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BabyCakes Covers the Classics: Gluten-Free Vegan Recipes from Donuts to Snickerdoodles: A Baking Book
A latest collection of vegan, gluten-free and refined sugar-free recipes by the proprietor of BabyCakes NYC and BabyCakes in Los Angeles features revised versions of classic favorites, including gingerbread pancakes, honey buns and German chocolate cake.
144 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
93 people are currently reading
569 people want to read
About the author
Erin McKenna
4 books18 followersErin McKenna is the chef and owner of BabyCakes NYC, a bakery with outposts in New York City and West Hollywood, the world's premiere gluten-free vegan bakery. 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.
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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
January 13, 2012
I am an experienced cook and avid baker! I found the schmaltzy intro. to this book & indeed to each recipe tiresome. I felt like saying, "Give me the recipe already!"
The recipes call for multiple ingredients, some of which are not easily found and are quite expensive. I had to hunt to find refined coconut oil and larger quantities of arrowroot as several of the recipes called for 1/4 cup of arrowroot.
I make it a rule to always follow a recipe to the letter the first time I make it, then, I tweek it to my taste. I tried the "Lace Cookies" and produced something that was totally unlike the luscious photograph in the book! Instead of the thin, lacey cookie pictured, I got a thicker cookie that was oily & tasted doughy in the center. My husband was disappointed and agreed that these cookies were not up to my usual standard. I really don't feel inspired to try any of the other recipes.
The recipes call for multiple ingredients, some of which are not easily found and are quite expensive. I had to hunt to find refined coconut oil and larger quantities of arrowroot as several of the recipes called for 1/4 cup of arrowroot.
I make it a rule to always follow a recipe to the letter the first time I make it, then, I tweek it to my taste. I tried the "Lace Cookies" and produced something that was totally unlike the luscious photograph in the book! Instead of the thin, lacey cookie pictured, I got a thicker cookie that was oily & tasted doughy in the center. My husband was disappointed and agreed that these cookies were not up to my usual standard. I really don't feel inspired to try any of the other recipes.
June 7, 2011
For people who need to eat gluten-free and vegan, baked goods can be one of the greatest losses. Thank goodness for the people at BabyCakes, who have now written two vibrant cookbooks full of creative and satisfying recipes. I made pumpkin gingerbread pancakes loosely based on her gingerbread pancake recipe, and then wonder buns and hame/antaschen. Gluten-free baking is a challenge. The ingredients are pretty expensive and the end result's proximity to its non gluten-free equivalent depends on what kind of baked good you are going for. For things like pancakes - no sweat. For anything that would normally be fluffy and yeasty, well, you're in for a challenge. But still, I'd start here. There is even an entire chapter on donuts!
March 6, 2012
Feb 2012
I'm not gluten-free, although I am vegan, and love trying new techniques in baking. I honestly find gluten-free baking a bit boring but I love tackling the nuances. However, the recipes I tried out of this book all ended poorly despite my following their instructions (something I do not generally do and cannot help but wonder if that was the problem!). I am confident in my baking skills and have no problem creating wonderful treats regularly so I have little doubt that the recipes were to blame. The cinnamon buns (rolls? I cannot remember how they referred to them) were especially horrid. My cinnamon bun-loving family could barely handle a bite. I'll stick to my non-GF but vegan sweet potato cinnamon buns....gosh they sound good about now. I do hope that those in the GF community have more success and enjoyment from the book. I always say that while people think vegans have it hard, GF individuals have it much worse. I've had MANY GF foods and, well, no thanks [generally].
I'm not gluten-free, although I am vegan, and love trying new techniques in baking. I honestly find gluten-free baking a bit boring but I love tackling the nuances. However, the recipes I tried out of this book all ended poorly despite my following their instructions (something I do not generally do and cannot help but wonder if that was the problem!). I am confident in my baking skills and have no problem creating wonderful treats regularly so I have little doubt that the recipes were to blame. The cinnamon buns (rolls? I cannot remember how they referred to them) were especially horrid. My cinnamon bun-loving family could barely handle a bite. I'll stick to my non-GF but vegan sweet potato cinnamon buns....gosh they sound good about now. I do hope that those in the GF community have more success and enjoyment from the book. I always say that while people think vegans have it hard, GF individuals have it much worse. I've had MANY GF foods and, well, no thanks [generally].
December 10, 2011
For a gluten free, vegan cookbook- it's fantastic. Not all the recipes are winners (the pancakes were horrible). The plain cake donuts are light and fluffy are are full of flavor. The texture is perfect for a donut. The Snickerdoodles are amazing once I doubled the amount of applesauce in the recipe. I generally don't use bean flours so I have swapped out the garbanzo and fava bean flour for sorghum flour with positive results. I'm excited to work through more recipes in this book.
She does use a lot of agave nectar which has a strong taste and is very expensive. I've avoided her recipes that use large amounts of agave nectar as we don't care for the flavor.
