Baby's First No-Hives Cupcakes, from the Hive Mind

July 16, 2009 12:31 PM

I'm baking cupcakes for a toddler's first birthday, and I'd like to find an allergen-free recipe (no eggs, buttermilk, chocolate, nuts, etc) that is still tasty enough for adults to eat.

I was considering baking two separate batches of cupcakes--one safe for the toddlers (of organic-minded, allergy-phobic parents) who might eat a couple bites and smear the rest on their faces, and another batch for adults who would enjoy baked goods beyond the inevitable sugar high. But I feel pressed for time and don't want to spend that much energy on a dozen baby-safe-but-egglessly-gross cupcakes if 90% of the finished product winds up on the picnic tables.

So what are my options for a hybrid of baby-safe and interesting, tasty cupcakes? I'm willing to compromise on the eggs if anyone can produce decent evidence that eggs in baked goods won't pose a threat to kids over one year, as my Google searching has been inconclusive.

If this sounds overly paranoid, it's because many folks at the party--including the birthday girl's parents--err on the side of extreme caution when it comes to their kid's diet: I had to rigorously persuade the mother to let her 1 year-old have processed sugar at her birthday party. This means any ingredients that pose even the slightest threat to little kids (chocolate, peanut butter flavoring, whole milk, strawberries, raspberries, real almond extract, honey) are strictly verboten.

And yes, it would also be cool if the adults won't have to suppress the urge to spit out the baby-safe cupcakes as well!

Thanks in advance!

posted by Viola to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

I don't know about conclusive, but our ped told us eggs were fine after I year (Actually she told us we could start at 9 months but that's because we don't have a history of allergies).

Anyway, here's one I found. It's sort of gross-sounding to me, but I think it meets your requirements

Clean Eating’s Vegan Cupcakes

Whisk together:
3 Tbsp. oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup and 1 Tbsp. applesauce
1 Tbsp. ground flaxseeds
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (I used my Bragg’s)

Then sift in:
2 cups flour - I did one cup whole wheat
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Fill 12 oiled or lined muffin tins half way, then layer in something for a yummy middle - fresh, dried, or frozen berries, jam, carob chips, etc. Top them off with more batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 mins.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 12:46 PM on July 16, 2009

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has a good gluten-free recipe that has four different kinds of flours. (You didn't specifically say gluten/wheat-free, but I know that can be an issue.) They're good in their own right -- the texture is a little bit different, but the flavor is mighty tasty and I'd make them again (I made them for friends -- with full disclosure as to what they were -- and they were enjoyed). Buying the various flours may be more than you want to do, however, for a one-time thing.

But other than that specific recommendation, do check out vegan cookbooks for this sort of thing since they do it well. (And rice milk can usually be subbed for soy milk, if that's another allergy concern.)
posted by darksong at 12:49 PM on July 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Heck, some people have wheat/gluten allergies, too. If you're going to exclude all that, I think you should pick something instead of cupcakes, entirely. How about a fruit plate, with sliced apples, pears, and bananas?
posted by fings at 12:49 PM on July 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think that most people who are paranoid about food are being a little silly, but I definitely wouldn't go so far as to make a box mix and then lie to other parents about it. At least let them make an informed decision, since they're adults.

I second the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World suggestion if you're going to go that route. They've got some great recipes that are actually delicious.
posted by scarykarrey at 12:54 PM on July 16, 2009

I have had some fantastic eggless cupcakes out of the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I favor chocolate, so the recipes I personally tried won't help, but I recommend the book in general.
posted by oh really at 1:15 PM on July 16, 2009

My twins are turning one in a couple of weeks. I decided to make special cupcakes just for the two of them, and regular cakes for the party guests. There are good reasons why people might be paranoid about the food they give to their young children. In our case, we adopted our kids and their birth mother is allergic to peanuts. So far we have been very careful about what food we've given them (especially since one of them had a mild reaction to peas). They've had egg yolk, but not egg whites. They've also not had a lot of foods with added sugar. I think the last thing babies need on a "high-pressure" party day is to eat something loaded with ingredients they haven't been exposed to yet.

