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Old 12-28-2010, 09:33 AM   #16  
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I would be leery of the Spectrum, only because I bought it once and it was very liquidy at room temperature - but Bacilli you used it and it worked fine? If you've tested it and it worked fine, than I say go for it Megwini!

Most frosting recipes call for nothing but butter anyway just use 100% UNSALTED butter and it'll taste great without the Crisco. I personally use Earth Balance in my recipes as it has less sat fat and is vegan.

Last edited by Wildflower; 12-28-2010 at 09:36 AM.
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Old 12-28-2010, 08:56 PM   #17  
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as creepy as it is, i'd use lard. Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent). Crisco and margarine are both partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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Old 12-29-2010, 05:47 AM   #18  
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Originally Posted by eroica27 View Post
as creepy as it is, i'd use lard. Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent). Crisco and margarine are both partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Lard isn't veg*n though. And there is non-hydrogenated margarine out there, you just have to look for it.
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Old 12-29-2010, 02:03 PM   #19  
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Originally Posted by eroica27 View Post
as creepy as it is, i'd use lard. Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent). Crisco and margarine are both partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
I believe Earth Balance is only 31% saturated. I say this because 1 T has 11 grams of fat, 3.5 of which are saturated. So I did the math and this would make 31% of the fat saturated fats.

It has no trans-fats, it's a non-hydrogenated margarine.

http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/#/products/

I don't eat lard as I am vegetarian and that's why the thread was asking for a lard alternative as the OP is veg too.

Last edited by Wildflower; 12-29-2010 at 02:04 PM.
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Old 01-03-2011, 08:53 PM   #20  
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as creepy as it is, i'd use lard. Lard is 40 percent saturated fat (compared to coconut oil's 85 percent and palm kernel oil's 80 percent). Crisco and margarine are both partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
I don't really have an issue with saturated fats. I use coconut oil for baking. I'm not vegan so I can use butter as well. I was unaware pie crusts are made with lard. I learned my lesson one that one and now I know not to eat pie unless I make it myself...which isn't going to happen.
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Old 01-08-2011, 01:05 PM   #21  
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If you are just icing a cake and not doing any sort of fancy decorations that might melt off, using earth balance or butter with powdered sugar, vanilla and a bit of milk will work just fine. I think it tastes much better than Crisco recipes.
We put shortening in ours because we leave our cakes out for a few days, and because the way our frosting is made, it requires VERY heavy whipping for around 10 minutes in a high speed electronic stand-alone mixer, and shortening helps it hold up better.

Anway, I tried the Earth Balance butter sticks and Spectrum shortening today. It DID get to the right consistency, but took 15 minutes of mixing, instead of 10 (not a huge deal). My only beef with it is the taste is slightly off since we usually use unsalted butter, and you can slightly taste the salt in the Earth Balance sticks. It's not a huge deal though, and I think I could learn to like it.

EDIT: Despite appearing all right, the icing did not spread well. The evaporated milk was not fully mixed into the shortening and butter, so it was almost leaking out of the frosting slightly, making it slippery and repelling itself when I tried to spread it. Either I did not beat it enough, I overbeat it, or either Earth Balance or Spectrum broke down from the heavy beating. Not sure. Have to do trial and error now. =(

I did have one more question! I have *almost* veganized this recipe now. The last non-vegan ingredient is the pet milk (evaporated milk), which is just milk that's had about 40% of the liquid removed so it's thicker, like the consistency of cream, but with much less fat (it's not sweet like condensed milk though). For icing, which of these four alternatives do you think might work out the best? Our recipe basically works that the granulated sugar cuts into the fat and makes it much fluffier, and then it is beat heavily to incorporate the evaporated milk into the frosting, making the end result very fluffy, even though it looks like spoiled curdled milk/cottage cheese during the beating process. So the milk can't be too watery or it might end up runny, not fluffy! These are the four suggestions:

1. Prepare 2 cups soy milk or rice milk made from powdered mix, using double the powder called for, and cook over medium low heat, stir constantly. Add vanilla and pinch of salt to taste. Allow it to cool down at room temperature and store in a jar and refrigerate.

2. Put 3 cups liquid soy milk or rice milk in a saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until volume is reduced to 1 1/2 cups. Add vanilla to taste, and a pinch of salt. Cool. Store in fridge.

3. You can make your own by adding a thickener to unsweetened nondairy milk. Good thickeners are arrowroot, cornstarch, or kudzu root powder. This will give you vegan evaporated milk.

4. Allow a can of coconut milk to settle (about ½ hour). The coconut cream will rise to the top and can easily be skimmed off. The thinner liquid can be substituted using a 1:1 ratio for evaporated milk. This is a bit higher in fat than the other alternatives, but should yield excellent results. Coconut milk has a distinct flavor all its own that may be best for desserts.

Last edited by megwini; 01-08-2011 at 11:37 PM.
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Old 01-08-2011, 01:13 PM   #22  
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hey yall! i'm makin mini apple pies for my hubby and the recipe calls for LARD (eww). i'm wondering if there's a veg friendly substitute of the same consistency that yall know of? i'm trying to secretly convert him! oh, ****... who am i kidding... i will probably wanna sneak one in over the weekend!
I would use palm shortening--works same as Crisco and lard. It is supposed to make amazing crusts though I have never used it for that. It's expensive but lasts forever (very long shelf life) and can be used for different things. I actually ordered the gallon (which I know sounds insane) and put half in a tub for my parents.

Tropical Traditions is what I use, and it's environmentally sustainable (a lot of palm harvesting has wreaked havoc on the rain forest). It's also on sale (44% off) through Jan. 16. I used it to make these gluten free ginger bread cookies for a Christmas party I went to, and OMG, they were WONDERFUL and a huge hit.

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Old 01-08-2011, 08:57 PM   #23  
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Meg, I've used the boiled down soy milk with success.

It's impossible to find powdered non-dairy milk around here, so I can't comment on that one.

I would avoid the thickener idea as I can't imagine getting the right consistency without a huge amount of trial and error. That could be because I use Agar as a thickener, and it's a super heavy-duty thickener, so maybe arrowroot would give a bit more control.

Coconut milk is a great idea. Even easier than letting it settle is sticking it in the fridge for 30 minutes. The cream will not only rise, it will solidify a bit and it's super easy to get out that way. Without the cream portion, the leftover milk is not super coconut flavored, so it wouldn't be like eating coconut.
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Old 01-09-2011, 12:22 PM   #24  
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4. Allow a can of coconut milk to settle (about ½ hour). The coconut cream will rise to the top and can easily be skimmed off. The thinner liquid can be substituted using a 1:1 ratio for evaporated milk. This is a bit higher in fat than the other alternatives, but should yield excellent results. Coconut milk has a distinct flavor all its own that may be best for desserts.
There is an icing recipe in Vegan with a Vengeance that I've made about 50 times. It has coconut milk, earth balance, powdered sugar, vanilla and unsweetened coconut.

I thought the coconut milk worked wonderfully and that recipe is delicious.

For the earth balance, are you using the shortening sticks or the margarine sticks? I believe the shortening sticks are unsalted.

I've never used Spectrum, so I can't speak to that product...I bought it once and it was very soupy at room temp.

You can buy a product called better than milk that is a powdered non dairy milk. I've never bought it but people on the vegan boards i go to are fans of it for camping and the like.

http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Mi.../dp/B001E5E1PA
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Old 01-26-2011, 02:08 PM   #25  
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Earth Balance Natural Buttery Spread, in original.

This is what I use for all my baking, works really well and is available at most supermarkets as well as Whole Foods. Not too pricey either.
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