From the Publisher
Forget everything
you've heard about
health-conscious baking.
Simply, BabyCakes is your key to an enlightened,
indulgent, sweets-filled future. This is important news not only
for parents whose children have allergies, for vegans, and for
others who struggle with food sensitivities, but also for all you
sugar-loving traditionalists. The recipes in these pages prove that
there is a healthy alternative to recklessly made
desserts, one that doesn''t sacrifice taste or texture.
Having experimented endlessly with alternative, health-conscious
sweeteners, flours, and thickeners, Erin McKenna, the proprietress
of beloved bakery BabyCakes NYC, developed these recipes-most are
gluten-free, all are without refined sugar-in hopes of combating
her own wheat, dairy, and sugar sensitivities. In
BabyCakes, she shares detailed information about the
ingredients she uses (coconut flour, xanthan gum, and agave nectar,
for example) and how to substitute them properly for common
ones-all the while guiding you safely through techniques she's
spent years perfecting.
When BabyCakes NYC opened on Manhattan's Lower East Side in 2005,
it helped propel the gluten-free and vegan baking movement into a
new stratosphere. Suddenly there was a destination for those with
wheat allergies and other dietary restrictions-and, soon enough,
celebrities and dessert lovers of every kind-to indulge freely in
delectable muffins and teacakes, brownies and cookies, pies and
cobblers.
Enclosed within these pages are all the "secrets" you'll need to
bring the greatness of BabyCakes NYC into your own home as well as
raves and recommendations from devotees such as Natalie Portman,
Jason Schwartzman, Mary-Louise Parker, Zooey Deschanel, and Pamela
Anderson.
For confectionists of all kinds, delicious alternatives lie within:
Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Shortbread Scones with Caramelized
Bananas, Strawberry Shortcake, and BabyCakes NYC's celebrated
frosting (so delicious it has fans tipping back frosting shots!),
to name just a few. Finally, Erin's blissful desserts are yours for
the baking!
From the Jacket
"In this book, Erin has finally shared her trade secrets - the
ingredients and techniques that lend BabyCakes' desserts the
flavors, textures, and happiness-factor you'd find in the best
patisserie. The highest praise I can offer is this: follow her
recipes to the letter and you'll fool them every time."
-Tom Colicchio (from the Foreword)
"At BabyCakes NYC I can eat what I crave without harming my lovely
animal friends-or myself. Every since that first fateful day, I've
been waiting for this cookbook."
-Natalie Portman
"I have multiple food sensitivities…and I'd pretty much given up on
the idea that I might be able to have a worthy treat every again. I
was so excited to discover BabyCakes NYC, because not only can I
eat everything they bake, it's all delicious!"
-Zooey Deschanel
"The BabyCakes NYC banana bread is the best I've ever had and
something I simply can't live without."
-Mary Louise Parker
"Thank all that is holy for BabyCakes NYC…"
-Pamela Anderson
About the Author
ERIN MCKENNA is the chef and owner of BabyCakes
NYC, a bakery with outposts in New York City and West Hollywood.
She received the prestigious Best Cupcake award in 2006 from
New York magazine. Erin has been a guest on Martha Stewart
Television and Food Network and has been featured in the New
York Times, Food & Wine, Modern Bride, VegNews, Harper's
Bazaar, In Style, and O, the Oprah Magazine.