I decided to test different widely available dairy free margarines to see which, in my opinion, is the best.
I tested for:
- Best on toast
- Best in a sponge cake
- Best for pastry and
- Best for butter cream
The contenders:
Pure soya margarine – not very good for baking.
Pure Sunflower margarine – nice for most baking.
Pure organic margarine – not very good for baking.
Stork pastry margarine – good for pastry but not for sponge cake or butter cream, it is too waxy.
Sainsbury’s Free From margarine – good flavour for general baking.
Tomor Kosher margarine – I didn’t like this at all. It is very waxy.
Supermarket block baking margarine – The baking margarine does state not suitable for milk allergy sufferers due to manufacturing process. Good for pastry but not for sponge cake or butter cream.
Vitalite margarine – best margarine for baking and spreading.
Suma soya margarine – not very good for baking.
White vegetable fat – ok for pastry, not much flavour obviously. This can be used to give a ‘royal iced’ look to an egg free cake including piping and scrolls. More about this later.
On toast
We thought Pure soya and Sainsbury’s Free From were really nice but the best was Vitalite. This could be because it tasted saltier than the others, it has a nice buttery flavour.
Sponge cake
We thought Pure organic had a nice flavour. It was hard to decide which we preferred out of Pure sunflower and Vitalite. They both had a good flavour and texture.
Pastry
We found Sainsbury’s Free From and supermarket baking margarine both had a good flavour.
The best was Stork pastry block margarine and Vitalite.
Dairy free butter cream
Mixing in twice as much icing sugar to margarine. You just need to mix the sugar in gently or the mixture will split.
The best margarine for this was the Sainsbury’s Free From and Vitalite. The Vitalite didn’t seem to split as much as the others.
And the winner is…
So in my opinion, if you are to have one dairy free margarine in your fridge it should be Vitalite Dairy Free spread.
Tags: dairy free, margarine
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[...] dairy free margarine (I used Stork Pastry Marg – see here for alternatives). 35g caster sugar 1 medium free range egg 75g Doves Farm plain gluten free flour 75g maize flour [...]
Totally agree with this, Vitalite even tastes “Normal” Great for my scones!
Hi Lesley,
I’m pleased you agree.
What a really useful guide! Am just writing up a recipe for making dairy free lemon drizzle cake over on my blog, and will link to your excellent taste test.
Thanks Ali. I just had a peek at your website and really like it. x
[...] it’s worth keeping in mind that some are better than others for baking – here’s a great taste test that I’ve found on another [...]
Using vitalite and used pure soya before reading this article and still my frosting is turning very runny and is splitting. Tried keeping speed on #2 on the mixer. Also added extra icing sugar. Any other suggestions?
Hi Jenn,
I find it best to mix the icing sugar in with a spoon and once the sugar is mixed in not to beat it too much.
I also use 4 times as much sugar to margarine, add a drop or two of water to soften and a little extra flavouring. I find I don’t need as much as usual as it is sweeter.