The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook [Paperback]

Cybele Pascal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2009

Free to Eat Sweets!

The number of people with food allergies is skyrocketing, leaving puzzled cooks and anxious parents eager to find recipes for “normal” foods that are both safe and delicious. The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook features 100 tried-and-true recipes that are completely free of all ingredients responsible for 90 percent of food allergies, sparing bakers the all-too-common frustration of having to make unsatisfactory substitutions or rework recipes entirely. To make things even easier, energized and empathetic mom Cybele Pascal demystifies alternative foodstuffs and offers an insider’s advice about choosing safe products and sources for buying them.

As the head baker for a food-allergic family, food writer Pascal shares her most in-demand treats and how to make them work without allergenic ingredients. Her collection includes a delightfully familiar array of sweets and savory goodies that are no longer off-limits, from Glazed Vanilla Scones, Cinnamon Rolls, and Lemon-Lime Squares to Chocolate Fudge Brownies, Red Velvet Cake, and every kid’s favorite: Pizza.

In addition to being a lifeline for people with food allergies, sensitivities, and intolerances, these entirely vegan recipes are perfect for anyone looking to avoid artificial and refined ingredients, and those interested in baking with healthful new gluten-free flours such as quinoa, sorghum, and amaranth. Best of all, Pascal has fine-tuned each recipe to please the palates of the most exacting critics: her young sons. Lennon and Monte like these tasty treats even better than their traditional counterparts, and you will too!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using her Gluten-Free Flour Mix-a combination of Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour (worth its weight in gold), potato starch and tapioca flour-author Pascal (The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook) offers baked treats for the 25 million Americans suffering from food allergies. With a well-stocked pantry, readers will be able once again to enjoy favorites like gingerbread, chocolate chip cookies, pizza, and brownies without fear of a reaction. Those without allergies can also benefit from Pascal's collection-100 dishes, in fact, are suitable for vegans. Though recipes call for more ingredients than bakers are probably used to-dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, agave nectar, and xanthan gum make frequent appearances-Pascal's sage advice on substitutions (applesauce in lieu of eggs, canola oil for butter, rice milk for cow's, etc.) should relieve some of the sticker shock. For sensitive diners and those who cook for them, Pascal's winning collection deserves a look.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Somehow, without using wheat flour, dairy, soy, eggs, or nuts, Pascal finds that baking ‘possibilities are endless’ and with recipes for Chocolate Chunk Brownie Bars, Classic Yellow Cake, or Brandied Peach Tart, she is very convincing.” “the kind of advice that can make you an intuitive, allergen-free baker.”
—Cookbook Digest
 
“The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook is...a triumph for the food-allergic community. ...This book is a goldmine for special-diet bakers—particularly for parents of newly diagnosed kids who don’t know where to begin.”
—Living Without
 
“If food allergies post [sic: pose] a…concern…, Cybele Pascal’s remarkable allergen-free creations are the solution. ...Pascal’s patience, time, and tinkering has produced 100 mouthwatering recipes, and she proved their photogenic perfection with 20 full-color photos. ...her recipes are specially formulated and rigorously tested, so follow them closely for outstanding results.”
—VegNews

“a beautiful book, with lavish photography and accessible recipes. I like this book so much that I was thrilled to be asked for a blurb for the back. You’ll love it too. These are the most luscious gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, soy-free, peanut-and-tree-nut- and sesame-free treats you are likely to ever see.”
—Shauna James Ahern, glutenfreegirl.com
 
“helpful hints that will help make your kitchen comfortable despite whatever no-no’s you have to deal with.”
—Gluten-Free Living
 
“The recipes in this book look delish even if you don’t suffer from allergies. ...this sweet cookbook looks like it covers all the bases.”
—VegNews Magazine
 
“more than 100 baked treats that do not compromise on taste. ...The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook offers new allergy-free ways to enjoy some of the most well-known and loved baked goods.”
—Vitamin Retailer

“For those of us who are blissfully free of food allergies, this book may seem unnecessary. But if you have a nephew with a peanut allergy, a neighbor child who is lactose intolerant or a friend with celiac disease, you can now serve them luscious baked goods that they can eat without fear. You can make them feel NORMAL.”
—United Media Syndicate’s “Eat In and Save” Column, Marialisa Calta

