If you’re lactose intolerant, as opposed to casein allergic, this is fabulous stuff and it has finally returned to the Waitrose near me. My kids love it and have been bitterly disappointed that I haven’t been able to get it for about a year. If you too love it, maybe your nearest Waitrose would be worth a try. It’s in the usual Lactofree yellow and white livery and tends to be kept with the Swedish Glace (which makes the whole family easy to supply!) At this point, I usually put a link to Lactofree’s website so that you can read all the product details from the manufacturer. However, I’ve just visited the Lactofree site, and (rather bizarrely) the icecream isn’t listed among their products. I’ll still give you a link here, but don’t be surprised when you can’t find the icecream anywhere!
For reviews of other dairy-free icecreams, see our reviews page.
Hello!
I haven’t been here for a while and I’m not sure where to post this but I am VERY excited about a new vegan cheese I’ve just discovered. A dairy-free friend recommended it, it’s on sale in Tesco AND it’s based on coconut oil, not soya. It’s got a remarkably short list of ingredients, so I ordered some with my normal online delivery. It’s just arrived – it looked just like ‘normal’ cheese, with the right kind of slightly squashable consistency as full fat cheddar. It smelled OK so I hesistantly scraped a little bit off (I have NEVER EVER wanted to do this with the Toffuti or any other soya-based dairy free cheese, they are truly vile). Much to my surprise, this tasted good! If I hadn’t already known it was vegan cheese, I would have just thought I was eating mild cheddar. I am really looking forward to introducing my dairy-allergic son to this in the morning! It’s available in block form and slices as well as a soft spreadable version. My friend says it melts well too so I am looking forward to experimenting with some ‘cheese’ sauce, pizzas etc.
It’s called ‘Violife’ and was £2.29 for a 200g block…worth every penny :o)
On a different note – I had another baby 7 months ago (hence not being on the internet much!) and he has absolutely no food allergies so far :o)
Hi Helen,
Lovely to hear from you again. Congratulations on the addition to the family!
I shall look for this next time I’m in Tesco: I definitely have to try it out. It sounds like a huge step forwards…and away from nasty, plastic pseudo-cheese!
Did your son like it?
All the best,
Sian
Hi!
Yes, he loved it! We all do – I have even been known to just take a slice from the pack and eat it all by itself! It tastes a bit like Edam. We’ve done cheese on toast with it (it does melt well although needs spreading once heated otherwise it forms a funny film on top but once it’s been spread it looks just like real cheese), and my son’s favourite weekend lunch is now a cheese toastie! (He also now has cheese sandwiches in his school lunchbox.) I made a macaroni cheese with it that we all ate, and it’s perfectly acceptable. It was a tad sweet but I made it with sweetened soya milk so my next attempt will be with unsweetened soya milk. It was also a bit mild on the cheese flavour but see below for a possible remedy! I’ve made a very successful pizza with it, and again, the whole family ate it without any complaints! SO nice not to have the ‘must avoid cross-contamination’ juggle with dairy and dairy-free different pizzas in the oven at the same time!
I’ve since bought the ‘cream cheese’ variety of Violife, also from Tesco, and it’s also really nice! It tastes very fresh and I reckon it could make a decent cheesecake.
My mum went to Holland and Barrett (in Paignton) and they also stock the block version – in 3 different flavours! They do the original (which is the one that I’ve bought in Tesco), a cheddar flavour variety and one other which I can’t remember. I’ve ordered the cheddar variety from the Ely H&B branch and will be picking it up later this week. I’m hoping it will make a stronger tasting cheese sauce. I will keep you posted!
Helen