About this item
At long last, the holy grail of gluten-free vegan baking: airy, light, and tender breads, from Erin McKenna, founder of BabyCakes NYC and Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC and the visionary who also cracked the code of vegan frosting For two decades, a gluten sensitivity forced Erin McKenna to ignore the bread basket that accompanies dinner at her favorite restaurants. Brunch was even worse: flaky croissants, biscuits, bagels . . . As an act of self-preservation, she tried to pretend they didn't exist. After pioneering vegan and gluten-free dessert baking at her beloved bicoastal bakery, Erin set about righting this wrong, tackling the beautiful treats in those forbidden bread baskets. The result is all the savory bread a gluten-free vegan guy or gal could want and more, including English Muffins, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Sweet Potato Sage Rolls, Pizza Dough, Corn Tortillas, Puff Pastry Dough, Pretzels, Scallion Pancakes, even a simple and perfect Sandwich Bread.
About the Author
Erin McKenna, founder of BabyCakes NYC, brings something fresh to the countertop at her lower east side bakery, which has been hailed a safe haven for those burdened by food allergies.
McKenna eliminated wheat, dairy and refined sugar from her diet five years ago and began her desperate search down the Whole Foods' aisles for baked goods she could safely enjoy; it was futile. Driven to satisfy her insatiable sweet tooth, McKenna set out on a culinary journey and experimented with alternative ingredients such as agave nectar and cold-pressed coconut oil to create a new kind of baked good. Four months of trial and error later, McKenna had developed allergy-friendly recipes that were actually sweet, moist and incredibly good. BabyCakes NYC was born, soon thereafter, and McKenna was a full-time baker.
A Chula Vista, California native, McKenna attended St Mary's College in Moraga and majored in Communications. Growing up, she never thought twice as to where her favorite Entenmanns's products came from; baking couldn't have been further off her radar. In fact, only moments prior to picking up the spatula, she was shopping, steaming and returning clothes as a fashion assistant in the world's fashion Mecca, New York City. She, however, refocused her attention and applied her stylist sensibilities to constructing innovative pastries absent of refined sugar, wheat, dairy, soy, casein, eggs and gluten. With McKenna's attention to detail, refined tastes and fashionable flare, she created pastries that are pleasing to the eye as well as the most discerning palate.
Erin approaches her customer's safety with the same fastidiousness. She goes to great lengths to prevent cross-contamination and keeps everyone who sets foot in her bakery well informed.
In May of 2009, the much-anticipated Babycakes cookbook hit the shelves. In the book, Erin shares the secrets of her vegan, (mostly) gluten-free, and (mostly) sugar-free recipes to eager food enthusiasts and hobby bakers alike.
McKenna currently resides in Manhattan, where she is constantly whipping up new allergy friendly recipes. Always looking for a new challenge, she has set her sights westward and plans to open her successful bakery in Los Angeles in late 2009.
