Now that my daughter is in preschool, we are on the birthday party circuit. Telling her she can’t have a piece of cake or cupcake because of her food allergies would be upsetting (for both me and her), which is why I make sure that I always have cupcakes on hand. Here’s how you can do the same and be a superstar mom or dad!

Do this now:

1. Make a batch of chocolate cupcakes, and freeze what you don’t need to use that time, or even double the recipe to make sure you have extras. The easiest thing to do is make a mix, like Pamela’s chocolate cake mix or CherryBrook Kitchen (both good for egg-free). I also like Gluten-Free Pantry and Namaste. Any cake mix can become cupcakes, just cook for less time!
2. Make a batch of vanilla cupcakes too. Vanilla cake is harder to make egg-free, but Pamela has a vanilla cake mix that I have made with egg replacer and they turned out okay (see picture at right) even though the directions say it will not work! Or, if you’d like, make a cupcake from scratch using a gluten-free recipe. And, by the way, muffins magically turn into cupcakes when topped with frosting and sprinkles, so that’s another option!
3. Make chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting and keep them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Tip: Start by making vanilla frosting, take out half and then add the cocoa to make chocolate — that way, you really are only making one batch of frosting. You can use frosting mixes, like Pamela’s (I substitute softened palm shortening for the butter to make it dairy and soy-free), or you can use good old C&H powdered sugar and follow their easy recipes, some of which are below.

Do this later:

1. Before the day of the party, talk to the host of the birthday party to find out what food they are serving (in case you also need to bring your own snacks or lunch) and what kind of cake or cupcakes they are having. It is usually always some combination of white or chocolate cake and white or chocolate frosting. Try to match what they are having.
2. The night before or the morning of the party, take some cupcakes out to thaw. I bring 2 for my daughter just in case, but she usually only has one. Also, I like to have one on hand in case someone else needs an allergen-free cupcake (hasn’t happened yet, but when it does, I will make someone’s day!) If it is really last-minute, you can thaw the cupcake in the microwave.
3. Take out your frosting to thaw also. Or, you can microwave it just as you would to soften butter (don’t melt it).
4. Frost and decorate the cupcakes. If you want to get fancy, you can use decorating tools. It is actually really easy and you get to feel like a pastry chef for a minute! For sprinkles, I like India Tree brand or Let’s Do Organic Sprinkelz, which are gluten-free (most sprinkles contain wheat). As long as you’ve got yummy frosting and sprinkles, the cupcake part doesn’t even really matter that much!

Now SMILE and pat yourself on the back because your child has not been deprived of that age-old birthday treat - the CUPCAKE!

A few allergy-free frosting recipes adapted from C&H website:

Basic Decorating Icing (good for piping)
Ingredients:

• 4 cups powdered sugar (a one-pound box of C&H)
• 1/2 cup butter or shortening (palm if you want to make it soy-free)
• 1/4 cup water or milk (rice milk works well)
• 1 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring
• food color (optional)
• add 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder if you want to make chocolate

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Keep icing covered to prevent drying. Store in refrigerator. Thicken with powdered sugar or thin with a few drops of water or milk, if needed. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Vanilla Glaze — a traditional glaze for coffee cakes and sweet rolls, but good on cupcakes too!
Ingredients:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (you can use non-dairy milk — rice milk works great)
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Instructions: Beat all ingredients until smooth. Makes 1/2 cup.

Chocolate Glaze — A smooth, rich glaze for cookies, cakes, cupcakes and more!
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chocolate pieces, semisweet
• 1 tbsp. butter or margarine (or shortening)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. milk (or rice milk)

Instructions: In small saucepan, melt chocolate with butter (or shortening). Remove from heat and beat in powdered sugar adding milk gradually until mixture is a pourable consistency. Makes enough glaze for a layer cake.

Filed under: Babies & Kids, Food Ideas, Products, Food Allergies, Dairy Allergy, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Gluten Intolerance, Egg Allergy, Soy Allergy, Holidays/Special Events | 6 Comments »

Remember the slogan “the incredible edible egg”? Well, not so incredible or edible in my household since my child is allergic to them. I have hopes that she will outgrow her egg allergy, but really, in the back of my mind, I am doubtful.

Kids with egg allergy can become egg tolerant, but the rate that children are developing tolerance to eggs is slower than in the past when it was thought that most children outgrew egg allergy by age 5 or 6. An egg allergy study published in December 2007 concluded the following:

• 4% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 4
• 12% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 6
• 37% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 10
• 68% of children outgrew egg allergy by age 16

They found that a patient was less likely to outgrow the allergy if they had high IgE antibodies when blood tested for egg allergy, if they had other atopic disease (like eczema or asthma), or if they had other food allergies.

So I guess I will just keep on baking without eggs until things (hopefully) change.

Filed under: News & Research, Babies & Kids, Egg Allergy | 3 Comments »

My daughter breaks out in hives if she has eggs. Actually, I don’t think she does if it is in a baked product (which she did eat one time by accident), but the allergist said that her best chance of outgrowing her egg allergy (fingers and toes crossed!) is to never eat eggs in any form. So, in addition to baking without gluten, dairy and soy, I can’t use eggs. Honestly, the other things wouldn’t be so hard, but not being able to use eggs in baking makes it extra-super-duper… uh… fun? (Trying to stay positive here.)

