined above) as a small sample:

**I have a bit of un-whipped in the freezer overnight and I’ll test it in the morning and update here with results** I’ll also be testing homemade ice cream with it in the near future. (Update: it whipped up fantastically!)

Does it heat/cook well?

Oh, does it.

It’s a thing of beauty, y’all. Even if you have zero interest in trying to make whipped cream, you’ll love cooking with it! I made a five minute alfredo to test if it would 1) heat without curdling, and 2) tolerate an acid (lemon juice) being introduced and still hold up. It also has salt, and a handful of other seasonings for testing.

I’m happy to report that it passed with flying colors! And it was delicious. I’ll get the recipe up soon!

Does it curdle/separate?

In coffee it does not (YAY!) but it does while whipping after soft peaks. You’re safe to cook with it, though!

Is it everything I’ve been dreaming of?

Well, maybe not everything. I wish it whipped up stiffer right out of the carton, but apart from that I am super impressed! I’m having visions of all kinds of pasta sauces, flavored vegan butters, and of course – delicious coffee.

If you want whipped cream though, you’ll have to work for it and chill it right away. And if you don’t want to do all that work, I suggest trying my American meringue buttercream recipe and letting it whip for 15 or so minutes. You’ll get a light and silky faux whipped cream that’s much more stable than this one.

Overall, I think this is a quality product and I will definitely be purchasing it again. I hope that they can get rid of the cross contamination risks so more folks can enjoy it. Despite its shortcomings though, it’s exciting that we have things like this becoming commercially available, and I can’t wait for them to get better and better!

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Allergy-Friendly and Vegan Pastry Recipes:

Mangonada Cake with Chili Lime Buttercream (vegan, soy-free)

October 15, 2019 // by Meggan Leal// 1 Comment

This Mangonada Cake was inspired by the classic Mexican street snack! It’s a sweet cake made from natural mango purée with sweet, tangy, and spicy chili lime buttercream, accented with chamoy and adorned with Mexican spicy candy, this cake is addictive in all the right ways! It’s also totally dairy-free, egg-free, and soy-free if you use the recommended products. It can be modified to be gluten-free and no-added-sugar, as well. And it makes darn good cupcakes for those who don’t like to do cakes!

By far, this is my most popular cake flavor sold out of my little vegan cottage bakery in Texas.

Mangonada?

So what is a mangonada? A mangonada (also known as a chamoyada or chamango depending on what part of Mexico you’re in) is frozen mango blended up with ice and served with chamoy sauce (explained below), chili powder, lime juice, and usually a tamarind-covered straw.

There’s just about nothing better on a crazy hot summer day.

The Components

The body of the cake is made with the mango version of my fruit smoothie cake. I use mango-peach Koolaid powder to really up the ante flavor-wise, but you can omit this if you’re wanting to go au natural.

The frosting is my chili-lime version of my easiest vegan buttercream ever. I use fresh squeezed key lime juice as the “liquid” addition as well as in place of the vanilla, and add a teaspoon of Mexican fruit chili seasoning with the powdered sugar. Trechas is my favorite commercial brand (and Tajin is wonderful if you want to avoid added sugar), but feel free to use whatever you prefer or even make your own! (And make sure you try it on your favorite fruit if you never have before!).

I dye frosting bright yellow and/or orange with Americolor lemon yellow and super red gels, or use turmeric for those seeking a dye-free delight.

Apart from the buttercream between each layer, I also add a healthy amount of chamoy. If you’re not Hispanic or haven’t been exposed to a lot of Mexican food, you may not know what that is.. so, what is chamoy?

Chamoy is a glorious sauce made from concentrated fruit (usually plums) with chili and salt, and no mangonada is complete without it. It’s tangy, sweet, spicy, and all round wonderful. It’s used on fruit most of the time, but it gives this cake a wonderful, exotic kick! Its deep maroon color is also beautiful against the brilliant yellow frosting. My favorite is a brand I recently discovered called Joy Chamoy – it’s made just a few miles from where I live and it’s the most flavorful variety I’ve tasted!

