The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook

An allergen-free cookbook that will make you feel like you aren't missing anything!As head cook and pantry mistress in my house, I manage both life-threatening food allergies and multiple intolerances. The offenders have come and gone over the years. When my daughter was a baby, eggs and dairy were out. A few years later they were back in but peanuts and tree nuts were out. Ten years and many lab tests later, peanuts are still very out, tree nuts are back in and the entire family is now gluten-, dairy-, egg-, reflux- and stomach ache-free. What does that mean? Gone are mother nature's most reliable binders - albumin, gluten and casein and whey - replaced with ingredients that must be combined in just the right ratio otherwise disaster strikes. And while I tend to be an intuitive cook who doesn't balk at the chance to be experimental, baking can be a bit stressful at times.So it is with great joy that I recommend The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook, by Cybele Pascal. Cybele Pascal does it all without gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, or sesame. And IT, at least all that I have baked so far, is wonderful. A bonus is that Cybele has considered folks with life-threatening allergies to the point that she included only ingredients that could be sourced without risk of cross-contamination. The recipes won my stomach over, her attention to the needs of those managing life-threatening allergies won my heart over!I often tend toward the wholesome while the rest of my family is wooed by icing, food dye and sprinkles. The fact that the first batch of Quebec Maple Date Cookies I made disappeared in less than 12 hours in my house says something; the second batch will go even faster because I discovered Cybele's recipe for Rice Milk Glaze, which I proceeded to put on top of these previously healthy (and refined-sugar-free mind you) cookies. Yum.But so far, the dairy-free crème de le crème for this family is the cinnamon roll recipe. Who in this world that must avoid gluten, dairy, eggs and peanuts has had enough cinnamon rolls lately? No one! So, now my 9-year old son can make cinnamon rolls from scratch - thank you Cybele! I haven't let him make the Rice Milk Glaze on his own yet because I am sure that we would then have to have a gallon on hand at all times and it would find its way onto all sorts of things that it doesn't belong on, like carrots!The final word on Cybele's cookbook - buy it AND follow the directions. She tested her recipes thoroughly and if you start "experimenting" with quantities or substitutions, you'll not get the full delicious effect. But my true confession is that I did add a handful of oats to the Quebec Maple Date Cookies - couldn't help myself!

Despite years of buying from amazon.com, I have never submitted a review before. That's how meaningful this book is to me. My 4 1/2 yr old and I made vanilla cupcakes w/ vanilla frosting together and our fun time together was priceless. We have access to allergy-free desserts where we live in the San Francisco Bay Area (pre-made packaged from Whole Foods, mixes from Trader Joes and WF and even Target, or some items from a local gluten-free bakery), but nothing beats making something from scratch. More importantly, he got to make cupcakes for the first time since we embarked on eliminating his allergens...he was so happy and proud.He is at least allergic to wheat, soy, dairy, nuts, fish, and strawberries (and ??...still figuring his allergies out!), but not to eggs. Cybele Pascal has a great section that gives substitutions for various ingredients so you can try to make adjustments in your "regular" recipe books which is very helpful. I used it to figure out how to put real eggs back into her recipes (1 Tbsp of egg replacer w/ rice milk=2 eggs)...I know that's not how the recipes were developed and I do not know if this will adversely affect the taste in her other recipes, but so far so good!I stuck with the author's recommendation of Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour, so I do not know how other brands taste. The $11.39 bag of flour is pricey, but it will last awhile, is cheaper than buying pre-made desserts from the store, and nothing beats the fun experience of making homemade desserts with a child. I bought Bob's Red Mill potato and tapioca flours and xanthum gum as it was available at the store.The allergy-free cupcakes were more bready than regular cupcakes, maybe because of the real eggs or maybe I overbaked, but it's not a negative. My husband and I found the frosting tasty but a little too Crisco-y on the lips, so I might try a different frosting next time...but hey, these cupcakes were a treat for my son, not for me, so maybe I just need to deal with it :).Another plus to me is that the recipes use few ingredients and are not complicated/time-consuming. I am not a good cook and I do not have the time or desire to spend endless hours cooking/baking. Lastly, FYI to anyone who is noticing an allergy to chocolate...many products incl most chocolate contain soy lecithin, so try cocoa powder or soy/dairy/etc free chocolate...maybe most people delving into allergies already know this, but I didn't.Eating out has been difficult, but we have not had much of a problem eating meals at home. I will still be purchasing her other recipe book because I'm sure that she will have great ideas to try.