I like that her recipes are not dependent on soy (such as tofu). We really like coconut oil and I'm thrilled she uses it and canola oil instead of a packaged vegan margarine.
Overall a good cookbook.
She does use a lot of agave nectar which has a strong taste and is very expensive. I've avoided her recipes that use large amounts of agave nectar as we don't care for the flavor.
I like that her recipes are not dependent on soy (such as tofu). We really like coconut oil and I'm thrilled she uses it and canola oil instead of a packaged vegan margarine.
Overall a good cookbook.
May 24, 2012
In theory this is a great cookbook. I want to make everything Erin has to offer me. But in practice, the ingredients are ridiculous (only a specific kind of soy powder will work? Really?!) and the results are never as good as when I visit Babycakes.
After the first cookbook came out, I was talking to a girl at Babycakes in FL and she told me that McKenna had to alter the recipes for the book. That the ingredients they use in the bakery cannot be bought by the average home cook. So they made changes to get the recipes as close as they could. Which means I'll never be able to replicate the cookie sandwiches I gladly overpay for in the bakery.
So why bother?
After the first cookbook came out, I was talking to a girl at Babycakes in FL and she told me that McKenna had to alter the recipes for the book. That the ingredients they use in the bakery cannot be bought by the average home cook. So they made changes to get the recipes as close as they could. Which means I'll never be able to replicate the cookie sandwiches I gladly overpay for in the bakery.
So why bother?
July 17, 2012
Wow! Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan recipes for DESSERTS! O my, o my! Makes me want to run out and buy a lot of coconut oil/milk, rice flour and xanthum gum! Donuts, seriously, donuts, that are baked, not fried. A "Mounds"-like candy. An ice-cream cake. AND they have a bakery in NYC, LA and Orlando! My beloved daughter, Riley (allergic to dairy and beef) is going to NYC for a chorus trip next spring...wonder if they'd let her go visit the bakery and indulge! I do remember, after stalking their website and FB page, about Anne Hathaway having her wedding cake from there, read it in People magazine. Time to try some new recipes!
February 7, 2018
The Classics include: baked donuts, cookies, savory snacks, gluten-free vegan versions of commercial brands like Chips Ahoy, Thin Mints, and Nilla Wafers, and traditional things like Hamentaschen, Irish soda bread, Rugalach, and—because this bakery is in NYC—chocolate egg creams.
Ingredients include: Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, garbanzo-fava bean flour, brown rice flour, coconut oil, agave nectar, vegan sugar, potato starch, arrowroot powder, rice milk, applesauce, xanthan gum, flax meal.
Recipes: All have head notes, most have a color photo, none have storage advice. Measurements are in U.S. volume. The difficulty level of each recipe is ranked on a scale of one to four cake slices, with four slices being the hardest.
The pancake recipe I'm looking at right now rates a single cake slice. It also calls for nearly a cup of agave nectar for two cups of flour. So that's nuts. I feel like a lot of these recipes have way too much sugar in them, but I've never cooked with agave nectar, so I don't know how sweet it is compared to honey or sugar. I still know that's way too much sweetener for pancakes.
As far as the tone goes, the first BabyCakes cookbook had a serious problem. I didn't notice any food policing or fat shaming in this one, though it's possible I was only skimming out of self-preservation. Still, nothing jumped out at me.
The other good news is that, unlike the first cookbook, everything in here is gluten free. There's no spelt flour in these recipes, but McKenna does give advice on how to take these recipes and swap out the gluten-free flours for spelt in case you happen to have a wheat intolerance and not a gluten intolerance. There's also some advice for how to use different sweeteners and oils.
Ingredients include: Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten-Free Baking Flour, garbanzo-fava bean flour, brown rice flour, coconut oil, agave nectar, vegan sugar, potato starch, arrowroot powder, rice milk, applesauce, xanthan gum, flax meal.
Recipes: All have head notes, most have a color photo, none have storage advice. Measurements are in U.S. volume. The difficulty level of each recipe is ranked on a scale of one to four cake slices, with four slices being the hardest.
The pancake recipe I'm looking at right now rates a single cake slice. It also calls for nearly a cup of agave nectar for two cups of flour. So that's nuts. I feel like a lot of these recipes have way too much sugar in them, but I've never cooked with agave nectar, so I don't know how sweet it is compared to honey or sugar. I still know that's way too much sweetener for pancakes.
As far as the tone goes, the first BabyCakes cookbook had a serious problem. I didn't notice any food policing or fat shaming in this one, though it's possible I was only skimming out of self-preservation. Still, nothing jumped out at me.
The other good news is that, unlike the first cookbook, everything in here is gluten free. There's no spelt flour in these recipes, but McKenna does give advice on how to take these recipes and swap out the gluten-free flours for spelt in case you happen to have a wheat intolerance and not a gluten intolerance. There's also some advice for how to use different sweeteners and oils.
