At the weekend we had a ‘Saturday Challenge’ much like the ‘Friday Challenge’ that I wrote about here. This time it was in response to visiting a cafe that has lots of gluten-free options and that our daughter loves to visit as a treat.
Not on Saturday it would seem.
After 5 minutes of reviewing her options I could see her eyes wandering to the huge array of non-suitable cakes and biscuits.
Then the noise started.
After threatening to just take her home with nothing, she finally decided on a cake…but you could tell that it just didn’t hit the spot. And to be honest, with a beautiful chocolately slab of refrigerator cake sitting in front of her brother I could see why.
Things seem to be getting tougher rather than easier as she grows up. Before, she was happy to have a piece of cake and didn’t seem to notice all the ones she couldn’t have. Now she notices what she can’t have and wants that rather than what she can have.
Does anybody have any advice on how best to deal with this situation who has been through it already? One thing we don’t want to do is to stop going out at all and making her paranoid or unhappy about eating out. Having said that, we suspect that she was glutened by the said piece of cake, so all in all Saturday was not all that great!
Anyway, to lighten the mood I thought I would share with you a fab recipe for lemon curd. Yes, it is pretty much always going to be gluten-free but my version is gluten and dairy-free, tastes divine and is very simple to make. It is thanks to Nan who gave me the recipe a long time ago.
Gluten-free, Dairy-free Lemon Meringue Cake
I have used it in all kinds of things, but it is particularly delicious in between layers of lemon cake (even better with meringue too – the cake I chose to make for a friends’ 40th, above), and used in Pavlova or homemade lemon meringue ice cream. The latter I have now made successfully dairy-free but haven’t yet blogged about it.
Gluten-free, Dairy-free Lemon Meringue Ice cream
Gluten and Dairy-free Lemon Curd
Ingredients
- 2 unwaxed lemons zest and juice
- 50 g dairy-free spread check soya-free if important
- 175 g granulated sugar
- 2 large free-range eggs
Method
- Grate the rind of the lemons into a heatproof bowl that fits over a saucepan then add the lemon juice.
- Add the remaining ingredients and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water.
- Stir continuously with a whisk until the mixture thickens (don't worry - as the dairy-free spread melts the mixture will look horrible! Keep stirring and it will come together and start looking beautiful - really! Trust me.).
- It is ready when it doesn't drip too easily from the back of a spoon. This takes about 20-25 minutes.
- Pour into sterilised jars and keep in the fridge for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
To sterilise your clean jars place them on a baking tray in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 5 minutes.
I shared this recipe with A Mummy Too’s linky:
Hellie's Corner says
Aww.. I feel for your daughter, it must be tough, especially as your son can eat cakes, is it worth taking a cake she can eat along, extra hassle, but it might help. Snap on the lemon curd 🙂
Admin says
The cafe has a huge selection of glutenfree cake…just none of it was good enough that day!! If we don’t know whether there will be anything for her I always take something…but she likes having a ‘bought’ one!
Julie's Family Kitchen says
It must be tough for your daughter and you but you’re obviously doing a great job making such delicious things for her. x
Rachel B says
It’s a tricky one and there’s no easy answer at all. We make the best of it we can and Mike and I always have something that’s M-friendly to ease the pain of him not being able to have a “proper” cake.
Loving the lemon curd recipe, I managed one that’s egg and soya free too and the kids love it!
R
Admin says
Wow! Lemon curd that is egg free? And soya free. Don’t be shy…post the link if it is on your blog!
Molly says
awh, that’s heartbreaking (your daughter’s predicament, not mine that I’m not eating sugar so can”t make your wonderful lemon curd!). I guess all you can do is encourage your daughter to be aware of how the gluten affects her, to make the link between the gluten cake and feeling bad the next day – then she might come to realise it’s not worth it (or no! I still make those bad choices, think I will face the consequences, yet regret it every single time, lol!)
Admin says
Thanks Molly. Because she was diagnosed so young it makes it hard for her…because as she gets older she can’t remember how bad she felt. I guess one day she will challenge it and find out how bad it makes her feel…but that will only happen when she is a lot older and responsible for her own diet! Sorry to tempt you with the sugar!
Rollercoaster Mum says
That must be tough – hopefully as she gets a bit bigger she will understand why and be able to make wise choices. Love that lemon curd recipe though – seems super easy and I do like a bit of lemon curd!
Sonia says
Oh bless her, that is really difficult for both of you! I hope next time she has lots more choice and sees something she really wants and can actually have it!
