Juanjo Fernández says that seven years ago, when he was diagnosed with lactose intolerance, he had no idea about cooking: “what I missed most was being able to eat a good dessert.” That’s why he decided to jump into the kitchen to prepare what others couldn’t offer him, for example, a good rice pudding.
Now he has just published Desserts without lactose (Cúpula), a book in which he collects many of the recipes with which he has been experimenting for years in his kitchen to claim that ‘lactosillos’, as he says, can also lead a happy life . “One in three Spaniards is intolerant – he explains – which does not mean that one has to deprive themselves.”
You simply have to take the step and get to work. Lactose-free butter, cream cheese, desserts for the little ones like the legendary petit suisse, hazelnut cream… There are few recipes without milk that Juanjo Fernández can resist.
For this reason, together with the author, we have selected three of them for all those who want to get started: a pastry cream without eggs and without milk, the now so fashionable ‘pancakes’ (also called American pancakes) or a rice pudding free of its main component: lactose.
Ingredients (for about 600 g)
> 500 ml of vegetable drink (oatmeal, rice, etc.)
> 100 g of sugar (or 11 of stevia)
> 50 g of cornstarch
> 1 vanilla pod
> 1 cinnamon stick
> The peel of 1 lemon
> Food coloring, turmeric or saffron (optional)
1. In a bowl, mix the sugar with the cornstarch and dissolve it well with two tablespoons of the vegetable drink until there are no lumps.
2 In a saucepan, heat the rest of the vegetable drink with the vanilla zest and pod, the cinnamon stick and the peel of a lemon until it comes to a boil. We remove from the heat and let it infuse with the flavors for about 10 minutes.
3. We strain the infused vegetable drink and add it to the dissolved sugar and cornstarch mixture.
4 We put everything back in the saucepan with a little food coloring to enhance the color (optional) and without stopping stirring with a whisk, we heat it over medium heat until the cream thickens.
5. We transfer the cream to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap at the surface and let it cool to room temperature. Then we put it in the refrigerator for at least two hours before using it.
Ingredients (for about 10 units)
> 2 eggs
> 180 g of wheat flour
> 275 ml of lactose-free milk
> 50 g lactose-free butter or sunflower oil
> 50 g of sugar
> 15 g of baking powder
> ½ cup of salt
> 1 cdita. of vanilla essence (optional)
> 1 pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1. In a bowl, mix the eggs and sugar with the vanilla essence very well.
2. Add the eggs, milk and warm melted butter in the microwave and mix everything until completely integrated.
3. Now we add the sifted flour with the baking powder and salt, and beat vigorously until there are no lumps.
4. We pass the mixture through a strainer and let it rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
5. Heat a frying pan with a little butter. When it melts, we remove the excess with absorbent paper. We keep this paper.
6. Add a little dough to the center of the pan and let it cook over medium-low heat until bubbles begin to form on the surface.
7. With the spatula we can check if it is ready by lifting the side a little. Then we turn the pancake over and wait about 15 more seconds for it to cook on the other side. We remove to the plate.
8. Grease the pan a little with the paper and prepare all the pancakes, trying to always pour the same amount into the pan.
9. We pile them up in a 5-story tower so that they stay warm and we serve them with our favorite accompaniment.
Ingredients for 4 people
> 200 g of round rice
> 125 g of sugar
> 1 liter of oat drink
> 2 cinnamon sticks
> 1 vanilla pod
> Peel of 1 lemon
> 1 tbsp. vegetable margarine or lactose-free butter
> A pinch of salt
1. We put the rice in a strainer and run it under the tap to remove the starch well, until the stream of water runs clear.
2. In a saucepan, heat the liter of oat drink along with the cinnamon stick, the lemon peel and the opened and scraped vanilla pod. We add a little of salt.
3. When it comes to a boil, add the rice and let it cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly so that the rice does not stick.
4. After 15 minutes we add the sugar and mix it well to integrate it.
5. We also add a tablespoon of margarine to give it greater creaminess (this is optional). We continue stirring and cooking for another 10 or 15 minutes.
6. When the rice has absorbed almost all of the drink (there should be some liquid left) we remove it from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.
7. Remove the lemon peel, cinnamon and vanilla and refrigerate the rice pudding for a couple of hours.
8 We serve very cold with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
