baking with margarine

Sir Headless VII

I am planning on making some toffee and they are quite butter heavy. My mother is lactose intolerant. This is normally not a problem since i just switch out for margarine but i am scared that it may not have all the same properties of butter and since the toffee is both fairly finicky and only has a couple ingredients it could cause a problem. Anyone here a chef/chemist that could let me know if this will work?

Mojo_Jojo

Seems like it can work to some extent.

Recipe - "Earth Balance" is an oil-based spread, so most likely some form of margarine.

LewieP's Mummy

On the whole, the only difference really is the taste.

Usagi

It's definitely not going to taste the same if you make them with margarine as if you made them with butter

Also, since butter is pretty much 80% fat, 20% water and trace amounts of milk solids, I can't imagine it has that much lactose in it in the first place

Also also, especially if you're going to be cooking it past hard crack stage, won't that break down the lactose?

Midshipman

European or cultured butter should have very little lactose in it. Regular butter can be low in lactose, but it can vary depending on the manufacturing process and whether they add milk solids back in.

P.S. For example, http://organicvalley.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/organicvalley.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=43

DoctorArch

A google search told me it could be done, but it is a little more finicky and needs to be closely monitored during the cooking process.