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Are there other options besides soaked cashews and sunflower seeds to recreate the creamy texture of dairy? I'm very allergic to both.

Early Spring Desserts

Fran Costigan - Early Spring Desserts

Recorded

This event was on April 7, 2026

Join Chef Fran Costigan, Rouxbe Director of Vegan Pastry, for a spring look at the flavors, functions, and best uses of brighter and lighter, always tasty vegan desserts. Perfect for beginners and seasoned bakers alike, this session will refresh your skills, boost your confidence, and inspire dessert ideas that bloom all April and beyond.

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Question

Kathleen Aoki

Are there other options besides soaked cashews and sunflower seeds to recreate the creamy texture of dairy? I'm very allergic to both.

Answer

There are other options. I mean, soaked cashews makes the most gorgeous creamy cream. But silken tofu, and sometimes regular tofu blended with some additional liquid, works very nicely. We have some tofu creams in our course. And I have heard from some of my students that white beans can work. And another thing is learning to use both agar. Agar, it's our vegetable. It's our gelatin. So agar is a sea vegetable that gels, and in combination with a starch, like corn starch or tapioca starch in a slurry, can make something very, very creamy. And again, that's another reason that we have a whole unit on that. Those are really foundational techniques, very foundational techniques. So you shouldn't have a problem. Tofu doesn't have much of a flavor, so it's what you're going to do with it. But, you don't want to taste the tofu at all.

Fran Costigan

Director of Vegan Pastry

FranCostigan.com

Fran Costigan is internationally renowned as the authority on vegan desserts. Trained at the New York Restaurant School and Natural Gourmet Institute, Fran was a chef in both traditional and vegan pastry kitchens before moving into teaching over 20 years ago. A lifelong chocoholic and long time vegan, Fran’s latest book, Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy Free Desserts, (Running Press 2013) is for all who madly, deeply love chocolate desserts, whether or not dietary considerations are an issue. Her previous cookbook, More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts Naturally (Book Publishing Company 2006) is the basis of the Costigan Vegan Baking Boot Camp Intensive®. For more information, www.francostigan.com.