By ethics or by avoiding lactose due to allergy or intolerance, we therefore find ourselves faced with the desire to replace liquid animal cream for several preparations and desserts. It is not easy to find your way around when you start eating “without”, so I have prepared a summary article for you listing all the solutions available to you to still eat whipped cream!
Lactose-free and vegan alternatives to store-bought whipped cream
Even if the alternatives are relatively recent, there are practical substitute products for the same use as classic whipped cream.
Most of these alternatives can be purchased online or very specifically in specialty stores such as vegan grocery stores.
Some products are available locally in organic stores or some Parisian supermarkets when they cannot be found elsewhere.
In bomb :
- Schlagfix: It is a soy cream, which is offered directly in a bomb and ready to use, as are the classic creams on the market.
- Soyatoo: In rice or soy version, and even chocolate.
Both have a perceptible flavor that I don’t necessarily like, but it’s up to you to decide whether you like it or not… All tastes are in nature!
In brick :
- Soyatoo: Rice or soy, it gives a well whipped cream that is practical to use.
- The Schlagfix: sweetened or unsweetened. I personally find the flavor of the unsweetened more pleasant. They are available in 200 ml or 1 L and can be used plain or to make desserts, as I explained to you in my article on the black Forest log or my chocolate, vanilla and pecan nut log.
- La Flora: A cream developed for the professional network that has the same characteristics as milk-based whipping cream. It is in my opinion the most successful of all the alternatives. Its flavor is light, its expansion is perfect, and it is not sweet, which allows it to be used both sweet and savoury.
- The Alpro: I had tasted it in Belgium, if it were sold here (I have already been told that it was available in Paris in certain supermarkets) I would use it because I find it really practical and tastes good! Same uses as Flora, because unsweetened. It is also one of the rare alternatives not to contain palm oil.
- La cuisine Soy: A slight deviation from the real concept of whipped cream, because this alternative does not abound in the “chantilly” sense of the term! Nevertheless and with some preparations, it can be used in a mixture to recreate some dessert recipes. I use it especially in my strawberry tiramisu. It is a very affordable alternative because it is easy to find in organic stores, even if it does not rise enough to be used as it is.
Make whipped cream without liquid cream
The other option available to you is to make your own whipped cream. Although the alternatives are convenient, for many they have the disadvantage of being hard to find or having an initial flavor or sweetness. In short, not necessarily ideal, especially also because some have a composition that is not beyond reproach.
For all these reasons, you may want something else, here are some options available to you:
- Coconut cream: made from a coconut cream rich in fat, it is a substitute which, in my opinion, is only possible in touch. It will not rise to obtain a very light and well-mounted cream, it will simply firm up. Its big advantage is to be able to buy it easily, and to be able to quickly serve as a topping that can be poached (on hot chocolate, on crepes, pancakes, etc.). Obviously, this alternative will taste like coconut!
- A 100% homemade whipped cream recipe: the latter having required me a lot of tests, I chose to include it in my vegan baking ebook. This is a recipe for preparing yourself a whipping cream base with commercially available ingredients, without any ready-made preparation of any kind.
Don’t hesitate to consult the summary of this ebook, which contains a good amount of basic recipes and tips for composing simple, original and gourmet desserts.
