| Catering
to Allergies is a Cake Walk |
By Anne DeCecco
Observer Staff Writer |
| When Seonyoung Park went into Chantel's Bakery in mid-January,
she planned to buy a cake just for show at her three-year-old
daughter's birthday party. Jamie Park is allergic to eggs,
so Seonyoung Park thought she could at least take pictures
of her daughter blowing out the candles on her cake even if
Jamie could not eat it. |
| But Park soon discovered that this year Jamie could have
her cake and eat it, too. For the past couple years, Chantel's
has been offering allergen-free cakes. "So far she couldn't
eat her own birthday cake," Park said. "It was kind
of miserable for her. But this time she could eat it-it made
her very happy and proud of herself." |
| Dennis Stanley, who owns the bakery at 506 Shaw Road in
Sterling, said he began developing his alternative menus about
four years ago when he started to cater to his diabetic clients'
needs. His menu offers cakes, cupcakes, cookies, muffins and
cheesecakes for people with diabetes. |
| As time went on, more and more clients requested cakes for
people with allergies to eggs, soy, gluten and dairy, as well
as a combination of some or all of those ingredients, he said.
Clients shared information about the alternative ingredients
they use at home, and Stanley and his staff researched and
developed recipes for their allergen-free cakes, he said.
Stanley also worked with the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network
of Fairfax. |
| Chantel's Bakery has now been selling allergen-free cakes
for about two years, but Stanley said they have only become
popular in recent months, as word has spread in the community.
Stanley said that in the past, he would sell an allergen-free
cake once every two months. Now, he said, he sells them everyday. |
| "We had a lady come in the other day to pick up her
cake and she started crying. I thought she was crying because
we messed up her cake," Stanley said. "She was crying
because it was the first time she could eat her cake. She
was in here just crying like a baby." |
| Sheri Fedkiw, a certified nutrition counselor and former
resident of Herndon, said 50 million Americans are lactose
intolerant and one in 133 Americans are gluten intolerant.
Soy allergies are less common; one in 3000 Americans have
a soy allergy. |
| Fedkiw said egg allergies are more common in children, but
usually children outgrow the protein intolerance by the time
they are between 6 to 8 years of age. "Here in Northern
Virginia we are seeing a lot more diagnoses than we ever have,"
Fedkiw said. |
| According to Stanley, the cakes for people with egg allergies
use a yeast mixture as a substitute. The soy-free cakes are
made with canola oil, and the gluten-free cakes are made with
a mixture of rice flour and potato starch. |
| Stanley said as a substitute for dairy, he uses an oil mixture.
All icing is egg-free and gluten-free and it can also be prepared
without dairy products or soy. His icing recipes call for
palm oil or shortening, he said. |
| "I try to go strictly with the same recipes, so that
I can make the same cake tomorrow as today," Stanley
said. He said he does not change his allergen-free recipes
because he wants them all to have the same quality. Stanley
said his bakery sells allergen-free cookies as well. He said
the allergen-free products are more expensive than regular
cakes because of the care that goes into making them. |
| "Each allergy-free cake is baked individually,"
Stanley said. A 6-inch special order cake costs $29.95 and
an 8-inch costs $43.95, according to the Chantel's menu. These
prices are about $11 more than the cost of a regular Chantel's
cake. |