I'll be using one of the vegan cake recipes from the FatFree Vegetarian Recipe Archive (haven't decided which one yet).
posted by candyland at 1:20 PM on July 16, 2009

There's a product called Bob's Red Mill Egg Substitute that works pretty well. I wouldn't try to make an entire cake out of it, but I've had good luck with basic waffles and the occasional muffin or cupcake. This does not contain soy or dairy, but it does contain some odd things (I think a type of algae is included).

Note that a lot of vegan recipes will call for soy, whether in soy milk, tofu, etc. Soy is also a common allergen.

FYI, now it's possible to buy pretty good "ice cream" that's made from coconut milk (no dairy). Whether coconut milk is an allergen, I don't know. I do know that it's not super-healthy to eat, but it is fairly yummy and vegan.
posted by amtho at 1:22 PM on July 16, 2009

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World has a good gluten-free recipe that has four different kinds of flours. (You didn't specifically say gluten/wheat-free, but I know that can be an issue.) They're good in their own right -- the texture is a little bit different, but the flavor is mighty tasty and I'd make them again (I made them for friends -- with full disclosure as to what they were -- and they were enjoyed). Buying the various flours may be more than you want to do, however, for a one-time thing.


Nthing this suggestion. We're following their recipes to make wedding cupcakes for my wedding to an allergy-afflicted SO. They're really, really good.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:24 PM on July 16, 2009

You could also make banana bread in muffin tins and call it Banana cake. Vegan versions of banana bread can be quite yummy.

I also really like this pumpkin muffin recipe (I use chocolate chips instead of carob, but if the parents are freaky, carob may make them feel better. or you could leave them out.)

(I had a horrible gluten-free (but not vegan) cupcake the other day. It was right after watching the Mythbusters guys swim in guar gum and I could feel the goopy guar-gumminess! and the crumbs stuck to my hands and created a weird goo similar to the stuff used to hold in magazine inserts.)
posted by vespabelle at 1:25 PM on July 16, 2009

I was also coming in to recommend Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. If you use Amazon's "search inside this book" feature, you can look through the index to see if you think they have enough recipes that would suit your needs. If you find one or two likely candidates, you can even search to bring up the specific page to make sure that it doesn't have any ingredients you'd like to avoid.
posted by amarynth at 1:26 PM on July 16, 2009

(Also, chocolate allergy? Really, really, really rare, from what I can gather--"Since the proteins of cacao nut undergo extensive modification into relatively nonallergenic complexes during the processing of commercial chocolate, clinical sensitivity to chocolate is vanishingly rare. (D)" I mean, Mr. WanKenobi is allergic to just about everything--eggs, soy, corn, nuts, and he has celiacs, and chocolate is both fine and delicious for him.)
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 1:28 PM on July 16, 2009

Also recommending Vegan Cupcakes - the gluten free recipe is probably your best bet.
posted by FritoKAL at 1:29 PM on July 16, 2009

Maybe it's just because I'm Chinese, but I like Steamed Rice Cupcakes.

http://leafingthrough.net/2008/02/10/steamed-rice-cupcakes/

Rice, baking powder, flour and sugar. If you wanted it to be gluten free, you can use rice flour instead, but it becomes a very sticky treat in that case. If you do sub in rice flour, use a little more than 3/4 the amount of flour.

Actually, this is one of the most requested items by kids and adults at my dim sum parties.
posted by advicepig at 1:31 PM on July 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

Nthing Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I usually bake them and then I don't people they're vegan until after they've complimented me on how wonderful the cupcakes are. I've never gone wrong with anything from that book.
posted by soleiluna at 1:32 PM on July 16, 2009

Ener-G makes an egg replacer. You can also sub 1/4 cup of applesauce for each egg in recipes for baked goods - I actually like the result and I'm not allergic to eggs.
posted by peep at 1:40 PM on July 16, 2009

Parent of a hyper-allergic child here. I'd suggest you find out exactly which allergies are a concern unless it's OK just to exclude the most common allergens. Just because something is vegan doesn't mean it's free of potential allergens, and trust me, it's possible to be allergic to almost anything that can be eaten (yes, including chocolate).

