Category: Uncategorized

This no-bake, gluten free and dairy free cheesecake is a sight to behold! It is deliciously decadent yet light and fresh. It’s also egg free, grain free, probably paleo and has options you can use if you are avoiding certain nuts. 

When we first had to go dairy free, I never in a million years imagined I would enjoy something like a cheesecake, ever again! This no bake dairy free cheesecake is very special to me because it’s one of the very first recipes I lovingly developed, practiced and refined and shared on the blog, not long after I first started it. 

The recipe below includes instructions to make a ‘Black Forest’ flavour – cherries and chocolate. Feel free to mix up the flavours. You could try: 

STRAWBERRIES’ AND CREAM

Use only strawberries for the berries – either fresh of frozen. Divide the mixture into two instead of 3 and add the strawberry puree as you would the berry puree in the instructions. This mix will also make a strawberry jelly for the top 

BERRY CHEESECAKE 

Replace the cherries and strawberries with any berries you like – raspberries, boysenberries, blueberries – the possibilities are endless. 

MAKE IT VEGAN 

This is really easy to make vegan, since there is no gelatin in the actual cheesecake, you just need to replace the gelatin in the jelly 1:1 with agar, or even chia seeds. Though you would need to make sure it’s a thick chia jam so that it stayed in place. Also, use a vegan sweetener like maple syrup or rice malt syrup. Maple is my personal favourite, it gives it the perfect balance of texture and sweetener. 

THE JELLY ON TOP

This is based on my healthy jelly lollies recipe, the gelatin I usually use is Great Lakes Gelatin in the red tin, which is the one that sets them firm. I’ve used it for years now and it still remains my favourite gelatin to work with. 

CASHEW NUT FREE?

If you are avoiding cashew nuts, but have have other nuts, then you can replace the cashews in this recipe 1:1 for macadamia nuts. There are notes on how to do this at the bottom of the recipe.

There any many reasons you may want to avoid eggs in baking or cooking, our main reason has been food allergies. Over the last 8 years of creating, baking and cooking for kids with food allergies I have come up with a list of the best egg substitutes in cooking and baking, and a guide on how to use them. You can download this image in PDF for print here.

Here’s a list of the best egg substitutes, and which circumstances they work the best in. Because to create delicious baking that everyone will love, I’ve learned it’s definitely not a one size fits all approach, and different substitutes suit different types of recipes.

And if you want the guess work taken out, I already provide tried and tested egg substitute suggestions in my recipes on the blog!

Egg Substitutes For Cakes, Cupcakes and Muffins

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• Chia seeds – 1 Tablespoon + ¼ cup water
• Flax seeds – 1 Tablespoon + ¼ cup water
• Baking powder – 2 teaspoons + 2 Tablespoons water + 1 Tablespoon oil
• Gelatin – 1 Tablespoon + 1/4 cup water

When substituting eggs in muffins, cakes and cupcakes, the name of the game is to keep them as light and fluffy as possible. The role of the egg in these baked goods is to add moisture, rise, texture and keep them light and not too dense. If you are going to use chia seeds, flax seeds or gelatin, these take care of the moisture and texture, but you will also need to add 1 extra teaspoon of baking powder, or ⅓ teaspoon baking soda and 1 tsp vinegar to help keep them light and fluffy. If using gelatin, you will need to bloom this in cold water (as per measurements above) first.

Egg Substitutes For dense baking like brownie, cookies / biscuits

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• ⅓ cup mashed banana
• ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
• ⅓ cup apple puree
• ⅓ cup nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter and for nut free tahini can often work as well)

The role of egg in these more densely textured baked goods is to add moisture and texture. The rise isn’t as important. These options do a great job of adding some volume and a dense, fudgy texture. These subs can also be used in muffins and cakes, however you will need to add extra baking soda or baking powder, and they don’t work consistently in all muffin and cake recipes, especially if you are avoiding multiple allergens, particularly gluten.

Egg Substitutes For waffles and pancakes

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• ¼ cup yoghurt (dairy free if needed)
• Chia seeds – 1 Tablespoon + ¼ cup water
• Flax seeds – 1 Tablespoon + ¼ cup water
• Baking powder – 2 teaspoons + 2 Tablespoons water + 1 Tablespoon oil
• Aquafaba (chickpea brine) – ¼ cup

The role of eggs in these goods is to add a little rise, some moisture and texture. These substitutes do a great job of this without any eggs needed. Banana can also sometimes work, but it often needs to be in a recipe formulated for banana to be used such as these waffles. You are generally free to replace the egg 1:1 using your desired substitute from the list above.

