Trying Not to Lose My Head in Search of a Gluten and Dairy Free Birthday Cake
Up until I found out about my allergies, I wasn’t worried about being able to find a birthday cake. All it had to be was a vanilla pound cake, maybe in the shape of the Tardis from Doctor Who or maybe something else. There was also a possibility that someone would just show up with one if I decided to have something for my friends. That happened when I turned 26, I invited my friends for a gathering at a restaurant in Morrisville, PA and my friend Elysa just happened to turn up with a cake with a picture of Anthony Stewart Head from Buffy the Vampire Slayer on it. When I was kind of thinking about my 40th birthday coming up next January, I figured I had some time. If I had a gathering of family and friends to celebrate this “special birthday”, if I really wanted a cake, I could just order one a week or so ahead of time from Giant, right?
Turned out my presumption of that I could order a regular cake was incorrect. When I found out that I was allergic to wheat/gluten and dairy, any hope of having a Tardis birthday cake for my 40th birthday went straight out the window. I wasn’t upset to the point of despair and acting like it’s the end of the world. Disappointed and accepting of my fate, but not to the point where I was in such a state that it was the end of the world because I couldn’t have wheat/gluten and dairy. I rationalized that since I really didn’t eat cake much anyway, it wasn’t such a big deal and I didn’t have to have a cake. Truth be told, I really wanted that cake and it took me a couple of months to get it together and start my research on finding one that was gluten and dairy free. It was big birthday coming up next year and I felt that I was entitled to a Tardis cake if I really wanted one. My fiancé thought I was getting a bit ahead of myself. I do have a habit of doing that, however, if I’m going to have a gluten and dairy free cake for my birthday in January, the best time to start doing my due diligence was a few months ahead of time.
Finding a Bakery
While I’m used to looking things up on Google, finding a bakery who would be able to do what I wanted and also have it be gluten and dairy free was proving to be a bit of a challenge. I cold called different bakeries (and e-mailed a couple as well) and asked them whether or not they were able to a gluten and dairy free cake. Some of them answered no, a couple of them were quite rude about it. There was one who did gluten free, but not diary free. I was able to get positive answers from a handful of bakeries that I spoke to, a couple sounded quite enthusiastic about making a Tardis cake that was both gluten and dairy free. Unfortunately for me, the one bakery that was closest to home for me was going to be closed around the time I was planning to have my birthday get together. Fortunately, Sweetah’s Gluten Free Bake Shop in Doylestown is able to do a Gluten free, Vegan cake in vanilla and they can do a Tardis! I am planning to call and remind Beverly, the owner and baker closer to the date of my 40th birthday party lunch.
Looks like it all fell into place. Now I can have a Tardis cake and eat it too!
