photo www.homesteadbaking.ca
Homestead Specialty Baking is the creation of Jennifer Yong, who left her career in law to pursue her passion for baking, and enrolled in Vancouver Community College's (VCC) renowned Baking and Pastry Arts program. upon graduation Jennifer decided she wanted to create a bakery that everyone can enjoy, therefore while Jennifer is not gluten intolerant herself, she specializes in baking for those with special dietary needs. Homestead offers gluten free, as well as dairy free and sugar free baking. quality is very important to Jennifer, and her goal is to make delicious and wholesome treats using the highest quality ingredients, as well as local and organic ingredients as often as possible. we love Jennifer's culinary philosophy—bake the best in every bite!
Andrea and I met Jennifer recently to talk more about her home based business and to sample some of her baking, it was a lot of fun! we were curious to know how Jennifer bakes her gluten free treats such as blueberry scones, chocolate chip cookies, carrot cake and banana fig mini muffins, and especially how she deals with cross contamination. Jennifer uses dedicated pans and trays for her gluten free baking, which are washed before each use with a dedicated kitchen sponge. gluten containing flours and gluten free flours are each sealed in their own containers with lids. Jennifer also separates the area in her kitchen where she bakes gluten free and non-gluten free products. additionally, once the baking is complete, everything is packaged right away. food safety is of utmost importance to Jennifer, a preoccupation for which she attributes to her legal background.
as anyone on a gluten free diet knows, baking without gluten is not easy. Jennifer recalls recommending that gluten free baking be included in the VCC program, but she says her request was rejected because her instructors felt it was too difficult to teach how to bake gluten free! Jennifer still wanted to pursue it, and decided to take on the challenge in her own business. she admits it was a lot of trial and error in the beginning, and that trying to mimic what gluten does in baking is like a scientific art. the staple ingredients in Homestead’s gluten free baking are Anita's Organic brown rice flour, a local company, sweet potato starch and tapioca starch.
Jennifer’s products are outstanding and we think she has succeeded in her quest to deliver great gluten free alternatives! everything tastes fresh, and not too sweet. Homestead also sells pre-made pancake and muffin mixes, carrot cake, fruit tarts, and loaves. custom orders are welcome as well. I recently placed a custom order for Homestead’s scones, cookies and muffins and it was ready in just a few days. Jennifer delivered it bright and early on a Saturday morning, and the scones had just come out of the oven, what a treat! they were moist and warm, and certainly did not taste ‘gluten free’. Homestead Specialty Baking can accommodate custom orders for anyone in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley.
in addition to custom orders, look for Jennifer and her gluten free treats at the Kitsilano Farmer's Market (Sundays) on the following dates, starting this weekend!
***May 30th, July 25th, August 15th, and October 17th.
additionally you can purchase Homestead's gluten free baking mixes at the Home Grow-In Grocer, a wonderful corner market located at 18th and Columbia in the Riley Park neighborhood. if you haven't been to the Home Grow-In we suggest checking it out. we would be keen to write a post on them as well, however Jennifer's products are the only gluten free items I found when popping in a few weeks ago. please ask for gluten free if you do stop by, and maybe they will start carrying more gluten free local products like Jennifer's amazing baking! Robyn.
ps. stay tuned for a great Homestead Specialty Baking giveaway!!!
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2 comments:
What a great article. I'm really glad we found your blog. The thing that I really love aboutJennifer's work is that she is not a celiac herself, yet she kept trying until she found a great tasting product for people with Celiac Disease.
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