Elizabeth Gordon - Allergy-free Desserts: Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Egg-free, Soy-free, and Nut-free Delights

Copyright 2010 by Elizabeth Gordon. All rights reserved

Photography copyright 2010 by Jason Wyche.

Food styling by Brian Preston-Campbell

Prop styling by Leslie Seigel

Graphic Design by Joline Rivera

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Gordon, Elizabeth, 1976

Allergy-free desserts / Elizabeth Gordon.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 9780470448465 (cloth)

1. Food allergyDiet therapyRecipes. 2. Desserts. I. Title.

RC596.G664 2009

641.56318dc22

2009007117

Printed in China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

To Margot and Colombe

This book never would have been possible without the help and support of some of the most cherished people in my life. I owe so much to my husband, Jesse, who tasted and tested almost all of the recipes even from their earliest, most rudimentary, and sometimes yuckiest stages. He was quite a sport. Colombe and Margot, my children, sacrificed much time with me so that I could make this dream a reality. Carmen always cleaned up after me without a single complaint. Chris Pavone and Talia Cohen were instrumental in not only getting the book to publication but in taking care of me along the way. They answered countless questions and gave invaluable advice. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Sarah Montague Oxman who planted the seed of this cookbook in my head and pushed me so hard from the very start. Anne McEniry and Cornelia Tinkler were fantastically dedicated, thorough testers and note takers, even going so far as to take the finished products to their friends for unbiased taste testing. I am forever in their debt, especially since Anne and Cornelia did the work for nothing more than a thank you and the satisfaction of knowing they had done a good deed. Melani Bauman single-handedly revolutionized my cookie decorating and for that I am forever grateful. Justin Schwartz, my editor, was so patient with me and edited this book into exactly what Id always imagined. Jason Wyche, Leslie Siegel, and Brian Preston-Campbell worked together to make the photography magical. Lucy Barnes offered undying encouragement and support. And of course, I owe so much to my loyal clients. Without their ongoing support and notes of thanks and encouragement, I never would have had the courage to see this through.

When I was a little girl, I dreamed of two things: baking professionally and having a family. My mother grew up in her fathers restaurant, and she always warned of the crazy hours, the back-breaking labor, the sweltering kitchen, and the cranky mood that inevitably consumes the average restaurateur. Daunted by this lifestyle, I shied away from professional baking to pursue a helping profession, but continued to bake at home and dream of owning a bakery.

And then at twenty-seven, I found myself diagnosed with food allergies and desperate to indulge my sweet tooth. It was at the same time that, on a whim, I decided to intern for a wedding cake designer in my spare time. I loved interning for her, but even inhaling the wheat particles in the bakery air made me itchy and miserable. Discouraged, but not completely disheartened, I considered making treats for people like myself. Since my diagnosis of a wheat and egg allergy, I had virtually forsaken baked goods made without wheat and eggs, finding that everything on the market tasted like sawdust. Though my palate had adapted, I remembered the flavor and texture of buttery, English shortbread cookies and tender, Southern blueberry muffins made with buttermilk. But most of all, I could virtually taste my mothers chocolate chip cookies and homemade birthday cakes slathered with vanilla buttercream.

And then it came to me. Combining the regional influences of the places where I had either grown up or spent a significant amount of time (the Midwest, the South, and Europe), I immediately set to work in my kitchen to create cakes and cookies that tasted just like what I grew up eating but that didnt make me sick. When I finally stumbled upon a recipe that even my nonallergic friends would not only eat with gusto, but that they thought was just a plain old cookie, I knew that I had finally found my calling.

In the midst of my compulsive experimentation, my mother drove out from Ohio to bring my girls some of my childhood mementos, one of which was my little toy kitchen. When she arrived, we talked about the hours that I spent pretending to bake and how I was never alone in my kitchenmy imaginary friend Claude was always there to keep me company and to assist in my adventures.

Just like that, my company was born. Betsy was my nickname when I was a little girl, and Claude was the inspiration behind every mud pie that I ever made. It seemed unfair to leave him out of my real bakery. My baking reminds me of my childhood, of being home and of simpler times. I hope that these recipes will inspire and comfort you the way that they do me.

Welcome to allergen-free baking 101!

Baking without all of the traditional ingredients may seem daunting to even the most seasoned baker, and many of the ingredients that I use may sound completely foreign. In fact, you may never have heard of any of them, but I will help you track them down and learn how to use them. I know that I hadnt heard of them until I became completely determined to make desserts that I could and would eat. In the following pages, I will introduce you to the ingredients, what they do and how to use them. Then, I will give you some useful tips that I have learned either working in a bakery, watching my mother in her kitchen, or in professional cake decorating classes that I have taken. All of these tips are so simple, yet they make baking so much easier. Most importantly, have a great time learning this new skill and know that sometimes different is good. Pie crusts arent as temperamental. There is no such thing as overbeating cake batter and getting a tough cake because there is no gluten in these cake recipes. So, different yes, but in lots of ways better. I promise!