Cakes cater to gluten-free diet
A multi-tier wedding cake decorated with a cascade of fresh flowers. A tower of cupcakes artfully arranged on a table at a wedding reception. A cake made to look like colorful boxes.
These are just a few examples of Arlington resident Vita Cohen’s edible handiwork. Since 2007, she has been using her talent and imagination to make cakes that everyone can enjoy. That was when this onetime attorney founded Celia Cakes to bring back the joy of eating cake to people who have celiac disease and can’t eat foods with gluten.
“When you have a family celebration, the cake is the focal point,” Cohen said. “It’s the tangible essence of that event. My husband Evan, who has celiac disease, was missing that and it made me sad. There were lots of kids missing it, too. This is a great business to be in, to be able to bring back some of that joy that people have at celebrations.”
During her second maternity leave, the mother of two started learning how to bake gluten free. After three months of experimenting and keeping a log of the ingredients, Cohen came up with a recipe for a gluten free vanilla cake that tasted closest to a wedding cake. Satisfied, she took recipes for chocolate, almond, carrot, and red velvet cakes and made them gluten free without sacrificing taste.
“I’d substitute my flour mixture for gluten free and sometimes that was enough,” added Cohen, whose entire kitchen is gluten free. “Other times, I had to adjust the amount of liquid or sugar.”
Cohen frosts her cakes with traditional buttercream.
Celia Cakes is run out of her home and customers make appointments by phone.
“I like to take orders from three to six months in advance and sometimes even as much as a year ahead,” she said. “Six months is the average. Right now, I’m doing tastings for summer and fall weddings.”
Since starting the business, Cohen has had more than 1,200 orders. Her territory is Massachusetts, but most of her customers are within the Route 128 loop. And not every customer has a medical issue.
“Some people purchase my cakes just because they taste so good,” she noted.
At first, she would make any size cake, but now only works on larger events — showers, bar/bat mitzvahs and weddings. Each cake is custom made.
“I have decorating ideas in my head all the time,” she added.
Couples who want a wedding cake are invited to Cohen’s home for a tea party and tasting.
“They choose two flavors of cake and whatever frosting or filling they wish and I bake four cupcakes for them to sample,” she said. “We talk about what they like and how we can design a cake around what inspires them. Within two weeks, I’ll send an estimate and a sketch. After any changes are made, I draw up a contract and that will be the final design. Half the cost is due at that time; the rest, two weeks before the wedding.”
Cohen also educates the public about her cakes. She frequently goes to the Celiac Disease Program and Support Group at Boston Children’s Hospital, cake samples in hand. Cohen also visited a support meeting at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and a national event held in Boston.
What has been most rewarding about her second career? “There’s the joy of making something beautiful, the sense of accomplishment, and the joy that your customers have,” said Cohen. “To be able to have a beautiful gluten free cake that will taste good is such a surprise.”
For more information about Celia Cakes, go to www.celiacakes.com.
Gluten free Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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