Allergies Help
Asked by mother nadine. Answered on 15th January 2012
Full question
Hello, my name is Nadine and I am on a gluten free and dairy free diet. I would really like to make the Baked Egg Custard from Kitchen (p260) - it looks like the one my Nana made for me as a child. The recipe says to use full-fat milk and I am wondering if soya milk will work? Should I add soya cream? I do hope you can help with this. Many thanks Nadine
Hello Nigella, I am a huge fan of your baking recipes. Just a small issue - I am pure vegetarian so do not eat even egg. Can you give me some alternative for egg in cakes, cookies and any recipe that contains egg? I know you can use flax seeds but do not know how and what amount to use. Also do you have other suggestions? Munmun
Our answer
Full-fat (whole) cows' milk has a fat content of between 3.25 and 3.5%, as opposed to semi-skimmed (reduced fat) milk that has a fat content of 2% and skimmed milk (low-fat) milk which has a fat content of 0.5% or less. The higher fat milk is recommended for this dish as the lower fat milks could end up tasting a little watery and less rich.
As far as we are aware the fat content of regular soy milk is very similar to full-fat milk, at around 3.3%, though some lower fat options are also available. If you are not sure then check the nutritional information on the side of the milk packaging and this should show the fat content.
Soy milk is often used as a straight substitute for cows' milk and should work fine in a baked custard. However make sure that the soy milk is unflavoured as some contain sweeteners and you would need to reduce the amount of sugar used to compensate.
Unfortunately we are unable to give substitutes for eggs in Nigella's recipes as it is quite a complicated process to re-work recipes accordingly. Eggs provide moisture, flavour and leavening in baking recipes and to adjust for these can require several steps. However if you look on-line there are many vegan websites with a host of egg-free cake and cookie recipes for you to enjoy.
Recipes you might like
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more questionsYour comment has been submitted.