Second suggestion is to avoid cross-contamination. Check labels for disclaimers that the item was produced in a facility that also processes dairy/tree nuts/whatever. Don't get bulk foods from bins with scoops because those scoops are very often interchanged among different bins. We've found the Bob's Red Mill brand of prepackaged flours and grains to be a good contamination-free option.

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you may have if you want to email me.
posted by mattholomew at 2:27 PM on July 16, 2009

If you're going the scratch route, I would agree that the vegan cupcakes take over the world route is the best way to go. I love those recipes.

On the other hand, there are now many different available brands of food-allergy friendly cake mixes. Food allergy friendly baking can require a lot of arcane ingredients that are not cheap, so unless you are planning on doing more of this in the future, a boxed cake mix might be a good idea.

I am a big fan of Cherrybrook Kitchen (and their canned frosting is delicious too). Pamela's Products is also delicious. Cake mixes often call for eggs, so read the whole label and make sure you're getting one that has an egg-free option for preparation. As long as they don't call for eggs, you can prepare the mix with rice milk and canola oil and call it good.

Bob's Red Mill is a really good brand for straight-up gluten free flours that you might need for scratch baking(quinoa, rice, etc.) but I don't really like their prepared mixes very much.

I don't know about where this stuff would be carried where you live, though. I've never actually been to a Whole Foods but that might be your best bet, or another health food store. Grocery stores in my area (michigan) have recently gotten way, way better about stocking gluten-free and food allergy friendly products, but YMMV.
posted by Tesseractive at 4:14 PM on July 16, 2009

P.S. Don't use boxed egg replacer, it is gross in cakes. Here's a quick guide to other options, from the person who wrote the Vegan Cupcakes book.
posted by Tesseractive at 4:16 PM on July 16, 2009

This might be a terrible idea, as I don't know much about kids' food allergies and so on, and it's definitely not going to be vegan, but what about rice krispy treats? You could even shape the treats like cupcakes and decorate them, sort of like this. This would help you avoid eggs and the other ingredients you mention, and it seems to me most kids and adults like them well enough.
posted by katie at 5:49 PM on July 16, 2009

Our younger daughter has allergies -- on her first birthday we made a cake for everyone else to eat and for her we smeared a banana with frosting and added sprinkles. At that age they don't necessarily eat a ton, they mostly smear it around. A great experience for her, and we all got to eat yummy cake.

Just an idea...
posted by mdiskin at 7:53 PM on July 16, 2009

Ener-G Egg Replacer works fine in cakes... it's basically just potato starch and tapioca flour, and just serves as a binder (though ground flax seeds whizzed with water would probably work too).

Buttermilk can be replaced by acidulated soy milk if you're not avoiding giving the baby soy. Lots of good vegan recipes out there that can easily be made allergy-free (especially if you're not avoiding wheat), but honestly, if you're just trying to get rid of eggs, nuts, and milk, you can just make a normal recipe and substitute as needed. I often get better results with this method.

Since chocolate is out, I'd think that a lemon-vanilla cake would be a good choice, maybe with a simple glaze on top.

If you're in a major city, there may also be bakeries which cater to people with various allergies or other food preferences.
posted by PandaMcBoof at 9:55 AM on July 17, 2009

This might be a terrible idea, as I don't know much about kids' food allergies and so on, and it's definitely not going to be vegan, but what about rice krispy treats? You could even shape the treats like cupcakes and decorate them, sort of like this. This would help you avoid eggs and the other ingredients you mention, and it seems to me most kids and adults like them well enough.

Just a note that rice krispies aren't safe for those sensitive to gluten, though fruity and cocoa pebbles are.

Parent of a hyper-allergic child here. I'd suggest you find out exactly which allergies are a concern unless it's OK just to exclude the most common allergens. Just because something is vegan doesn't mean it's free of potential allergens, and trust me, it's possible to be allergic to almost anything that can be eaten (yes, including chocolate).

Oh, I'm not saying that it's impossible to be allergic to chocolate, only that, unless one of the parents has reason to believe their child is allergic to chocolate, it's very unlikely; 90% of food allergies are from 8 common allergens. Cross contamination is likelier a more risky concern WRT chocolate.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:02 AM on July 17, 2009

The vegan fluffy white cupcakes from schmooed food are outstanding.
posted by Lexica at 12:34 PM on July 18, 2009