Gluten Free Cake

lightingcandles

I love my FH very very much, but a big hurdle in our relationship has been his recent diagnosis of severe food allergies including wheat, corn, rice, and soy. This has been a big adjustment across the board and it only recently hit me that this would have implications on our wedding plans. Almost all pastries have been out of the question unless they are made from almond or other nut flours which are both expensive and do not "function" the same as wheat flour pastries (ie, I would not stack tiers in an almond flour cake, let alone subject an entire reception crowd to a wheat, corn, rice, or soy free concoction). My FH said he'd suck it up for a day and just eat cake, but I'm not about to deal with him being sick on our wedding night. I think he just wants an excuse to eat cake

I guess I just don't know what to do in terms of approaching a bakery about something like this or if anyone has gone through this. I'd thought about doing a separate, gluten-free cake for my FH and I and getting a traditional cake for the guests. Has anyone else out there done a total gluten-free cake/dinner or anything to that effect? Any suggestions from anyone with food allergies?

LauraT25

I think you could do a small GF cake for you and your FH.  My mom is gluten intolerant and I had to do a lot of shopping around before I found a bakery with excellent reviews.  I get birthday cakes/cupcakes for her every year now - unfortunately it's in Portland so that wouldn't help you. 

There's a bakery that ships GF cakes nationally that's decent called Silly Yak; my mom really enjoyed it since she hasn't had 'real' cake in so long, but I thought it was just okay.  Not awful, though.  You really have to do your research though, because most GF stuff is pretty awful.  I would go to your local board and ask for recs.

Alternatively, you could do a different kind of dessert and avoid the issue.  You could then either skip the cake cutting altogether, or feed each other whatever the new dessert is.  It's up to you whether or not you still have cake for your guests - even though wedding cake is traditional, people will survive without it, given his allergies.

kaesha

I love the idea of doing something outside the box - what about a cracking of the creme brulée, instead of cutting of the cake? Or serving individual flourless chocolate cakes (those are always heaven). Bottom line: you don't need to have a cake.

mica178

I know in my area, there are several bakeries that do gluten-free cake.

One of H's cousins cannot eat gluten, but there are gluten-free recipes for cake that are delicious. 

Or do as kaesha suggested and find a cake alternative.  Creme brulee, cheesecake without the graham cracker crust, there are other options.

But even though your FI offered to suck it up for the day, it's his wedding day too, and I think he should be able to do more than just look at everyone eating.  He should enjoy his wedding food.

colourz

Would it be possible to have only the top tier gluten free?

msgraphics

Grooms Cake or cupcakes.  FI is diabetic and so is his mother so we will be doing a sugarfree grooms cake.  

MyWedding13

My best friend has celiac's disease which means she cannot eat wheat, oat, barley etc.. and I have learned that several bakeries make gluten free cakes. Why don't you just get him a small groom's cake in whatever flavors he wants and then do a regular cake? If he does have all of these allergies, then there is no way that he can just "suck it up" for a day and deal. He would probably have very severe GI disturbances, rash, among other things. I bet neither of you want to deal with that on your wedding night! Best of luck!

redheadtmk

when you talk to these bakeries make sure you mention he cant have rice either. most gluten free things are made with rice flour.

ellone400

maybe you can do a 1tier gluten free cake and regular sheetcake for everyone else

kittykatwi13

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_food-cakes_gluten-cake-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:23Discussion:c5d40d7b-1bdc-4bd5-adee-6f17529a30e1Post:024f6b03-ff0b-4dc2-9433-b9aa064284ea">Re: Gluten Free Cake</a>:
[QUOTE]Would it be possible to have only the top tier gluten free?
Posted by colourz[/QUOTE]
Depending on the intolerance, even touching a cake that came in contact with gluten ,can cause issues. My old co-worker can't have gluten and she has to cover her food if any gluten food passes over it because of the particles that can come in contact. Not all cases are as severe as hers but I thought I'd say something just in case.

kristilyoung

I'm having this problem too. One of my good friends has a gluten allergy, I'm a vegetarian, my grandmother is diabetic, and my FMIL has a SEVERE peanut allergy... so we had a couple issues talking about the menu. We're going to have the top tier of our cake made GF with a sugar alternative... we're also serving cheesecake as the grooms cake. We're finding ways around the food issues... your FH doesn't have to just suck it up.