This lemon curd looks amazing. I LOVE Lemon curd it brings back such memories from my childhood 🙂
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
As a child you do always want what you can’t have, it must be so hard for her 🙁 however with a treat of meringue and delicious sounding lemon curd I bet she’s happy 🙂 #blogclub x
Admin says
Yeah! I can usually make her feel better by making something at home that is yummy!
Nell@PigeonPairandMe.com says
What a tough situation to be in. Poor thing, it must be so difficult for her to understand. On the other hand, she’s very lucky to have a Mum who makes such super-scrummy cakes back at home. This one looks divine!
Mel says
I am not sure why, but when I first read your recipe, I had it in my head that it was egg free. Sad now, but nice recipe. I have just finished typing and taking pictures for my own lemon curd recipe, oups! (will wait a few weeks to post it). I love those photos, especially the first one (my favourite colour combinations. Stunning! The purple did go in the end! x Mel
Admin says
Hi Mel! It is quite odd as there seems to be loads and loads of lemon curd recipes that suddenly appeared when I published mine! Weird. Great minds all thinking alike! Post it now! I will link to it. Yes the purple has gone in phase one of the re-design!! 😉
Mel says
I will keep it for later. It means having a post that is ready for a lazy blogging week (i.e. when I give birth it could come in handy!). I love the look of the blog as it is by the way. x Mel
Vicky (@aroundandupsidedown) says
Poor baby – it’s hard when you can’t eat the same as your friends. That being said she is very lucky to have a great cook as a mummy who is fantastic at making sweet treats that she can enjoy 🙂 This looks divine – and I would take a visit to tea at your house over a visit to a cafe – but it is hard being different when you are little. Hugs so you both x
LearnerMother says
This looks super easy to make and perfect for toast, or cakes, or that delicious looking lemon meringue ice cream! Thanks for sharing your recipe 🙂 #blogclub
Emily @amummytoo says
Dairy free lemon curd?! You clever thing you! Thanks so much for linking up with #recipeoftheweek. I’ve pinned and tweeted this post and hope to see you linking up again soon! 😀 x
Mollie says
It’s hard for ME to abstain continuously from desserts (& other yummy gluten- & dairy-containing foods) when I see my family indulging and enjoying their treats (and talking about how gooooood they are [can anyone say, ‘insensitive’?? Haha!]) …and I’m an adult! I can only imagine how hard it might be for a child. And I can’t understand why more chefs & restaurateurs don’t make more of an effort to offer more allergen-free options.
Anyway…… Your recipe sounds great. Do you think it would work with coconut oil as the dairy- (& soya-)free spread? Do you have any recommended brands of dairy-/soya- free spread? Many thanks!!
Vicki Montague says
Hi Mollie! You don’t need to abstain! Get cooking some of my recipes…your family won’t know any different I promise you! I reckon it would work with coconut oil although I have never tried it. If you do give it a go then let me know how you get on! I use Vitalite Dairyfree spread and that is soya free too. Hope that helps?
susiefruitcake says
This recipe is exactly what i was looking for. Up until now I’ve used shop bought lemon curd in my recipes but i have a friend who can’t tolerate dairy so this is perfect. Thank you.
Vicki Montague says
You are very welcome! I hope you enjoy it. Don’t be put off at the beginning when the fat kind of curdles as it melts…it does come together and is beautiful!!
Faye says
We are a family of food free eaters we are all dairy free but then one of my children is egg free also, the other I suspect is going to need to drop gluten like her mum?the oldest at ten now makes educated choices knowing how grotty his no foods make him feel. The youngest one she has had a harder time accepting and we have had some weekends staying at home thanks to her choosing to eat contraband. But now at 8 she is getting it and we have a rule if she chooses to eat the wrong food she aso has to not take the mood swings out on others. Most of the time now she will opt for the okay foods phew for a while I thought she would fight it all her life. We began her food journey at 3 yes old. I sympathize because some times they do miss out especially when it’s a surprise treat at school etc but they are getting it it did take a while. Kia kaha (be strong) you will get there.☺
Vicki Montague says
Hi Faye, thank you for your comment. It does really help to know that it gets better! It is interesting to hear that mood swings are the thing that hits your daughter if she eats something she shouldn’t. We find that when Roo accidently eats gluten. Luckily Roo knows how dreadful she feels if she has gluten so she doesn’t want it! I suspect that one day when she is older that will change…but hopefully now! Thank you for your support. Fingers crossed you child doesn’t have to give up gluten too…