I'm allergic to milk, wheat, corn, and soy so I feel your pain. I use the rice whipped cream made by the folks at soyatoo. They also have a soy based one. Check them out at http://www.soyatoo.de/us/?home.

Meringue?

I've found a lot of good dairy-free whipped cream alternatives at the local kosher food store. Check the frozen section =)

Coconut Cream (not milk) can be whipped just like regular cream. I've seen it written up in a few places - here's one link:
http://www.food.com/recipe/coconut-whipped-cream-219030

I just saw something in the Whole Foods dairy case called "Rice Whip." Haven't tried it, but it looks promising.

i like truwhip:
http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/lynn-memorizing-munchies/

which is lactose free, but has casein; dunno how sensitive he is.

Rice Whip and Soy-a-Too are both good choices

I agree with @gudnis. I eat some dairy, but not much, and meringue often satisfies my craving for "whipped topping".

I've also seen so many veggie cookbooks with recipes for cashew cream. There are variations, but this is a base recipe: http://www.talronnen.com/recipes/cashew-cream/
Just add preferred sweetener and perhaps some vanilla or a dash of liquor. Without sweetener, and with salt, it can act as sour cream substitute.

I opened a can of full-fat coconut milk but only had to use a scant amount. The rest went into the fridge. This morning it had a nice solid texture, much like real whipped cream! I had some with some strawberries and it was delicious. Plus the natural saturated fat content is super anti-inflammatory and would help to counter the insulin rush of eating fruit or grain-based sugars (i.e. strawberry shortcake)

If you just want something to garnish pie or fruit, I really like cashew cream. It won't work for frosting a cake though. There's a pretty good product called Rich Whip that you can find in the freezer section of some grocery stores (look for a grocery that caters to Jewish customers). It has a pretty bad nutritional profile though. Soyatoo/Rice Whip are similar to canned Rediwhip.

Marshmallow fluff may work for you too - it's made from egg whites, sugar, corn syrup and vanilla, so it should be okay for you.

Its not whipped creme, but is is soft, fluffy and sweet and may fit the bill!

if you want frosting and cake recipes, check out "vegan cupcakes take over the world". it has amazing recipes that I feed to omnivores all the time and they love the cakes.

also- anything by the ppk folks (theppk.com); they have LOTS of amazing vegan cookbooks out there.

No one has said plain old Cool Whip? That's an easy one. Or buy powdered Dream Whip in the baking aisle (not my favorite but without using milk, it's dairy free and what the majority of baked goods with "whipped topping" has on it)

Agreed though, merengue is probably going to be your tastiest bet for something not from a can and still satisfying.

Since I keep kosher I make mostly non-dairy desserts, to eat after meat meals. The product I use most frequently is Rich's Whip, which is sold in a lot of grocery stores, especially in Jewish neighborhoods. There is also a new Mimiccreme product, which is made out of almonds and cashews (sometimes an allergy problem) but is less chemically.

Good luck!

Aren't most "whipped toppings" you get at the store just made of oil anyway?

I also agree with meringue. Just whisk the egg whites AND SUGAR (or it will lump up) over a bain marie until at least 60C if you are concerned about salmonella.

My six-year-old also has a dairy allergy. We have tried some of the soy substitutes and their nutritional profile is just gross. Whipped toppings, such as Cool Whip, do have dairy as well although it is one of the last ingredients. I am planning to try the coconut whipped creme this year with the pumpkin pie recipe from 101 cookbooks. Hopefully it will work out well.

http://tipnut.com/vintage-baking-tips/

Number 7 on this list gives the egg white/banana slice idea, plus a link to a recipe for it. I've never tried it--I just stumbled on this idea yesterday, so I can't say whether it is worth it or not.

Coconut cream-based whipped cream is awesome. just get one of those pressurized dispensers like they use ad starbucks and use coconut milk instead! Super delicious.

Thanks for all of the great suggestions.
Unfortunately, River, my dairy-free boy, is allergic to casein, so cool whip and the more "natural" alternatives are out. I have tried Soyatoo, but it's hard to justify the $6/a can price along with the aerosol dispenser...

I am especially intrigued by the coconut whipped cream ideas. There will definitely be some experimenting going on in my kitchen in the coming months.

Thanks again!

There is a product called rich's bettercream. You can get it in the frozen section at Cash and Carry, comes in a milk container. I think they also have a chocolate version. It's really good I use it often! :)

All I can remember are those immersion blender infomercials where they made thick whipped cream from milk. Could you do that with plain rice or soy or almond milk? Just whip the crap out of it in a tall cup with an immersion blender? Then you could maybe avoid the oil and the HFCS and other questionable preservatives.

I could swear I saw a vegan whipped cream alternative at the store the other day. I only glanced at it, so I don't remember much about it or the name, but I'll check when I go on Thursday to see what the options are. A friend of mine is dairy (casein and lactose free), and I know she's gotten something like it before, so I'll see if that's what she's used and what she thought of it.

Woah. Coconut cream based whip cream? I've never tried this, but it sounds so, so good!

http://chemistsdaughter.blogspot.com/2009/06/vegan-whipped-cream.html