If you prefer to order from Amazon, you can grab this variety and it will taste great as well.

Or just skip the shops and make your own!

I brush it directly on top of each layer of leveled cake – like one would a sugar syrup – before a healthy layer of buttercream and the next cake on top.

The Construction

So this cake is, from the bottom up, mango cake – chamoy – chili lime buttercream – mango cake – chamoy – chili lime buttercream, as many layers as your heart desires. Then I cover the whole cake in the chili lime buttercream, pipe some sort of decoration in the buttercream on top (usually swirls or rosettes), and pour more chamoy all over the cake.

Watch me make it in this quick timelapse:

As the final touch, the cake gets adorned with spicy Mexican candy and another generous sprinkling of the fruit chili.

Just the Cupcakes, Ma’am.

For cupcakes instead of cake, just do the swirl of frosting, chamoy drizzle, chili sprinkle, then the candy on top. I’ve even served them with the chamoy inside a pipette instead of drizzled (for less mess during transport and sale).

You should be able to find the chamoy, fruit chili, and Mexican candies at your local Hispanic grocery or aisle, otherwise click on my links to find them on Amazon.

If you want to avoid the candy on the cake, it can definitely be served without. Try substituting dehydrated mango slices instead! Even better if you can find the chili lime variety!

The cake can be made up to five days before serving, but wait to put the chamoy and candy on until just before the cake is presented, though – as they can melt with the buttercream.

That’s it! It looks complicated, but once you have all the ingredients in order, it comes together easy peasy. And if you’ve ever had the privilege of enjoying a cool mangonada, hopefully this mangonada cake will bring back great memories!

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Recipe:

Yield: 1 10” or 2 8” or 3 6” cakes or 24 cupcakes

Mangonada Fruit Smoothie Cake

The yummiest mango-flavored cake recipe ever. Made with mango as the first ingredient, it’s super allergy-friendly, oil-free, has a surprisingly delicious spicy kick, and can be made with no added sugar and gluten-free as well.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

2.5 cups mango purée (540g)
2 cups sugar (400g)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
5 tablespoons hot water
———
3.5 cups flour (440g)
2 teaspoons baking SODA (bicarb)
1 packet of Peach Mango Koolaid Powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 c chamoy

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and prepare your cake pans (I like to use nonstick spray and a parchment paper circle inside the bottom).
Prepare your flax eggs by mixing the ground flax and hot water in a small bowl or cup (1 tbsp of flax + 2.5 tbsp water = one flax egg - so you’re making two eggs here. Also, using hot water speeds up the process). Set aside.
Add your flour, baking soda, salt, and KoolAid powder to a medium mixing bowl. Sift or whisk if you’d like.
Add your mango purée and sugar to a large mixing bowl.
Add your flax egg to the fruit/sugar once it’s goopy - after about ten minutes.
Pour your dry ingredients into the wet, and fold them together using a silicone spatula until the batter doesn’t have any dry bits. Don’t stir! Fold!
Pour half of the batter equally into your prepared pans.
Drizzle equal parts of chamoy into each pan
Pour the remaining batter equally into each pan
Use a toothpick or knife to swirl the chamoy around
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Cupcakes take about 17 minutes)
Proceed as usual and enjoy your cake!

Notes

*Use cup-for-cup stevia if you'd like to avoid added sugar, and substitute the chamoy with reduced prune juice with cayenne to taste.
*Use a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour replacement if you'd like to avoid gluten

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 8mgSodium: 153mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g

This nutrition information has been calculated based on the recipe as written and with strawberry purée. These values will change if you alter the recipe.

Yield: 2 cups (enough to frost a two-layer 6” cake)

Vegan Chili Lime Buttercream

The easiest vegan buttercream you’ve ever made - in sabor loco chili-lime! Four ingredients and ten minutes gets you perfectly pipe-able frosting for any confection that needs a spicy-sweet punch of tangy Mexican flavor!