Egg Substitutes For desserts, custards, tart filling, mousse, cheesecake

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• Aquafaba (chickpea brine) – ¼ cup
• Tapioca / cornstarch – 2 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons water
• Gelatin – 1 Tablespoon + 1/4 cup water

The substitute you choose here will depend on what you are making. Tapioca and corn starch will thicken custard, tart filling and sauces. Make sure you mix it with the water before adding it and add right at the end. It needs heat to activate it to thicken.

Gelatin makes a great replacement to things that set such as tart filling and mousse. Make sure you bloom the gelatin in water first, and then heat to dissolve before adding it to the recipe. My strawberry mousse cake, and mousse tart both use gelatin instead of eggs.

Aquafaba – this works great in mousse – replace egg whites 1:1 – whip it first like you would egg whites, to stiff peaks, and you can replace any yolks in a mousse recipe with tapioca or cornstarch. Then fold the two mixes together to create a light, fluffy egg free mousse. My strawberry mousse cake also has an option to use aquafaba to make it vegan.

Egg Substitutes For meatballs / burger patties

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• Tapioca / cornstarch – 3 Tablespoons
• Chia seeds – 1 Tablespoon + ¼ cup water

This one is fairly self explanatory. Replace the egg 1:1 in your mince mixture. The purpose of egg is usually binding, and these do a great job of replacing that binding and keeping the patties / meatballs moist.

Egg Substitutes For meringue and pavlova

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• Aquafaba (chickpea brine) – ¼ cup

Aquafaba – chickpea brine – the liquid left over from a can of chickpeas! This stuff is like magic. It whips up exactly like egg whites and you can make meringue or pavlova from it, just as you would egg whites. Replace each egg white with 1/4 cup aquafaba. Make sure to use cream of Tatar to help stabilise the mixture and for refined sugar free, you can make powdered coconut sugar, or finely granulated coconut sugar by adding it to a high speed blender and blending until it’s broken down.

Egg Substitutes For pie crusts, quiche / frittata

For Each whole egg you can substitute with one of the following:

• Chickpea Flour – 3 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons water

Did you know – you can make an egg free quiche or frittata! Replace the eggs with chickpea flour and water as above, add your other favourite fillings and bake as you would a quiche or frittata. Adding ‘Black Salt’ can also give it an eggy flavour.

Chickpea flour also makes a great pie crust flour:

• 1 and ½ cups chickpea flour
• ½ cup coconut oil (or butter or ghee), softened
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3-4 Tablespoons cold water

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse together. Press into your desired pie dish, and place in fridge to chill for 30 mins. Cook in an oven that has been preheated to 180℃, for 20 – 25 minutes.

In New Zealand right now, we are entering our 5th week of Lockdown due to COVID19. This means that the kids have been off school, kindy and daycare for over 4 weeks, and many parents are finding themselves homeschooling, as well as working from home during the day as well. I homeschool Ashton anyway, so that part is no different for us. However we are used to having free access to the library, museum and pools to fill our days, along with meet ups with friends and trips to beaches and parks! Not only have we had to adapt to life without these, but two mornings a week, Ashton and I usually spend some 1:1 time, while my 2 and 4 year olds go to daycare. Now the lot of us get to spend 24/7 together, while Chef Ashton Dad works extra hours, and unusual shifts, as an ‘essential worker’.

I’m hearing from lots of parents who are struggling with getting their kids motivated to complete set classroom work, being sent electronically by schools and teachers. I don’t blame the kids, some days I don’t feel motivated to do anything much after being stuck in house for over a month. I also don’t feel motivated to do a whole lot in the kitchen that might get destroyed by my little helpers, or forgotten about due to 486 demands that take place every minute they are awake.

Thankfully I have somewhat of a solution to both problems, a collection of recipes that are quick, easy and suitable for the kids to help with. I can confirm all these recipes have been tested for toddler, preschooler and snarky school kids approval, and functionality. They stand to still come out as intended, even with the messiest mixers and germiest fingers. It keeps them busy, and we are filling our fridge and cupboards with snacks and food. Which the demands for, seem to be never-ending! The other bonus is that as a trained teacher, I can wholeheartedly confirm that cooking, food prep and baking with the kids counts as science, maths, literacy and health education! There are so many valuable learning opportunities to have the kids help in the kitchen, so don’t feel bad if they are struggle with motivation for worksheets or projects, if you are busy spending time baking, playing board games and exploring the world (read house, and backyard haha) together.