Lactose free cake and frosting

For my dad who can't do dairy or legumes, which makes both traditional and vegan baking taboo!  Do not attempt if it's 75 F or hotter in the kitchen, makes it very hard to get the frosting right. 

White vanilla cake 

https://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/vegan-cake-recipe/

yield: Two 8" cakes, or one 9x13" or three 6" cakes

Combine liquids: 

1.25 C non dairy milk 

1.5 TB vinegar

1 TB vanilla 

0.25 C avocado oil

Optional: add the leftover egg yolks from the meringue frosting to the cake batter. It will no longer be vegan and white, but instead yellow cake. 

Then add 

2 C flour 

1 TB baking powder

0.5 tsp salt

1 C granulated sugar

Greased baking pan

bake 30 minutes at 350 F 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream 

This is a Half batch, and it's enough to just barely cover a cake, from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream/. I love that it's not sickly sweet like typical american frostings, and it has a nice lighter fluffier texture than typical butter-sugar frosting. And the fact it uses granulated sugar makes it more pantry friendly!

Get the equipment ready, wipe down with vinegar to make sure no trace of oily residue: 

stand mixer, whisk and paddle attachment

double boiler

hand whisk, spatula/scraper

candy or food thermometer 

Heat in double boiler, whisking, until 160F 

3 egg whites

1 C granulated sugar

1/4 tsp cream of tartar to stabilize eggs

Remove cooked egg white from double boiler. Pour into the stand mixer and whip into stiff peaks (probably 10 minutes) with the whisk attachment. Stiff peaks means it does't fold back on itself when you pull the beater up out of the bowl.  If you can't achieve peaks, put it in the fridge and then try again when cooled. 

Once the egg whites are stiff peaks, and not too hot (don't want to melt the butter) add these slowly and whisk a bit (to get most of the egg off the beater). Switch to the paddle attachment on the mixer. 

1 tsp vanilla

1/16 tsp salt 

12 TB vegan butter (3/4 C) like Miyokos (which doesn't have soy)

Note the frosting will separate and get grainy looking if it heats up too much, so storing in the fridge is a good idea but not strictly necessary. If it firms up too much in the fridge, you can whip it with the paddle attachment. 

Lime or Lemon Curd (filling) 

This is just enough to use up the egg yolks from the frosting above, and it's the right amount for the filling of the cake. 

Put in a double boiler, cook and stir 6-10 minutes until it thickens. 

3 egg yolks

1/3 C sugar

pinch salt

3/8 C lime or lemon juice

3 TB olive oil