Prep Time 1 minute

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 11 minutes

Ingredients

1 cup room temp high-fat vegan butter* (two sticks)(I prefer Country Crock Plant Butter sticks for best and soy-free results)
3 cups powdered sugar (use Swerve Confectioner’s for a sugar-free version)
2 tbsp + 1 tsp lime juice
1-2 tsp chili lime fruit seasoning
Yellow gel food color

Instructions

Add butter and two cups of powdered sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the paddle attachment
Mix on low/stir until completely incorporated
Add the final cup of the powdered sugar and chili lime seasoning, and mix again on low/stir until completely incorporated
Add your lime juice
Mix on low until completely incorporated
Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of your bowl
Mix on low just until the mixture is fully combined and smooth
Adjust the consistency by adding more juice by the teaspoon to thin, or more powdered sugar by the quarter cup to stiffen until desired consistency is reached

Notes

*For more info on vegan butters to use, check out my post at www.cookingoncaffeine.com/easiest-vegan-buttercream-ever

*If you use shortening, whip the mixture for 15 minutes or until it no longer has a greasy/waxy mouthfeel

*if you want the buttercream as silky smooth as possible, turn the mixer on low/stir and let it go for about a half an hour after you’re done mixing it

*for butter without palm oil, give Miyoko’s cultured butter a try

*for butter without soy, use Country Crock Plant Butter Sticks, Earth Balance Soy-Free, or Miyoko’s cultured butter.

*feel free to sift your powdered sugar if it’s very lumpy

*for crusting buttercream, add another one to two tablespoons of liquid, and use powdered sugar to bring back to consistency

Allergy-Friendly and Vegan Pastry Recipes:

Fruit Smoothie Cake (vegan, oil-free)

July 6, 2019 // by Meggan Leal// 8 Comments

I was on the hunt for a fruit-flavored cake recipe that was three things:

Stupidly simple –

Vegan –

Absolutely delicious –

I found a few recipes that hit two out of three, but none that checked all three off my list. So what did I do? I did what I do and I wrote one. But in order to write a cake recipe, you need to know a little cake science and do some dissecting.

So what parts are there to a traditional cake recipe? In no particular order: the flavor, the substance, the liquid, the leavening agent, the sweetener, the fat, and the binder.

I wanted my fruit flavored cakes to taste like.. well.. fruit. And what tastes more like fruit than fruit? So that definitely needed to be my first ingredient. And it just so happens that fruit purée not only makes an epic flavor base, but also an amazing egg replacer for binding AND oil substitute. And it’s juicy. Bam. Why haven’t I been doing this all along?!

The best strawberries in the world from a local farmer being smoothie-fied for cake

So the fruit does the job of four cake recipe components: flavor, liquid, binder, and fat [replacer].

Then you need your substance – the bulk of the cake. That’s your flour.

And you need leavening to give the cake rise – that’s when the batter creates millions of tiny bubbles within itself and the cake puffs up, becoming a sponge instead of a hockey puck. Traditional cakes do this in a variety of ways: usually eggs filling with steam and the addition of a bit of baking powder. This cake does it with a chemical reaction of acid + base. Think back to elementary school volcanoes made with vinegar and baking soda. That’s what we are doing here, but with citric acid instead of vinegar.

For sweetness I normally use Zulka unrefined granulated sugar, but any granulated sugar will work. It also works wonderfully with coconut sugar, and for a no-sugar-added cake granulated stevia works amazingly! Just keep in mind that fruits contain natural sugars, and most flours are high in carbs which can cause sugar spikes – so while this cake made with stevia will be more diabetic-friendly than most other cakes out there, it still isn’t something that can be eaten in excess without glycemic consequences.

So with the realization of how many jobs fruit purée can do and an understanding of what other components need to be addressed, this cake can be made with, at the bare minimum, four ingredients. FOUR! And it’s DELICIOUS made with only four ingredients!

So if you’re dealing with food allergies and need something base-line basic, I’ve got you! This can be made with just an acidic fruit purée, sugar, baking soda, and flour – omit everything else and follow the steps the same way. Do you need it to be gluten-free? Use your favorite cup for cup gluten-free flour and add a teaspoon of baking powder (results may vary based on the brand or mix of gluten-free flour you use, so please test yours).

