Dairy-free yoghurts and desserts are very easy to find these days. As always, different brands are useful in different situations.
Alpro Soya
It’s been a while since a new “yoghurt” appeared on the scene…and just like buses, now there are four and they’re all good!
This one was the first new kid on the block…and for me it’s an absolute star. The zingy lemon and lime come through excellently and the texture is superb. For me, it compares favourably with the fabulous lemon curd real yoghurt which has been on the market for a while now. This one’s so good that I don’t put it on my muesli: I don’t want to mask any of its glory with other flavours. Just eat and enjoy. (Sometimes straight out of the pot!)
A good addition, put slightly in the shade by its showier lemon & lime cousin. The texture and flavour of this are both good, but the combination doesn’t quite have star quality. The “mouth feel” isn’t quite as stunning, possibly because both strawberries and rhubarb introduce more water into the mixture. There is also an inevitable slightly beige tinge to the yoghurt. I applaud Alpro’s courage in deciding not to add more colour. Don’t be put off by the beige, enjoy the lovely fruitiness of this new addition.
I think this is lovely. The children call it marzipan yoghurt and they’re about right. The texture feels smoother and creamier in the mouth than the original Alpro Plain and the development scientists have finally got rid of the lingering aftertaste taste of soggy cardboard. (And about time too!)
Last but by no means least, this has the richness and creaminess of coconut cream which gives the yoghurt a silky texture which has been lacking in soya yoghurts until recently. Gone is the old grainy feel and strange backtaste: this is a very superior new arrival. I like this very much indeed.
Plain
The best approximation to natural yoghurt which we’ve found in the UK. It’s edible (especially if you mix some jam into it) and works quite well in recipes calling for yoghurt. We’ve had successes with curries, stroganoffs, moussaka and frozen yoghurt (although the last was a touch firm and icy). Used to be available in a delicious ‘Summer Fruits’ and a passable ‘Strawberry’ version, which were lovely, but seem to have been replaced by a vanilla one. This is good, as long as you like vanilla, and works well on muesli. It avoids the starchy soya taste of the ‘natural’ version. Yofu, as this used to be called, was organic: this now isn’t.
Where to get it: Surprisingly ubiquitous nowadays. Most health food shops stock it, and it can be found in large Sainsbury’s, large Tesco’s and larger Waitrose.
Gotchas: Don’t boil it hard, or it will start to split. Tastes the same, but gives curries a slightly grainy texture.
Update: August ’10
“Summer Fruits” is back!! Alpro have brought it out in their resurrection of their old name Provamel. They’re using Provamel for a premium range which is only available in health food shops and the “Summer Fruits” soya yoghurt has just come out in this range. It tastes just the same as it used to, though the label swears it now “tastes fruitier” (Whatever that means. Is it really fruitier? Does it just seem to be tastier because it has more flavouring? Who knows.)
Where to get it: Holland and Barratt have an offer on of two pots for £2. Go for it while it lasts!
Sojasun Organic Live Soya Dessert
Terrible name, great product. The ‘Raspberry Passion’ is to die for. The ‘Strawberry’ is less exciting but still good. Lots of other flavours are available.
Where to get it: health food shops only.
Gotchas: the pots are too small.
Sojade
Plain Yoghurt
I like this stuff. Now I never thought I would say that about a soya yoghurt. It’s not real yoghurt of course, but in the circumstances it makes the best alternative I’ve found.
The flavour and texture are good. It is similar to the real thing. As ever with soya yoghurts, it lacks the sharpness which is so distinctive in dairy yoghurt, but Sojade is not as sweet as many. I don’t know what they do to the soya milk they use to make this, but it doesn’t have the flat, dusty taste which tends to mark out plain soya yoghurts. It has no added sugar or salt and yet it is somehow tasty. We made a cucumber raita with it, which was lovely. It’s also good on muesli.
It’s a French product and I have to say, French companies have moved ahead in the field of soya desserts in the past few years. There is a much wider range available in the supermarkets in France than here. No one company has the total market dominance which Alpro has achieved here and the result is a much more competitive market place.
At the moment our health food shop only has the plain version, but, having investigated the Sojade website www.sojade.eu ,they make ten other flavours! They are all “bio” (which is the French code for organic), vegan and therefore free from dairy products. I’m very much hoping to persuade the shop to stock some of the other flavours and will let you know how they taste as soon as I can get my hands on some!
Blueberry Yoghurt
It’s good, but not quite as good as I’d hoped. The flavour is fairly well rounded, but it’s not as much better than Alpro’s stuff as the plain version is. There is still a slight back-taste of soya, which I had hoped the Sojade boffins would have overcome. The texture’s good, just as it is in the plain one. It’s fine, really, but I’d been hoping that it would be sensational, given how far ahead the plain version is of anything else I’ve found in this country. Maybe that was unreasonable.
Where to get it: health food shops only, sadly.
Gotchas: none so far.
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