Okay - so what do you do for a sister who has asked you to make her wedding cake and is seriously allergic to dairy (not just lactose intolerant). I'm at a loss, because my fave buttercream is Swiss but she can't have the butter. Am I just going to have to do the fake version of American with shortening? (blech)... Ginny: wow, that IS a tough one. If she's open to other than the classic white-frosted cake, I'd consider doing either a raspberry or chocolate glaze (you can make a hot water glaze with good chopped chocolate and boiling water). Then you could do some piped work with a shortening based version for the bells and whistles, without coating the whole cake with the stuff. Another thought is a non-dairy version of German Chocolate frosting. I'd try the recipe substituting a non-dairy margarine and some soy milk, and see what happens. Email me at susan.reid@kingarthurflour.com if you want raspberry and/or chocolate glaze recipes....Susan

• Reply