Review by Barb & Ron Kroll
Babycakes - Covers the Classics
- Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes
(Clarkson Potter) ISBN 978-0307718303 0307718301
Do you want to make gluten-free pizza, gluten-free donuts or gluten-free snacks? Erin McKenna provides celiac diet recipes that are also dairy-free, egg-free and refined sugar-free vegan recipes.
If you have a food sensitivity that requires a celiac diet, these recipes for BabyCake gluten-free treats are as good as or even better than baked goods that contain gluten. Mouthwatering desserts and snacks, made with gluten-free products, coconut oil and agave sweeteners, allow vegans and celiacs to enjoy home-baked cakes, cookies, pancakes and even gluten-free cinnamon rolls.
Erin McKenna begins each chapter and recipe in Babycakes - Covers the Classics with an introduction. For example, in the snacks chapter introduction, she explains why she created recipes for gluten-free pizza, Rice Krispie squares and s'mores.
Sidebars provide additional BabyCakes recipes, such as decorations for gluten-free donuts. A sidebar, with the gluten-free cookie recipes, explains how to alter celiac cookie recipes to be chewy, cakey or thin.
The celiac cookbook also includes two Jewish gluten-free recipes for hamentaschen and rugalach.
Appetizing Tara Donne photos depict gluten-free baked goods made from BabyCakes recipes for people on vegan and celiac diets.
In the 144-page celiac cookbook, Erin McKenna explains how to convert gluten-free recipes to spelt recipes. (Add the amounts of gluten-free flour, potato starch and arrowroot, and replace their combined measurements with an equal amount of spelt flour.)
The BabyCakes gluten-free cookbook also offers other ingredient substitutes, e.g., use two-thirds cup of agave nectar for each cup of vegan sugar (Florida Crystals), while reducing other liquid ingredients by one-third cup.
Erin McKenna answers questions about recipes for gluten-intolerant celiacs and vegans. For example, she explains that light agave by Organic Nectars creates a less potent flavor than dark agave nectar. She also recommends gluten-free products, like Enjoy Life chocolate chips, that are also dairy, soy and nut-free.
Gingerbread pancakes. Honey buns. Agave maple syrup. Lace cookies. Nilla wafers. Sweet and spicy popcorn balls. Cheese straws. German chocolate cake. Plain cake donut. Agave sweetened chocolate glaze. Chocolate cake donut. Blackberry swirl donut. Spiced marble donut. Gluten-free graham crackers.
Erin McKenna owns the gluten-free bakeries, BabyCakes LA, BabyCakes NYC and BabyCakes in Orlando (Walt Disney World Downtown Disney Marketplace).
BabyCakes - Vegan, Gluten-free and (Mostly) Sugar-free Recipes