January 26, 2019
Cannot wait to try the doughnuts! Thank you Erin for making GF began baking so very doable. I truly thought I could never make cookies decently again and had given up on them entirely. Thanks to your cookie recipes, not only can I make them again, but I have confidence to step and and experiment with others.
January 17, 2019
Babycakes books grow on me. I finished just about every recipe in the first book so I was delighted to discover this one. I love these recipes. They are healthy enough and allergy friendly enough for me to eat. But sugary and normal tasting enough for the family to like them.
September 15, 2018
I read this, and then immediately bought it. I. NEED. VIRTUALLY. EVERY. ONE. OF. THESE. RECIPES!!
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December 27, 2020I can’t wait to try these recipes!
June 18, 2013
This book is well-written, entertaining, and covers a GREAT list of substitutions for vegan and gluten-free baking. The author is very clear on the consequences she's aware of when using substitutions, and she describes how the recipes are supposed to turn out in enough detail (and even offers ways to get different results - for example, a cakey cookie instead of a crunchy one) that anybody who is trying these recipes for the first time stands a fighting chance of getting the recipes to turn out well.
The list of recipes in this book does, indeed, cover some of the classics. From pancakes to doughnuts - and oh my, there are quite a few donuts in this book - everything looks delicious and well-researched!
The list of recipes in this book does, indeed, cover some of the classics. From pancakes to doughnuts - and oh my, there are quite a few donuts in this book - everything looks delicious and well-researched!
October 8, 2011
If you have to eat gluten-free. This book is the one baking guide you need to cover the classics of childhood. Chocolate chips cookies, whoopie pies, doughnuts, snickerdoodles and S'mores!!! In addition to the great recipes, there is good info for those new to the gluten-free lifestyle. This is a 5 star book, I gave it 4 only because the ingredients can be hard to find depending on where you live. I'm anxiously awaiting more ingredients to be delivered to try more recipes!
October 15, 2013
Nice pictures and great-sounding recipes, but not sure if the food actually stacks up okay - tried the snickerdoodles and they were terrible. I'm not sure what they are supposed to be like, but these were incredibly cinnamon-y, and could really taste the coconut too. They were fragile to remove from the baking tray, and spread out a lot. Just didnt like them. Will try something else and see how it goes.
May 25, 2011
A humongous improvement from the first book. Things are explained. Questions are answered. Baking disasters are avoided.
Also part of the improvment: no spelt flour. Completely gluten-free. And the pricier coconut oil is interchangable for canola.
Best recipes so far: the Thin Mints and the oatmeal cookies (with cranberries instead of raisins). I just ate way too many of those.
Also part of the improvment: no spelt flour. Completely gluten-free. And the pricier coconut oil is interchangable for canola.
Best recipes so far: the Thin Mints and the oatmeal cookies (with cranberries instead of raisins). I just ate way too many of those.
October 6, 2011
This is one of those freakish Vegan cookbooks that makes me feel less freakish. I could present almost everything out of it to friends or co-workers and they would enjoy it and never suspect that I had just fed them something with arrowroot powder and tapioca flour and Agave nectar.
Love it! The authors are so creative!
Love it! The authors are so creative!
November 15, 2012
The gluten free rice krispie treats were tasty but fell apart when taken out of the pan. (Maybe I put in too much coconut oil?)
I'll come back and try some of the other recipes as I adored the original BabyCakes cookbook and am sure that there are gems in this one as well.
I'll come back and try some of the other recipes as I adored the original BabyCakes cookbook and am sure that there are gems in this one as well.
January 13, 2012
The pancakes were excellent!
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January 24, 2012As always- great photos! I think I must buy all the babycakes books!! A wonderful selection of the challenging to convert to gluten-free foods.
February 7, 2012
I was wondering how people baked without using eggs. I guess I need some xantham gum but that stuff is expensive!
February 12, 2012
My blood sugar skyrocketed just reading it. Can't wait to bake all this vegan yumminess! Snickerdoodles anyone?
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April 13, 2012Think I need to read the first baby cakes cookbook first...
April 24, 2012
Have been exploring going more vegan and gluten-free and found many very usable recipes in this book.
February 1, 2013
This is a great cookbook. I make the doughnut recipe all the time.
March 19, 2013
Healthier for you donuts, enough said, as well as the chocolate chip cookies.
June 18, 2013
Just because I'm gluten free doesn't mean I want to give everything else up.
June 27, 2013
Loads of yummy recipes... Although almost every recipe contains either coconut oil or agave nectar, both of which I cannot eat so sadly I won't be able to road test the recipes for myself.
July 10, 2013
Haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but I really liked all of her suggestions for baking equipment and ingredients for a vegan baking kitchen.
September 11, 2013
It was good but some of the recipes call for weird things like agave syrup. :)
March 29, 2014
Fewer recipes I'd want to try than in her first book, but still a sweet marvel.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews