Brittany Berlin - Baked with Love: Over 100 Allergy-Friendly Vegan Desserts

Introduction

Every morning, my alarm goes off at 4:30 a.m. While this is a fairly early start for most people, its pretty normal for me. The earlier I rise, the sooner I get to start my day. Im that in love with what I do: the recipes, the community, the writing, researching, testing, photo shootsevery single bit.

Even the challenges bring me joy and gratitude in the end. (Believe me, its not always marshmallow clouds and rainbow sprinkles!) My long days spent working as a food blogger fly by compared to the twelve-hour days I spent working at other jobs. Dont get me wrong; its hard work. A lot of sweat, love, passion, and, yes, a few tears go into building an online community that comes together around one very specific topic.

I wear multiple hats, sometimes hourly depending on the day, and I have built everything from scratch. Growing up as a more traditional artist (paints were my thing), Ive always been inspired by those who really align with their work, and I aspired to do something creative that fulfilled my soul. This is my greatest masterpiece: the blog, every single recipe I share, the photos that capture each recipes unique personality, connecting with hundreds of thousands of individuals out there experimenting with plant-based baking, and especially this book.

If you picked up this book and have no clue who the heck I am or why Im talking about 4:30 a.m. wake-up calls and comparing painting to a food blog, hi! My name is Britt, and Im the blogger behind The Banana Diaries,a wholesome vegan baking blog featuring plant-based recipes with Paleo and gluten-free twists.

That is a mouthful, but I often have a lot to say (which, if you read the blog, youll quickly come to learn). Dont worry, thoughall of those words are paired with drool-worthy photos of recipes made with a whole lot of love that youd hardly believe are vegan. Oh, and I have the kindest and most loving readers everseriously, go read the comments section. I tear up every time!

I didnt always have this loving relationship with food or with life in general. Ill give you the abridged version.

I grew up loving to bake more traditionallyyou know, with eggs, butter, sugar, the works. Like many, I relished the magic of bakingmixing together an array of ingredients and producing something completely distinct from its parts. It was a fun alchemical experiment and a welcome escape for an hour or two where I could play around and make something pretty and delicious.

But at twelve years old, after an accident during gymnastics that led to multiple intensive surgeries and being sidelined for a year, I developed anorexia, which soon became comorbid with depression, both of which I battled for nearly a decade. During that tumultuous time, my relationship with food mirrored all of my other relationships: everything felt hollow, empty, constricting, and painful. Truthfully, I feared every day.

I graduated college and started a corporate job, having mustered a half-hearted recovery from my eating disorder and still very much in the throes of depression. It felt a bit like the world was closing in on me (dont worry, there is a happy ending to this story): my partner, Jared, was struggling with chronic Lyme disease, I was trying to find my footing in a new city that never felt like home to me, and every day I felt like I needed an army and a half just to get me out of bed. Back in college, after losing a friend to depression, I had promised myself that I wouldnt waste my life. Yet here I was, feeling like there wasnt much to live for.

Me being me (if you follow me on Instagram, youll see that Im very much about finding light within the dark), I decided enough was enough.