Luckily for me and anyone else who cannot tolerate eggs, there is Ener-G Egg Replacer! This is going to sound like an ad for this product, but I assure you I get no kick-backs (I wish). I write this post purely out of gratitude and amazement that this actually works. I don’t know how it works, but it does, even with my gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free stuff, including cookies, cakes, muffins, bread, pancakes and waffles.

Now there are a lot of egg replacer recipes out there, but I don’t really want to add mashed bananas to everything I make and I don’t have time to grind flaxseeds to a fine meal and then simmer them in water.

So, here’s what I do with the powdered Egg Replacer:

• I use more egg replacer than called for by putting in heaping teaspoons rather than leveled off teaspoons.
• I add warm water and use a whisk as I add the water - there are absolutely no lumps.
• I whisk the egg replacer and the water until it is frothy.
• I always use it right away - I don’t let it sit and if I do, I re-whisk it first.

I don’t know if this way of using it makes it better, but this is how I do it and it ALWAYS works in my baked goods. There are other brands of powdered egg replacer: Organ No Egg Natural Egg Replacer (gluten-free) and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer (contains soy and gluten), but I haven’t tried them. If anyone has had success with these as well, please comment and let us know.

Related reading: Egg-Free Guide

Filed under: Products, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Egg Allergy | 2 Comments »

My girls turned 1 and 3 this month, their birthdays falling 10 days apart, so we had a double birthday party for both kids and adults.

Because of my family’s multiple food sensitivities, we made all the food. While it was an exhausting endeavor, I am proud of how it all turned out. We made way too much - the party could have been twice the size, but that’s ok - lots of leftovers!

So here was our gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free menu. Almost everything could be made a day ahead.

SNACKS:

• Tortilla chips & salsa
• Potato chips
• Tings (like Cheetos without the cheese)
• Grapes and strawberries

LUNCH for the kids:

• Sandwiches with bread made with Pamela’s Wheat-Free Bread Mix (egg-free recipe) - some with turkey and Tofutti non-dairy cream cheese and some with jelly (the jelly ones were the favorite)

LUNCH for the adults:

• Quinoa salad
• Pasta salad made with Tinkyada rice pasta shells
• Grilled Aidell’s sausages (not all flavors are gluten-free, so be sure to check)
• Focaccia made with Pamela’s Wheat-Free Bread Mix (reheat in the oven before serving)

DESSERT:

• 2 butterfly-shaped birthday cakes made with Pamela’s Chocolate Cake mix (egg-free version) - double layered
• Frosting made with a frosting mix and Earth Balance Buttery Sticks, and colored with India Tree Natural Decorating Colors
• Cake decorated with Let’s Do Organic Sprinkelz, and decorating sugars and sprinkles from India Tree

OTHER GOODIES (these were NOT egg-free):

• Blondies by Namaste
• Brownies by Gluten-Free Pantry
• Pan Bars by 1-2-3 Gluten Free
• Mini Lemon Poppyseed Muffins by ‘Cause You’re Special
  NOTE: these extra goodies were totally unnecessary, since the adults liked the butterfly cake as much as the kids!

Think we went overboard?? Yep. Not sure I will ever do that again, but everyone loved the food and like I said… leftovers!

P.S. Thank you to both sets of grandparents and my sister for helping me pull this off. My mom (an artist, unlike myself) decorated the cake.

Filed under: Food Ideas, Dairy Allergy, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Gluten Intolerance, Egg Allergy, Holidays/Special Events | 5 Comments »

Would you believe a bread with a delicious taste and wheat-like texture could be made without gluten, corn, dairy, soy, rice or eggs? Believe it, because I made some yesterday!

I have been a fan of Breads from Anna bread mixes since I first tried them in 2004. They make a great loaf that rivals a wheat bread. I had been using the “Gluten, Soy and Rice Free Bread Mix”, but stopped making it when I stopped eating corn, and when my daughter was diagnosed with egg and dairy allergies.

Anna makes another bread mix called “Gluten, Corn, Dairy, Soy and Rice Free Bread Mix”, which solves most of our problems, except the eggs. Yesterday I decided to try an experiment. I used Ener-G Egg Replacer for the eggs called for in the bread mix. The mix calls for 2 eggs + 1 egg white to equal 2/3 to 3/4 cup liquid. I mixed the equivalent of 4 eggs with the egg replacer to equal 2/3 cup liquid. And voilá! A perfect egg-free (and everything-else-free) loaf!

On the lunch menu today: turkey sandwiches - almost makes me forget about all the stuff we can’t eat.

If you are not feeling confident in your bread-making abilities, read How to Make Gluten-Free Bread. A gluten-free loaf is better than none!

Filed under: Food Ideas, Products, Corn Allergy, Dairy Allergy, Recipes and Cooking Tips, Gluten Intolerance, Egg Allergy | No Comments »