"Using her Gluten-Free Flour Mix—a combination of Authentic Foods superfine brown rice flour (worth its weight in gold), potato starch and tapioca flour—author Pascal (The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook) offers baked treats for the 25 million Americans suffering from food allergies. With a well-stocked pantry, readers will be able once again to enjoy favorites like gingerbread, chocolate chip cookies, pizza, and brownies without fear of a reaction. Those without allergies can also benefit from Pascal’s collection—100 dishes, in fact, are suitable for vegans. Though recipes call for more ingredients than bakers are probably used to—dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, agave nectar, and xanthan gum make frequent appearances—Pascal’s sage advice on substitutions (applesauce in lieu of eggs, canola oil for butter, rice milk for cow’s, etc.) should relieve some of the sticker shock. For sensitive diners and those who cook for them, Pascal’s winning collection deserves a look." (Jan.)
–Publishers Weekly, Web-Exclusive Review, 11/23/09

Well-known chef Pascal (The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook) is also the mother of a boy with severe food allergies. Her cookbook features recipes for baked goods, both sweet and savory, that omit the eight foods responsible for most allergies (milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shelfish, soy, and wheat). This requires stocking your pantry differently; for example, to make Fudge Brownies, you'll need dairy-free, soy-free vegetable shortening, prune purée, Pascal's flour mix, xanthan gum, and dairy-free, soy-free chocolate chips. With an extensive list of product resources and support groups, this is an excellent title for both allergen-conscious bakers and vegan cooks.
–Library Journal, Starred Review, 11/15/09

“The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook will be a boon to many. Instead of a drab existence, those living with food allergies will eat freely and well with its reliable recipes: Chocolate Chip Cupcakes; Raspberry Galette with Cornmeal Crust; and Cinnamon Rolls for Sunday mornings. I’ll be baking out of this book for years, and I’m sure you will be too.”
–Shauna James Ahern, author of Gluten-Free Girl

“Few allergen-free cookbooks address the reader with the same grace, compassion, humor, and understanding of their core audience that Cybele Pascal’s does. With smart, easy-to-make, and beautifully pictured recipes, Cybele makes ‘luscious,’ ‘delectable,’ and ‘mouthwatering’ the new allergen-free baking buzzwords. Keep The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook in your kitchen for constant reference, and get your crumble on!”
–Sloane Miller, president of Allergic Girl Resources

“Children and adults living with food allergies should not be deprived of homemade treats, so I am eager to recommend The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook to my clients. The recipes have the extra advantage of using nutrient-dense, minimally processed ingredients such as whole grains, seeds, and fruits. Finally, all of your favorite treats and allergen-free and gluten-free recipes are in one book!”
–Wendy Elverson, RD, LDN, pediatric nutritionist in Clinical Nutrition Service at Children’s Hospital Boston and consultant with the Child Development Network

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Celestial Arts (December 22, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587613484
• ISBN-13: 978-1587613487
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.6 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts
  • #28 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Allergies

More About the Author

CYBELE PASCAL

Cybele Pascal is a food writer and the author of the bestselling Allergen-free Baker's Handbook (Random House/Ten Speed, January, 2010), and the Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook. She has been a guest on The Martha Stewart Show, the Food Network, the Today Show, ABC News, Good Morning America Health, and NPR. She is a regular contributor to "Living Without; The magazine for people with allergies and food sensitivities", and her recipes have appeared in many national publications, including "Good Housekeeping", "Allergic Living", and "NY Parent". She has also written regular columns for Oxygen Media, AOL, and Lime.com. In addition to her culinary work, Cybele is also an award-winning playwright. She has an MFA from Columbia University, and an Artists' Diploma from the Juilliard School. She lives in Los Angeles with her food-allergic family: husband Adam, sons Lennon and Monte, and their dogs, Izzie and Carly. Carly also has food allergies. For more information, visit www.cybelepascal.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

91 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Cookbook!, December 30, 2009

By 

Penny - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook (Paperback)

Having to switch to gluten free baking was challenging enough, but I have to avoid dairy, nuts and nut flours, soy, too. Baked goods have tried my patience for the past 8.5 years. Because my child has sensitivity to soy, I can't buy a lot of GFCF mixes that are on the market. And many years I lost count of the absolute flops that went straight to the trash can. GFCF baked goods can be gritty and gummy, especially when you are avoiding eggs, too. (Because we rotate eggs, sometimes I need to bake without them.)

