Birthday Surprise
I was quite surprised when I went to pick up my daughter from preschool the other day. The instant I walked into the room I knew I was in trouble. The children were seated around the miniature kids-size table in perfect birthday party form. There was a proud three year old sitting at the head of the table with a bright pink birthday crown. The only problem was…nobody had told me there would be a party today in preschool! I felt a lump in my throat as I pictured my Amy sitting next to her friends eating absolutely nothing while her friends munched on gluten laden birthday cake. Had they told me I would have brought her a piece of gluten-free cake! How could they not have warned me?
It’s so frustrating when you have the best intentions but something completely external to you (in this case a thoughtless preschool teacher) thwarts your plans. I had intended to send in these yummy gluten-free vanilla cupcakes I found in the store to every birthday party. (If I had made the cupcakes myself Amy never would have eaten them!) But here she sat with her back turned to me in front of an empty plate.
That’s when I spotted my good friend Karen. It was her daughter’s party. The teacher came over to me and said, “Wasn’t it nice of Karen to bake a gluten-free cake so that everybody could eat it?” I think I stopped breathing for a full minute. A gluten-free cake? I got control over myself and went over to hug Karen. Then I saw Amy with a huge smile decorated with chocolate fudge. I couldn’t believe Karen had done this for us. I thanked her profusely and she responded, “I know what it feels like. I was lactose intolerant when I was a kid. Why should Amy feel left out?” Isn’t it great when somebody just gets it?
Needless to say Karen’s cake was more gorgeous than any gluten-free creation of mine (maybe I should have been lactose intolerant as a kid). It was a vanilla roll with fudge inside. She claimed she just used potato starch instead of wheat flour, and at the time I thought she was holding out on me. Later, though, she told me she used a Passover jellyroll recipe like this one:
one whole egg
3 eggs, separated
2 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 c. plus 1 tbls. Potato Starch
dash salt
confectioners sugar
Beat the whole egg with the three egg yolks until light. Add sugar and lemon juice and continue beating for two minutes. Sift the potato starch into the mixture. In a separate bowl beat the salt and the egg whites until stiffened and then fold into the mixture. Line jellyroll pan (cookie sheet with sides) with wax paper, grease the wax paper, and pour in cake batter. Bake on 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
When cake is ready, turn it onto a towel and dust with confectioners sugar. Remove wax paper and roll the cake with the towel. When cool, unroll, fill with pudding or jelly, and re-roll.
Enjoy!
4 Responsesto “Birthday Surprise”
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That’s the sweetest story I’ve heard in awhile. I had a tear in my eye while reading, this is my biggest fear as a mom of little one with severe allergies when she starts preschool next fall.
Wonder if this recipe would work with egg replacer?
Sure, make me cry! My husband has a dairy allergy and felt left out so often as a kid. How thoughtful of your friend to make a gluten-free cake for everyone to enjoy. Besides, we eat so much wheat in our daily lives that having a little less in our diets is good for non-gluten-free folks, too.
Hi, http://www.jensglutenfreeblog.com – da best. Keep it going!
I think that is a wonderful story, but please be aware that not all daycares or preschools allow outside food. My 2 year old daughter was just diagnosed, and birthday treats were a concern for me. One mother was thoughtful enough and made GF brownies as a treat (even though they told me ahead of time that they were bringing in chocolate chip cookies, so I prepped GF cookies for my daughter). The problem was that the center does not allowed homemade treats brought in for the entire class. As a parent, I can bring them for my child, but not serve them to other children. I have worked with the center to craft a letter to send to the parents to just try and give me a warning when and what they are bringing for treats and I then I try to stay on top of it. I also keep frozen cupcakes on hand just in case.