Don’t casually pass over food that is Kosher for Passover

Time to stock up!

Whether you are dealing with food allergies, are a vegan, have  special diet for celiac disease, or just simply like some tasty food, Kosher for Passover may offer a heaven of tasty food choices.

This time of the year is one of my favorite times of the year for discovering tasty baked goods or revisiting some known ones.  The Kosher diet is great for offering dairy free alternatives (Kosher dietary law does not allow the consumption of meat with dairy-there is a great discussion on this in the movie,  “The Believer”).  Around Passover, there is no consumption of certain types of foods (again, you can find additional information on this on line) – this adds all kinds of gluten and soy free choices.  Although we no longer have to avoid gluten and soy for my son, it’s nice to not overload on the ingredients.  Stores around this time of the year also display more Kosher items.  A few years ago, when my son had to avoid wheat and soy, I would drive weekly to the Hungarian Kosher Store (one hour each way) so we could stock up on all kinds of goodies.  They got to know us.  Recently I haven’t had time to drive up as much, but have been able to find some great Kosher choices in stores closer to me (although not as much as the Hungarian Kosher Store).

My latest discovery (from Sunset Foods) is “Z Best Bakery” baked goods.  This is a nut free bakery (so no cross contamination) and there is NO dairy in their products.  Chocolate Coffee cake, challah rolls, challah hot dog buns and hamburger rolls, Italian bread, marble rye bread (and more) all made in a nut free, dairy free bakery.  So far, I had to bake all the bread for my son.  Now he can have a burger with a commercially made hamburger bun, or a chocolate coffee cake.  Today I bought a box of chocolate chip mandel ….this is like biscotti (which we can’t have because they are made in a facility with nuts).

Butter free pound cake....nut free!

Some of the Kosher items that are great for special diets:

·      Osem mini Mandel rings…great additions to any soup

·      Truly dairy free whipping creams that you can add to your pies etc..

·      A nutella like nut/dairy free spread I’ve found a few years ago

·      Hammentaschen - kolachky like dessert made free of flour and dairy

·      Dairy free ranch dressing

·      Bread crumbs (no dairy contamination because of the no meat with dairy mix)

Discovering Z Best Baked Goods....a huge variety

The display at Sunset Foods

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Next time you are in the store, check out the Kosher for Passover section.  You will find all kinds of goodies.  This time of the year is a gold mine for special diets.

Valentine’s Day desserts don’t have to kill your heart

This cookie cake can also be made heart shaped for Valentine's Day

Again, use different colors and a heart shaped pan to make a Valentine's Day Version

I really don’t like to bake.  Baked goods recipes have to be exact and are very hard to convert if you are picky about your ingredients.  Yet, I love desserts and certain festive desserts are a requirement (in my family) for birthdays, special holidays and even Valentine’s Day.

Although you can now find some cakes that cater to special diets (gluten free, vegan, etc.), they are very expensive and not easily available.   But in my case, these cakes aren’t even an option.   Since we are dealing with multiple food allergies here, I can’t run the risk of something being cross contaminated.   Basically, cross contamination is the possibility of having a tiny amount of allergen in the food since the allergen is present in the bakery.  Bakeries (even gluten free ones) have nuts and dairy in their facility….so I can’t buy any baked goods (not even bread).  As a result, I have to bake everything at home.  As a result, I end up with an allergen free and much more wholesome version of the dessert.

Necessity is the mother of invention; so over the years I learned how to make the celebratory cakes, cookie cakes and cupcakes without any of the bad things. 

As Valentine’s day approaches, it’s time to find the heart shaped baking pans, cookie pans and chocolate molds.

You don’t need to have food allergies to make these special cakes at home.  They really aren’t that hard to make and taste so fresh.

In the next few days I’m going to post recipes for the frosting, cookie cakes and cakes that can be used for Valentine’s Day.   Even if you don’t have to follow a special diet, these sweets will not clog your arteries and pack on the pounds.

Again, because baking is so exact, figuring out the right ingredient substitutions was a challenge.  Friends and family love these cakes.

Let me know which recipe you are interested in first.

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Creamiest mocha frosting with no gross after taste

Contents are protected by the U.S. Copyright act and may not be duplicated or redistributed.  All contents are owned by BlogToTheNextOne ©2011