Zagat: BabyCakes NYC Lets Allergy Sufferers Get Their "Just Desserts"
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The Zagat Food Lover's Guide recommends BabyCakes NYC, a Lower East Side bakery that makes sweet treats with special ingredients. NY1's Michelle Park filed the following report.BabyCakes NYC
248 Broome Street
1-212-677-5047
www.babycakesnyc.com
It seems like everyone deals with allergies of some sort these days, so the Zagat Food Lover's Guide has found a spot to remedy those affecting the sweet tooth.
"I had just moved to New York and I was also diagnosed with all these food allergies. I was almost teased by all the incredible bakeries there were all over the city," says BabyCakes founder Erin McKenna. "And I thought it might be a good idea to open a place where people like myself can go and order anything that they want that they see on the shelves, instead of being that person that's always like, 'Umm, is there dairy in it?' or 'Is it wheat?'"
That craving for baked goodies turned into a business, and after lots of experimenting, BabyCakes was born.
"Instead of wheat-flour, I'll use a garbanzo-fava bean flour, which is high in protein," says McKenna. "I use coconut oil instead of butter, which is high in lauric acid. It's really healthy for your heart. Instead of eggs, I use applesauce. Instead of sugar, I use agave nectar most of the time."
Yet her treats are not just only for people who can't have the other stuff. Zagat surveyors say "gluten-free never tasted this good."
"A lot of people were so amazed that it tasted normal, and they would bring the cupcakes and cookies to parties and introduce people to it and tell them after that it was gluten-free and dairy-free and agave-sweetened," says McKenna.
It's all been a recipe for success. BabyCakes has gone from the Lower East Side to Los Angeles and Disney World, and this summer gourmands can even get BabyCakes at Rockaway Beach.
"When you have an idea, something that moves you so much, you put everything on the line for it. It is really stressful, but the payoff is so rich," says McKenna.
It's a good thing "stressed" spelled backwards is "desserts!"
As for the ratings, out of a possible 30, BabyCakes NYC gets 24 for Quality and 22 for both Display and Service. The cost is listed as "M" for Moderate.