Since both of my kids are dairy free, I’ve had to learn how to adapt our diet so that we can eat like a normal family, but do so without dairy. And with my second having issues with corn, I’ve had to navigate that as well. First off, I want to say that I totally understand that most people don’t have these issues and don’t really know what it means to be dairy free. I also realize that there are a lot of diet fads out there, so they like to lump all of them together. That being said, it seems like there is a serious lack of information regarding a dairy free diet. What I typically find is dairy free, gluten free, vegan. Or paleo. Or a whole lot of ____ free food that I don’t care about. I just want dairy and corn free.  And I know a ton of moms who have to eliminate dairy from either their diet, or their kids, so I am going to start sharing recipes and hopefully create a resource for people who are just avoiding dairy.

Today, I’m going to give you a recipe for Dairy Free (and corn free) Chocolate Cake. This recipe is simply a Betty Crocker Cake Recipe adapted for dairy and corn free diets.

I also want to add this:

1. The cake fell apart because I stacked them on top of each other before icing and that was a horrible mistake
2. The icing was a fudge icing and let me tell you, fudge icing and toppled middle section don’t work together as you’ll see.
3. I was in a hurry and did a horrible job on the pictures. Ignore the fact that I am obviously not a food blogger (yet) and even more so am I not Martha Stewart. If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know I’m a hot mess so of course, this doesn’t look picture perfect. That being said, it was delicious and everyone gave good reviews.

If you’re wanting to learn more about dairy free cooking, see this blog post. 

I know you’re laughing. It looks horrible. Next time, I will do the following things:

1. NOT stack the layers together before frosting
2. take time to take better pictures and maybe even use a plate that doesn’t have frosting all over it

I’m just going to get straight to the recipe. I hate reading a bunch of crap in a recipe post, so below is my adapted recipe using the Betty Crocker Cookbook. 

Dairy Free Chocolate Cake (part 1 – the cake)

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 2/3 cups sugar

3/4 cup Earth Balance spread sticks (available at Whole Foods)*, softened

2/3 baking cocoa 

1 1/4 cups water

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon baking powder **

2 large eggs

*Earth Balance has a variety of non dairy options, but I prefer the red because it doesn’t have soy. Just a side not: typically, a child with a casein intolerance also has a soy intolerance

**If you are also avoiding corn, most baking powders have corn starch in them. Hain Pure Foods baking powder uses potato starch instead of corn. I think Whole Foods has another brand that doesn’t use corn as well, but this one is my favorite

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom of two 9 inch round pans with earth balance buttery spread and lightly flour. *
2. Mix all of the ingredients together on low speed for 30 seconds. (this will make sure you don’t get shit everywhere). Then beat on high for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Pour mixture evenly into the two pans.
3. Check your baking times depending on what pan you use. I used a calphalon non stick cake pan and 28 minutes was perfect. Cook in pan for about 10 minutes, then finish cooling (out of the pan) on a wire rack.

*Of course, you can use a 13×9 inch pan, three 8 inch round pans, or cupcake pans. You can also use non stick bakeware or glass, just make sure you search adjusted times for size and materials used. When I make cupcakes with this recipe, I bake for 15 minutes. 

Dairy Free, Corn Free Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup baking cocoa

1 cup almond milk *

1/2 cup Earth Balance soy free buttery spread

1/4 cup raw honey**

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar ***

2 teaspoons vanilla

*Almond milk is my go to milk substitute. You can also use coconut milk, but I would avoid using creamed coconut or coconut milk from a can because it doesn’t seem to work as smoothly. 

**The original recipe calls for corn syrup, so if you don’t have an allergy, you can try this. The honey tasted fine to me and though the icing appeared runny at first, it eventually solidified. 

*** Most powdered sugar contains corn starch so if you’re avoiding corn, check Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s powdered sugar. Both are corn free. 

Instructions

1. In 3 quart saucepan, mix sugar and cocoa. Stir in milk, butter, honey, and salt. Heat to boiling, stirring frequently. Boil 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cool 45 minutes. *
2. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla with spoon until smooth.

*My icing was runny as you can see in the pictures. I should’ve let it cool a bit longer and maybe the honey made it a little runnier than corn syrup. The icing did harden more so next time I’ll wait longer or continue to not care about how it looks. 

And there you have it. I tried the fudge frosting because I don’t really love the taste of buttercream frosting with the earth balance spread. I have done it, and will do it, and it’s fine, but if I can avoid it, I try something else instead. Sometimes, for my little guy, I even make cupcakes with no icing and he loves them. Or I’ll make the cake part, and put it in a bowl, covered with strawberries. He likes it either way, and as long as you don’t overcook the cake, it’s really moist so you can get away with no frosting. I bet you could crumble all of this up, mix in the frosting, and make cake pops. I haven’t tried that yet, but it sounds delicious.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to ask any questions. I know there are so many moms out there having to figure out how to do this and I’ve been doing it for 4 years now, so I have found lots of ways to get around no dairy. Let me know if you want to see more!