Dairy-free? Native Forest and Aroy-D are the Best Coconut Milks for Desserts

If you’re avoiding dairy it’s not too hard to find a substitute since there are so many fine choices out there — various nut milks, soy milks, as well as rice milks. Most people gravitate toward nut milks and soy milks when they need to substitute for whole milk or cream in a recipe. But what do you do if you’re avoiding soy? The thickest of the milk substitutes, soy is a handy go to for the dairy-free baker. It’s the staple product in nearly all non-dairy frozen goodies. Let’s face it, no soy means no Tofutti Cuties!

My solution has been to use coconut milk. I’ve modified a frozen yogurt recipe to make my own coconut milk frozen yogurt in my Cuisinart Ice Cream machine. We’ve used coconut milk in pumpkin pie, and also on pumpkin pie, as a whipped topping.

If you’ve tried using coconut milk in dessert making, you may have noticed there is a consistency issue with many brands of coconut milk. It’s frustrating to try to create a successful alternative dessert for a party, birthday or holiday, only to have it fail because of the brand of coconut milk.

Obviously, for a coconut “whipped cream” you need a full fat coconut milk. These are not labeled as “full fat,” they just fail to say “lite.”

The two best, most consistent, highest fat brands of coconut milk that I have found are pictured above. On the left is Native Forest, organic and available at Whole Foods. On the right is Aryo-D, which in the Chicago area is available at Caputo’s Fresh Markets.

Have you heard of stabilized whipped cream? That’s a method for adding a small amount of unflavored gelatin to whipped cream in order to help it keep its shape, or for when using whipped cream as a cake icing. This is particularly helpful with whipped coconut milk. It’s not necessary, but if you have the time, it’s a nice touch. Complete instructions for stabilizing whipped cream are in the Joy of Cooking.