Strawberry smoothie cupcakes and cakes, made with only four ingredients. Who would have thought?

So you may be asking – why in the world would you add more stuff to it if it’s delicious with just those four??

Good question.

With just those four ingredients, the cake is stupidly simple, vegan, and absolutely delicious. BUT – sometimes I make showstopper cakes that need to hold up well with lots of layers, can be carved, can be crumb coated and frosted with ease, and some people really like extra flavor on top of the natural fruit, as well as a pop of color – so I made a few additions to make those things happen.

Flax helps the cake to be more sturdy and less crumbly, salt balances the sweetness, and the kool-aid powder adds extra flavor, color, and citric acid to react with our baking soda for more lift. If you use it, choose the same flavor as your fruit purée or a complimentary flavor (peach-mango with mango purée, for instance). If you’re using a fruit that isn’t very acidic (blueberries, for instance) you need the extra boost of acidity – so if you don’t want to use KoolAid powder, use a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice instead).

Strawberry smoothie cake all trimmed and torted and ready for filling, surrounded by the chaos that results from cake decorating.

So far I’ve made this recipe with strawberry, mango, peach, kiwi, dragonfruit, pineapple, raspberry, and blueberry. If you want to try another flavor, or even combine them, go for it and let me know what you did!

Making fruit-flavored pastry is a peach-a-cake! ;D
Here are the fluffy innards of a peach smoothie cake.

And finally, keep in mind that this cake, because it is made of mostly fruit, will be more dense than your traditional light and fluffy birthday cake style cake. To avoid it being any more dense than necessary make sure to gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together rather than stirring (so you don’t develop the gluten and make the cake chewy and bready). You can also add extra flour, up to a cup, to lighten it up a bit. But remember that the more flour you add, the less the fruit flavor and color will come through.

This recipe is great for cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, and even pancakes! It can be doubled, tripled, halved, or quartered and still works great. Try it with my quick and easy ganache or my easiest buttercream ever.

Take a look at my video here to watch how I whip up the batter in less than ten minutes, and please subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to know about new tutorials I put up:

VIDEO:

Yield: 1 10” or 2 8” or 3 6” or 24 cupcakes

Vegan Fruit Smoothie Cake

The simplest fruit-flavored cake recipe ever. Made with fruit as the first ingredient, it’s super allergy-friendly, infinitely customizable, oil-free, and can be made with no added sugar and gluten-free as well.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

2.5 cups fruit purée (540g)
2 cups sugar (400g)
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
5 tablespoons hot water
———
3.5 cups flour (440g)
2 teaspoons baking SODA (bicarb)
1 packet of KoolAid or other acid-based unsweetened drink powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C) and prepare your cake pans (I like to use nonstick spray and a parchment paper circle inside the bottom).
Prepare your flax eggs by mixing the ground flax and hot water in a small bowl or cup (1 tbsp of flax + 2.5 tbsp water = one flax egg - so you’re making two eggs here. Also, using hot water speeds up the process). Set aside.
Add your flour, baking soda, salt, and KoolAid powder to a medium mixing bowl. Sift or whisk if you’d like.
Add your fruit purée and sugar to a large mixing bowl.
Add your flax egg to the fruit/sugar once it’s goopy - after about ten minutes.
Pour your dry ingredients into the wet, and fold them together using a silicone spatula until the batter doesn’t have any dry bits. Don’t stir! Fold!
Pour the batter into your prepared pans.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Cupcakes take about 17 minutes)
Proceed as usual and enjoy your cake!

Sugar-Free

What’s it made of? Is it safe for my allergy or diet?

What does it look like?

How does it pour? What’s the viscosity like?

What does it taste like?

Is it great in coffee?

Does it whip?

Can I overwhip it?

Does it stay whipped?

Does it freeze well?

Does it heat/cook well?

Does it curdle/separate?

Is it everything I’ve been dreaming of?

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Allergy-Friendly and Vegan Pastry Recipes:

Mangonada?

The Components

The Construction

Just the Cupcakes, Ma’am.

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Recipe:

Ingredients

Instructions