I was emailed a recipe by a friend — she'd like me to cook a Strawberry and Lemon White Bean Bundt Cake. One of the ingredients is going to be a problem, though:
1/2 pound Camellia Brand Lady Cream Peas, cooked and drained
The cooked peas are pureed and then mixed with other, more conventional cake ingredients; presumably the strawberry and lemon flavors predominate, rather than the peas.
But for my question: I'd never heard of lady cream peas! According to the manufacturer's website (from whence the recipe comes), it's a type of cowpea.
They have a sweet flavor and creamy texture and are featured in Southern dishes
I've looked in a couple of stores and can't find lady cream peas — would I be able to substitute black-eyed peas (another strain of cowpea) with little risk of changing the flavor, or are they stronger (beanier?) than lady cream peas? What other bean/pea options are available? My lack of cowpea experience is showing 🙂
Best Answer
Camellia brand has a store locator for it's products and the OP was able to find the lady cream peas at a location close to her.
For anyone who isn't able to find them, butter peas are a good option. I've seen them fresh, frozen, and canned. Other acceptable substitutes could be cannellini (white kidney) beans or great northern beans, although great northerns are not quite as sweet. Both of these should be available dried or canned. However, if you are to prepare them without salt, I would stay away from canned.