Non-Dairy Strawberry Shortcake

Ymmm! Strawberry Shortcake! Love it!!! 


I picked over a gallon of strawberries from our patch in one day! (I talked about our strawberry patch in a previous post) I decided to make Strawberry Shortcake--well, duh! I like to use the biscuit type shortcake and just use the one in my old Betty Crocker Cookbook. However, I stopped using shortening several years ago and use Coconut Oil instead. At room temperature the Coconut Oil looks very much like shortening and works the same in recipes. Hmmm, maybe I should do a post on Coconut Oil. The recipe I have for you today is for Whipped Topping. We don't use dairy and if you read the ingredients on the Cool Whip package you wouldn't use it for sure! I tried several Whipped Topping recipes with undesirable results until I found the one I will share with you today! If you are lactose intolerant or vegan, you will love it!!!


Whipped Topping
Makes 6 cups


1 cup water
2 Tablespoons agar flakes (2 teaspoons powder)
1/2 cup raw cashew nuts
1/3 cup honey or 1/2 cup sugar (I only use 2 Tablespoons sugar)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional, but especially nice in icing)
1 can coconut milk 

1. Stir together the agar and water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 minutes.
2. Place remaining ingredients in blender along with hot agar mixture. Blend on high until smoother, adding water as needed to make 3 1/2 to 4 cups total mixture (3 1/2 cups total mixture for icing; 4 cups for whipped topping). Pour into quart container and chill in refrigerator several hours or overnight. For quicker chilling, use a large, shallow container. Hint: Since this recipe needs blending twice, leave the blended mixture (step 2) in the blender in the refrigerator overnight. Then simply reblend as in step 3, saving the work of washing the blender and containers twice!
3. Before using, place chilled mixture (which will be quite firm--almost sliceable) in blender or food processor and blend until creamy. (If you have a lightweight blender, you should blend just half of the mix at a time.) It should be the consistency of Cool Whip, and spreads on a cake very nicely. Try not to add more liquid. The mixture will eventually go through the blades and become more creamy if you carefully push it toward the blades with a rubber spatula. 

The agar is a key ingredient in this recipe. The mixture has to be reblended only once. Then it can be frozen and used without reblending, but remains a nice creamy texture. So make a double recipe and freeze in small containers to use as needed for icing or dessert topping.

This recipe is from a favorite vegan cookbook of mine called 7 Secrets Cookbook by Neva & Jim Brackett. 

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend! I'll be back on Sunday Night for the Sunday Night Chit-Chat! Kat