Dietary restrictions diet, Aggh
I just found out I need to provide dessert for Thanksgiving, however one family member is on a very restricted diet and my usual crowd pleasers are out. It has to be free of eggs, corn, gluten, flax and dairy. I usually go for a fruit pie or chocolate based dessert for this family gathering, but am having trouble finding something that covers all of these restrictions! Note: Most of my family will want something more traditional (think apple pie) if possible. Any ideas?
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https://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/che-chuoi-vietnamese-banana-tapioca-pudding/
Or Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango, which is more Thai, but we Viets love it too.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/150313/thai-sweet-sticky-rice-with-mango-khao-neeo-mamuang/
If the person is so allergic that the very presence of the forbidden foods nearby could trigger a dangerous reaction, of course avoid them for all - sad day :(
But if not, the whole gathering needn't suffer.
One way to get some of the goodies back in dessert would to make something deconstructed, serve the parts and let people take only what they can or want to eat.
Suggestions:
1) Pumpkin pudding (aka what would have been a pie filling), sugar cookies or baked individual pastries to replace the crust, whipped cream and/or crystallized ginger to garnish.
2) Fall fruits compote (aka what would have filled an apple pie), then some good baked carb as with the pumpkin...puff pastry shell, shortbread or meringue. Then spoon the compote over, garnish with vanilla regular or non-dairy ice cream.
Separate ideas:
3) Chocolate mousse using avocado and/or olive oil instead of cream and eggs. (Many recipes out there.) Garnish with hothouse or imported berries, and mint or other soft herb to taste. Beautiful and delicious.
4) Various dried fruit salads from Italy or Spain. Fruit, nuts, liqueur. What could be bad? Many have wonderful cheeses in them (manchego, gorgonzola dolce), which you can omit or serve separately depending on the strength of the guest's allergies.
Hope these ideas help.
It might be nice topped with a diet-friendly granola for a little crunch.
1. Breakfast Apple Granola Crisp...https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/10/breakfast-apple-granola-crisp/ I have a variation of this in the oven right now....just sub some GF flour mix for the reg flour in the topping, and use potato starch for the cornstarch with the fruit. Lots of ways to dress this up, including adding dried cranberries (which I did for Cdn Thanksgiving)
2. the fabulous, delicious, amazing Chocolate Olive Oil Cake https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/10/chocolate-olive-oil-cake-more-book-tour/ I've made this many times using GF flour (I prefer to sub 1/2 C of GF flour for finely ground up oatmeal to improve the texture). This is a fragile cake bc it's GF, so be very careful if you turn it out to serve....
Also, there are MANY websites that have GF/vegan recipes....
Also, there's an olive oil crust on this site that I think is made with almonds? If you don't like the (stronger) taste of olive oil, can sub grape seed oil for it...or coconut oil (which I quite like)
Also, if you have a spring form pan...there are many decadent choc cakes recipes around that use ground almonds that are tasty. (I don't have such a pan, so can't recommend a recipe).
Maybe check out Gena Hamshaw (?) recipes on this site for pies/desserts....
Bob's Red Mill has GF pie crust mix as well...I have a bag of it, but haven't baked with it yet.
These are just a few options. You got this! It'll be a piece of cake!! ; )