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[alasharia_la]

My daughter has a birthday party coming up, and we aren't vegetarian. However, 2 of the girls coming to the party are

Comments

[goraina]

Party food's not too hard. I grew up in a vegetarian family; parties usually included:

Vegetables and dip (hummus?)
Crackers
Popcorn
Cut-up fruit This is something a friend of mine made for a 7-year-old's birthday party, and supposedly it was a huge hit)
Guacamole or salsa and tortilla chips
Celery sticks with peanut butter and raisins (if they can have peanut butter!)
Cheese cubes with pretzel sticks stuck into them

Good luck!

[the_ether]

Allens Jelly Beans are gelatin-free, as is Orchard brand white icing (I must confess, I don't quite know the difference between marzipan and fondant...but this brand is your run of the mill Christmas cake icing.)

If you have a Healthy Living (or similar) store near you they might stock agar jelly, but most places around here (Brisbane) seem to need a week to order it in.

If you're up for baking more, biscuits like jam drops are nice and sweet :)

[blueheron]

Marzipan is delicious. Fondant looks pretty, but is not tasty.

Marzipan is made with almonds, sugar and water. Fondant is made with many, many different things, but the point of it is to be a smooth, pliable, rolled icing that looks good, taste be damned.

I have seen plenty of recipes for vegan fondant -- a google search should turn some up. When I did my sister's wedding cake a few weeks ago I just bought the fondant. Wilton brand is gelatin free.

[the_ether]

Ah, right! Well, what I know as white icing/Christmas cake icing sounds like marzipan (though not all brands seem to have almonds in them). It's tasty though :)

[maggishness]

I can tell you, as someone who grew up in Northern Europa where real marzipan abounds, that most of what Aussies call marzipan actually isn't. Real marzipan isn't usually white, is a bit grainy and tastes distinctly like almonds (it's usually 50% almonds or more).
It sometimes has egg white in it too, to bind things together.

[pinkcdcase]

that's really nice you're going out of your way to do that. I would probably just go ahead and make it though and tell them to take the fondant off first when they eat the cake or get them a couple cupcakes ahead of time so they have something they can eat.

I'm only saying this because I have very special dietary restrictions and would feel so terrible if someone changed something special like their birthday cake just so I could eat it too.

[swingchickie]

that's a sweet idea, but hard. asking them to take the icing off the cake is like telling them to take the meat out of a stew -- hard to do if it's stuck on there, and then the poor kids have no icing. and if you get them separate cupcakes, they might feel bad because they have something diffeent than what all the other kids are eating. 7 is a tough age for that.

[alasharia_la]

*nods* and in this case, its harder again because they're not just vegetarian, but also are Moslems. the mere use of gelatin in the fondant is enough for them to have to miss out on cake altogether... and that is *not* something a 7 yar old child should have to miss out on.

[blueheron]

On the contrary, I am very appreciative. I don't feel bad that a host attempted to accommodate a guest -- it is also what I would do if the situations were reversed.

Not to mention that as swingchikie mentions -- it is a bit like asking someone to take the meat out of the stew (though, honestly, I remove fondant even if it is veg friendly... I probably wouldn't feel comfortable eating the cake if the fondant was made with gelatin).

[seraphicangel04]

You may have already done this, but check with the parents to see if they can have gelatin and see if they are strict about rennet in cheese. That could make a difference for the appetizers.

Have LOTS of different fruits and options for the tea sandwiches. I don't know about Australia, but here in the US it seems like so many kids won't eat the most basic things.

[maggishness]

I second actually asking about the gelatin, and rennet (ooh, and cochineal/colour 120, in case you didn't know). Most vegies I know (including ourselves) who avoid it aren't strict about it when eating out (partly because most of the time if you ask about these things, people have no clue whether they are in the food or not), but you never know.

If you want cheese with non-animal rennet, most of the Devondale cheeses (with the rectangular cow) are made with non-animal rennet, as are most fettas and haloumis I've seen. There's also a few brands of parmesan and soft cheese that use non-animal rennet, but can't remember them off the top of my head).

[alasharia_la]

as I said above, gelatin is strictly out anyway. its forbidden under their religious laws

[chrome_blonde]

Not trying to be difficult, but I'd also make sure none of the kids have nut allergies if you use the marzipan (or at least give them a heads up if they don't know what it is). I know I would swell up like a balloon, and I'm sure you don't want an emergency trip during the party! ;)

[alasharia_la]

Ah, bugger!
I forgot about allergies :/