Apple sir?

As a mum of three I knew something was different  when Nicholas was born in 2007, his tummy was a funny shape and boy his nappies were weird!  At 2 months old he was admitted to Leeds hospital for a rectal biopsy  to test if he had a condition called Hirschsprung’s disease, he didn’t and we were relieved but what was wrong?

Dairy was to blame the consultant advised us and so began our journey into Free from foods.He had prescription powdered milk until he started school and we gradually introduced cows milk.

Recently we had him tested again as his eczema was terrible and guess what? He hasn’t grown out of his cows milk intolerance. He is 8 now and is so desperate to not itch  he has chosen himself to stop having cows milk. Not a problem as i have invested many hours reading up on alternatives and wow there are lots!

There are lots of statistics on how many coeliacs are diagnosed and rough estimates of how many kids have food intolerance.  One thing I know for sure everyone likes cakes, biscuits and muffins. Having first hand experience with my youngest of a dairy intolerance i can tell you whats available is dull, made in a factory and even worse expensive!

Eating out needs military planning and the ability to bite your tongue very hard. A trip to a local restaurant put me off eating out for months, we ordered spaghetti bolognese for Nic only for it to arrive covered in cheese so back to the kitchen it went. Try explaining to a 2 yr old why everyone else is tucking in and he has to wait for another one to be prepared. After what seemed the longest 10 minutes of our lives it arrived and was consumed rapidly. Pudding is included, ice-cream ok? Which part of cows milk intolerance did you not hear?? “We have some apples instead”…great.

Hindsight is a wonderful if annoying thing and I have spent many hours making 5 different meals trying to please every mouth in my house. Therefore I drew the line when it came to something sweet. Dairy free carrot muffins were my starting point and still are a favourite.

I began with gluten free baking when i recognised dairy and gluten free often were needed together,  I have several family members who are diagnosed coeliac, dairy intolerant or have diabetes.

I have 3 very harsh critics aged 8, 11 and 14  and a husband with a loathing for dry cake so trust me when I say if they enjoy it despite gluten-free flour, no flour, no eggs and no sugar then my goodness they can fool even Mary Berry!

Now I don’t expect to be winning the Bake off crown with my products, I am in fact the most un competitive person ever.  My desire to build a business from home and deliver to customers something home-made in this busy world is the driving force which keeps me  happy.

Cakes are for everyone, I don’t want free-from cakes to be on the reserved plate for those “difficult guests”. I bake them by hand one at a time, I think about the person they are for and corny as it sounds I put a little bit of Nicholas in each one.

No body wants an apple for pudding while everyone is eating chocolate brownies and ice-cream! If you like to find out more please get in touch victoriabakes@yahoo.com