2010-12-30

In for a Pound (Cake)

Shrek: [peels an onion]  Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers. [walks off
Donkey: Oh, you both have LAYERS. Oh. You know, not everybody likes onions. What about cake? Everybody loves cake! 
Shrek: I don't care what everyone else likes! Ogres are not like cakes. 
Donkey: You know what ELSE everybody likes? Parfaits! Have you ever met a person, you say, "Let's get some parfait," they say, "Hell no, I don't like no parfait"? Parfaits are delicious! 
Shrek: NO! You dense, irritating, miniature beast of burden! Ogres are like onions! End of story! Bye-bye! See ya later.
Donkey: Parfait's gotta be the most delicious thing on the whole damn planet!.
It's a good thing I've never sat down to make a list of all the things that my son has never been able to eat.  Frankly, I just don't have the time or any leftover guilt to try to bring that number down.  If I'm ever lacking in incentive to get creative in the kitchen, though, media references often spark questions on his part, ("Mommy, what's a parfait?"), which lead to yet another attempt to modify/substitute/wrangle a recipe into submission.

Something else that is sure to get me fired up to try to create a new recipe is the discovery of a "new" ingredient that I haven't been able to use before.  I recently saw that Alisa Fleming of Go Dairy Free, one of my favorite sites, is hosting a recipe contest on behalf of ZenSoy, which makes vegan PUDDING.

Well, that's definitely on the list of things The Kid's never eaten.

So is parfait.

Of course, I'd need to make a pound cake for the parfait.

...wait for it...

I bet pudding in the batter would make for a really nice, moist pound cake.

And the idea for this recipe was born.  Of course sometimes when I'm making something new I have to try...


...more than once twice several times...


...to get a recipe to turn out.  With perseverance, I'll sometimes get lucky.  This time I did.  Even if you don't want a parfait (inconceivable!) this pound cake will melt on your tongue all by itself.


Pudding Pound Cake
(Click for printable recipe.)

Dry Ingredients:
1 3/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/4 C nondairy margarine, softened
3/4 C granulated sugar
8 oz (2 x 4 oz cups) of ZenSoy vanilla pudding
1 tsp vanilla extract

Additional:
margarine and flour for pan

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare an 8" x 4" loaf pan with margarine and flour to prevent sticking.  Measure dry ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk together.  Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy.  Reduce blender speed to slow and add pudding and extract.  Once completely combined, gradually add dry ingredients and mix until smooth.  Pour into prepared loaf pan and smooth top of batter with a spatula.  Bake 40 to 45 minutes until crust is brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

Variation:  Use banana pudding instead of vanilla and add a pinch of ground nutmeg.


To make a parfait, cut a slice of pound cake into small cubes and layer with additional pudding and fruit.  It may be the most delicious thing on the whole planet.

The contest has been extended, so if you have a killer recipe using either Zensoy pudding or milk, contact alisa@godairyfree.org to enter!

Update:  Veronica was kind enough to mention in the comments, and I confirmed on the website, although the information is NOT on the label, that Zensoy does use shared equipment with dairy items when manufacturing their soy products.  Here is the statement from their website:
We do manufacture at a plant that also produces dairy products; however, our machines are cleaned and sterilized before we manufacture the soy products. Our products are Kosher Certified Parve.
Please be aware of this if you have any milk allergies in your household!

9 comments:

Alisa Fleming said...

Libby I am so impressed! This looks amazing!!! Thanks for the entry and the announcement. I will keep you posted.

Unknown said...

This recipe looks awesome, I have never used Zen Soy products. Although, I saw the product before, there was something about their equipment not being dedicated that has stopped me from trying it.

"...We do manufacture at a plant that also produces dairy products, however, our machines are cleaned and sterilized before we manufacture the soy products. "

Do you know if Zen Soy actually tests batches of the product to see if Cows' Milk is present? Or if they have ever had a recall due to Cows' Milk?

I am asking because my Son is highly allergic to Cows' Milk. He has multiple food allergies ( 9 different foods), but, Cows' Milk is the absolute worst for him, his numbers keep going up for the Cows' Milk... and my goal is to limit the exposures to Cows' Milk in any way I can ( of course! )

I imagine I could use vanilla yogurt maybe to sub for the pudding?

I still love your blog and appreciate all the great recipes and articles!

Libby said...

Veronica, I pulled the packaging out of my recycling and there was no information about shared equipment or facilities. (I had checked before buying it and didn't remember seeing anything.) After your comment, though, I checked the website and found this:

"We do manufacture at a plant that also produces dairy products; however, our machines are cleaned and sterilized before we manufacture the soy products. Our products are Kosher Certified Parve."

My son had a reaction years ago to pasta that was on shared equipment with a milk product. I will occasionally use a shared facility product if it is either certified parve or batch tested for allergens, but I wish that information had been on the packaging.

Soy yogurt would be a great substitute, and would probably give it a nice tang to contrast with the sweet. I'll probably try it myself, so thanks for the idea and the labeling question, since I wasn't aware of that.

Medifast Coupon said...

Great reciepe for a perfect "comfort" cake! These pictures are awesome!

Maggie said...

Great post and a good looking recipe! We haven't had it in ages but used to love the Zensoy puddings.

Wendi and Matt said...

this looks delish! My son is allergic to dairy, soy and eggs. Anything sub for the soy? Maybe coconut yogurt??

Magdalena said...

this looks amazing. do you know if there is anything i can substitute the soy pudding for a non-soy item? perhaps coconut yogurt? i might try it but maybe you know of something better (non-soy) that i can use. thanks :)

Magdalena said...

HAHA.. i just noticed Wendi and Matts message. LOL.

Libby said...

Wendy & Matt and Magdalena, I think any kind of nondairy yogurt would be a great sub. Let me know how it turns out!