Another installment from Dawn Kiehl-Beals in her Sweet Freedom series. I can't wait to try these!
Enjoy!
Surprise Your Gluten and Dairy Free Friends
It's the week after Thanksgiving and its time to pull out the Christmas gift lists. When I was a little girl, now was the time my grandmother would start to bake and make homemade candy. One of her greatest joys was to fill box after box with goodies and pass them out to family and friends. Her gift said, "I love you, you're important to me, you're worth my time." She showed me that gifts don't have to be expensive or complicated to share our love. This year as you look over your list maybe you'll find someone who has to live gluten or even dairy free. Imagine their surprise and delight to receive a box of cookies and candy made especially for them. I know how much it means to me when family and friends make sure there is a special pie or treat that I can enjoy along with the rest of the family.
I've talked about ways to mix gluten free flours and ingredients to avoid but what about someone who has to avoid dairy? It's one of the many things on a long list of foods that I'm allergic to. There are lots of readily available dairy replacements but you still have to read the label to be careful of hidden ingredients. If the label has the word Parve or Pareve on it then you can be 100% sure it is dairy free. However, if you see the words casein or whey stay away!
There are lots of dairy replacements and tricks but today I'm going to focus on a select few products. For a long time soy was the only milk alternative out there, which made it tough for people like me who are also allergic to soy. Thankfully, now there are lots of choices including rice, almond, coconut and hemp just to name a few. Canned coconut milk can also be used when you need a "heavier", more whipping cream like consistency. Sour cream and cream cheese made from soy are delicious and can be used as an equal replacement in any recipe. Yogurt made from soy, coconut milk, rice milk and almond milk are all very good. Use the plain version of any of these yogurts as another replacement for sour cream in most recipes. Butter replacements can be tricky. Be sure to read the labels very carefully because many margarines contain casein and whey.
One of my favorite candies my grandmother made was hand made caramels. I've missed these delicious waxed paper wrapped treats for years. But this year I found a recipe that rivals that memory. After playing with the recipe and making some changes, I've come up with a "buttery" caramel with just a hint of salt. It's the perfect combination of melting in your mouth while still sticking to your teeth! I recommend making a double batch. If you don't, then I promise that once you taste them, your friend will have to wait even longer to get your labor of love!
Dairy-Free Caramels
1 cup Earth Balance margarine
2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 can (14.5 ounce) coconut milk plus enough almond milk to make a total of 2 cups (coconut milk and almond milk combined)
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoon gluten free vanilla
Prepare your pan/s: Line an 8 inch x 8 inch pan with parchment paper. I do this by very lightly oiling my pan, then laying in the parchment so the parchment does not slide around.
Place the margarine, sugar, brown sugar, coconut/almond milk mixture and corn syrup and sea salt in a large saucepan. Use a saucepan that doesn't have any teflon coating. I don't know why but it works better! Clip a candy thermometer to the saucepan. Slowly bring ingredients to a low boil stirring very, very often. Keeping things at a low boil prevents the caramel sugars from forming grainy crystals, prevents boil over and hot sugar spatters.
Cook over medium-high heat while continuing to stir often until candy reaches 250 degrees F. Depending on your stove this can go very quickly or take quite a while. The key is to stir often and make sure it heats to 250 degrees F. An easy way to check if your caramels are done is to drop a teaspoon of caramel into a cup of cold water. Give the caramel a few minutes to cool then take the caramel out of the water and form it into a ball. If you cannot get the caramel to form a ball or if the ball flattens on your hand or counter then it still needs to boil some more. The mixture will start out a very milky color but when ready will turn into a gorgeous caramel.
Pour the caramel into your lined pan and allow to cool completely. Once cool, cut with a sharp knife or oiled kitchen scissors and wrap in waxed paper.
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