Soya milk

[Scarlett]

Since July I have given up dairy, and found that for the first time in my whole life, I can breathe through my nose, and do not have a constant "cold"! I intend to continue to be dairy-free, but around this time of year I am really missing Christmassy things such as chocolate yule logs!

My question is this... Is it possible to make "milk" chocolate using soya milk? I can have Green and Black's plain chocolate, but it just isn't very nice. If soya milk can taste similar to ordinary milk, is it not possible to make "milk" chocolate using soya milk?

Also, is it not possible to make a POWDERED soya milk, which could be used in place of "whey powder" in recipes? I travel around in my job, and have to rely on fruit/herbal teas, when, if I was at home I could have a proper cup of tea, with soya milk. Maybe you could make little long-life portions of soya milk, like you get in tea shops, which I could take with me! Or even powdered soya milk.

[amarillis]

I'm not sure about the chocolate, but veganstore.co.uk sell powdered soy milk, and other soy products as well, try this link:

http://www.veganstore.co.uk/Merchant2/merchant.mv?

[amarillis]

Well, that link didn't really work - go to veganstore.co.uk and type in 'soy' in the search box.

[saffstar]

My brother was intolerant of all dairy produce when he was a kid.  My Mum used to buy him carob which is like a vegan chocolate substitute.  From what I can remember it's not a patch on proper milk chocolate (sorry) but it's nearly 20 years since I last tried it so there could've been vast improvements. 

He also used to have to have soy baby 'milk' powder (the brand we used was called Wy-Soy, I think), so powdered soy must be out there somewhere!

[gypsy]

scarlett..i dont see why you cant cook with the soya milk i just looked on the bbc page and their is lots of recipes etc..also an address where you can ask the soya milk people direct it is  [email protected]   apparently you can just e mail them with any queery,,hope this is of help ...gypsy

[Wraith]

Hi Scarlett. I changed to soya milk a couple of years ago now and have had the same results as you. I have noticed that there are lots of different types of soya milk available and not all have the same taste.

I always buy 'Granose Soya'. It is calcium enriched, has no added sugar and has added vitamins. Out of all the different brands I've tried it is the only one I can drink as if it was milk. I have used it in my cooking as I would normal milk. It works well in mashed potato, porridge, rice puddings and anything else I've used it in.

 

At our local Asda store you can also buy chocolate, strawberry or banana soya milk. Not sure of the brands though. You should also try Holland & Barrett. They do an excellent range of dairy-free ice-cream and soya milk.

[Wraith]

Forgot to say, try this link.

 

http://www.haldanefoods.co.uk/products/dairyfree/

[tracymort]

I do know buxton foods/stamp collection produce dairy free chocolate but  don't know anything about cooking with it i'm afraid!

[nicola_red]

I've been vegan for 7 years and here's what I know:

There are brands of 'fake' milk chocolate made using soya milk, such as Plamil Expressions.  They're okay, not as nice as real milk chocolate was (to my recollection), but perfectly edible.

There is such a thing as powdered soya milk but apparently it can't be used in hot drinks cos the mixture is too volatile and would curdle.  I've never tried baking with it so I'm not sure how well it works.

Veganstore used to sell long-life portions of soya milk and then had to stop cos the manufacturer discontinued them due to lack of demand.  Veganstore acknowledged at the time how ridiculous this was but couldn't find another supplier.

My solution was to buy a beaker made by a company called Lock & Lock (available at Lakeland amongst other places) which is completely watertight and carry soya milk around with me.  Not always practical, eg in warm weather, but it's the best thing I came up with.  Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Pret A Manger now all carry soya milk and will make you a great coffee with it, which is some consolation.