The demands of a child with autism monopolized my time, and I have, over the years, found a cake mix, a brownie mix and a pancake mix that I like and have stuck with them, and that's pretty much it.

Gluten free flours, xanthan gum, and all the "tricks" to GFCFSFEF+++ baking are expensive. They take up a lot of space in kitchen cupboards. Spending the money and time to try a recipe only to have turn out gritty or gummy is frustrating, and I admit, I gave up in a big way. (Gluten was the first big allergen that we removed 8.5 years ago, and I remember it being so very challenging at the time. Little did I know I'd have to remove a lot more and that I would envy folks who are simply gluten free -- I think that would be so easy!)

I simply never understood the science to baking GFCFSFEF+++ breads, cookies, cakes and other baked goods. I didn't have the time or the background to try to figure it out.

Until now. Now, I'm getting an education about the alchemy of baking without traditional baking ingredients like milk, wheat and eggs: The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook, How To Bake without Gluten, Wheat, Dairy, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, Tree nuts, and Sesame by Cybele Pascal. Cybele Pascal is a chef who happens to be the mother of a child with severe food allergies. She went to work adapting all of our favorite baked items and put her collection of successes into a beautiful cookbook. And yes, there are color photos of some of the recipes (I like photos!).

I. Adore. This. Cookbook! This book is not just a collection of recipes. Instead, Pascal takes the time to teach me about baking allergen free with almost the same restrictions we have at my house. The section called, "The Dry Goods Pantry" in Chapter 1, Stocking your Allergen-Free Pantry, combined with all of Chapter 2, "How To Bake Allergen-Free" provide a mini-baking school, and I would like these pages + the resource section in the back of the book available in a purse sized tri-fold to take with me to the grocery store. Pascal offers suggestions for replacing eggs, dairy, and wheat flour that have me looking through "regular" cookbooks with a new perspective.

I wish I'd had this cookbook nine years ago.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Dessert Book for Food allergies, April 15, 2010

By 

J. Hoover - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook (Paperback)

I have been diagnosed with several food intolerances: Gluten, soy, egg, and dairy. This book finally addresses these issues in most of its recipes. The chocolate cake recipe with no eggs and dairy is the best GF cake recipe I have made. Even my non GF friends love this cake. The texture and taste is as good if not better than any regular cake I have had in the past. Most recipe books for GF baking still use egg, soy or dairy in their recipes so when I try to substitute ingredients they don't fare as well. This book has already tried and tested to come up with the perfect final product. With this book, I need no other for perfect desserts.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST HAVE BAKING BOOK!, December 30, 2009

By 

Linda Rossi - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook (Paperback)

I was so impressed with this book! It is truly a one of a kind piece of art, from the fantastic recipes to the gorgeous photos. The pantry list contained in the beginning of the book is an extensive, easy to read, detailed list of what to keep on hand, from food items to the types of appliances and tools-- wow, what a help! This is one gigantic step in making baking a lot easier and very motivating if you are not someone who normally bakes. Just one flip through this book and you'll find yourself inspired and preheating the oven!
This book is for everyone because most adults and children, though not considered "allergic" to anything, DO have sensitivities of some kind. Unfortunately, without being tested, most of us just go around feeling "lousy" (headaches, sinus problems, brain fog, ADD/ADHD) after eating the trigger foods. As a busy working mom, I do not have the time to research healthy recipes and figure out what ingredients to eliminate and exchange. It is also so disappointing when you do all that work and the final product doesn't taste good. This book does the preliminary work and provides delicious recipes with ingredients that "do not disturb". Knowing that I am giving my kids great desserts that have been "screened" is so satisfying. They absolutely loved the Morning Glory Muffins and the Chocolate Zucchini Bread and have asked for them to be put into their lunchboxes. I am thrilled with this book and consider the whole "allergen-free" experience quite an upgrade for my family-- a must have for every kitchen!

Linda Rossi NY