SSaltzman87

Try posting this on your local board and asking if anyone there knows of a good gluten free bakery. They're popping up all over the place since gluten allergies are so common now.

My sister lives in NY and always brings back gluten-free goodies from a place called Cupcake (I think) and they're really quite good!

princess3576

I am a bride with Celiac Disease.  Our wedding is in 75 days.  What we've opted to do is to have cupcakes for all the other guests and a small gluten free cake for myself and my future husband.  We're getting married in the Detroit area and there are a few gluten free bakeries down there.  The reception hall includes a catering service and I've already given them a list of all the things I'm not capable of having.  Everyone has been very accommodating.  There are websites like www.glutenfreeregistry.com where you can look up restaurants and bakeries in your area that specialize in this.  Oh, and I wouldn't be able to suck it up.  I'd have severe GI disturbances, a headache, a sore throat, and some digestive pyrotechnics that might rival any horror movie you've seen.  It's not pretty.  My health is way more important to me than whether or not we have cake at our wedding.  I know that if I had insisted my future husband and my family would have gladly eaten everything gluten free.  Good luck and I hope that helps!

Brooke2780

Gluten intolerance stiiiinks when planning events. I am gluten intolerant and my fiance went GF to support me. It's almost been a year since we have been gluten free, and have made some great discoveries. Obviously your husbands allergies are much more sever than just gluten intolerance. As a pp mentioned, most of the time wheat flour is replaced with rice flour.

1) Most grocery stores that have a large organic, local and sustainable following are also very knowledgeable when it comes to GF. Our local New Seasons has been a great resource in finding gluten free items if they don't carry them. My fiance ordered a gluten free carrot cake through them for my birthday and it was hands down the best carrot cake I have ever had - gluten free or not!

2) Our friends and family have been SO understanding. They aren't always able to wrap their head around everything we can and cannot eat, but they know to ask. If you don't have a wedding cake because of your husbands allergies, I bet they would all understand. Create a signature cocktail, and cheers with those. Start new traditions.

3) Make sure that there are options food wise that your future husband can eat. It would really stink to not be able to eat any of the food at your own wedding. We are doing our whole wedding gluten free, but only because neither of us eat it. I bet it would mean a lot to your fh if you had a selection of food chosen just for him!

Good luck!

Brooke

andrea04240

I am like your FI, I can't do gluten and I'm also struggling to figure out what to do for our cake. I like some gluten free desserts, but not enough to make it my wedding cake, and not enough to serve to my guests. My FI and I are looking into a few options: (1) asking local GF bakeries to make a cake topper and having another bakery make a real cake to go under it, (2) finding a reaaaaaaaally good GF cake and using that for everyone (which would be super expensive), (3) using gelato which is something special to us (we go on gelato dates and have since we started dating), and making an ice cream wedding cake, which is by default both gluten free AND delicious. I'm still struggling between having the cake of my dreams, a cake I can eat, and a cake that my guests will actually enjoy. There isn't one cake that embodies all three for me. Good luck to you, I'll be curious to hear what you end up doing, I'm still debating.... :-/

troesch1

just a gluten-free groom's cake should be good. I'm doing a separate small cake that's gf and vegan to cover everyone

peanutty2

my friend with celiac got married and just had her own seperate cake.  i can't remember if one of her dinner options just happened to be GF or if she got her own.  Making the entired reception GF would be crazy expensive and not really necessary.  His food  should all just be cleared with the caterer to be GF and kept away from gluten.