A great non-dairy dessert can be hard to come by, and in my search for non-dairy baking ingredients that would give richness to pareve (containing neither meat nor dairy) baked goods, I recently fell in love with coconut milk yogurt. It looks like yogurt, its texture is creamy like yogurt and it’s tasty to eat for breakfast or a snack, with a mild, tangy yogurt flavor. And it’s great to use in baking.
It is now my go-to resource when baking dairy-free cakes. And I swear by the So Delicious brand, which also makes ice creams and other dairy-free products. They are certified as non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free and kosher pareve. And to top that, the yogurt-like substance is made with organic coconut milk and organic cane sugar and it has been certified organic by organiccertifiers.com. So what could be bad? In my mind —nothing. Of course you can also try using whatever brand of coconut milk yogurt you prefer.
I use it in a vanilla pound cake, baked in a bundt pan and studded with golden raisins and pareve chocolate chunks, as well as in Ina Garten’s lemon yogurt cake — made with just lemon, yogurt (or coconut yogurt and oil) — not a trace of margarine. And what I have found in my recipe testing is that you can basically use a coconut milk yogurt as a one-to-one replacement in almost any recipe that otherwise calls for regular yogurt.
Feeling ambitious? You can actually make your own coconut milk yogurt and even use your instant pot if that’s your thing.
The Nosher celebrates the traditions and recipes that have brought Jews together for centuries. Donate today to keep The Nosher's stories and recipes accessible to all.
But in the meantime, here’s an easy and delicious dairy-free pound cake from friend and baker, Marly Herscovici, which I make over and over again. And I hope you will too.
Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 4 extra-large eggs
- 1 cup vanilla coconut milk yogurt alternative
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- Golden raisins and chocolate chips, to taste (optional)
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Remove 4 tablespoons of sugar from the 2 cups you have measured out. In a small bowl, mix those 4 tablespoons sugar with the cinnamon.
- Grease a bundt pan and dust it all over with the sugar and cinnamon mixture.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs for 2 minutes. Add the remaining sugar. Slowly add the yogurt alternative and oil. Add chocolate chips and raisins, if using. In a medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder and add to the batter.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bundt pan and bake on the middle shelf for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Be careful not to over bake.
pareve
Pronounced: PAHRV or pah-REV, Origin: Hebrew, an adjective to describe a food or dish that is neither meat nor dairy. (Kosher laws prohibit serving meat and dairy together.)
Help us keep Jewish knowledge accessible to millions of people around the world.
Your donation to My Jewish Learning fuels endless journeys of Jewish discovery. With your help, My Jewish Learning can continue to provide nonstop opportunities for learning, connection and growth.
