The Gluten Free Blog

At the Allergy & Gluten Free Show the other week we found quite a few brands we hadn’t come across before including Lazy Day Foods and Steph’s Free From Cakes.

Dr Sally Beattie of Lazy Day Foods

Dr Sally Beattie who is a director at Lazy Day Foods is a professional food scientist, so she knows a thing or two about delicious food. And as a mum with kids who have allergies she knows a thing or two about food intolerances.

We chatted to Sally for a while and tried quite a few of her products – all in the name of research of course – and we can highly recommend the Millionaire’s Shortbread and the Belgian Dark Chocolate Tiffin. Delicious. And both wheat, gluten, dairy and egg free.

All Lazy Day products are handmade in a dedicated gluten free factory in Scotland and are available to order via the website. They’re so beautifully packaged we think they make ideal gifts.

New items to be added to the range soon include celebration cakes and muffins along with a Rustic Savoury Biscuit range flavoured with cracked pepper, mild spices or sweet chilli. We can’t wait for those.

Stephanie Palmer of Steph’s Free From Cakes

Another stand we spent quite a bit of time at was Steph’s Free From Cakes run by the lovely Stephanie Palmer. Steph told us she suffers from a number of food intolerances herself and began baking free from cakes when she couldn’t find anything suitable (or edible) in the shops.

I rather over indulged in Steph’s sweet Lemon Drizzle Cake and some very cute heart shaped Ginger Cookies which were a fabulous combination of crispy, moist and spicy.Steph’s Free From Cakes are all available to buy online and include classics such as Carrot cake and Battenburg cake. (Not forgetting the aforementioned Lemon Drizzle Cake – a personal favourite.)

There’s 10% off your first order – so get ordering now!

UPDATE: Unfortunately it seems the Bruschetta restaurant in Kingston has now closed down.

If you’re in the Surrey or south London area you absolutely must visit Bruschetta in Kingston upon Thames. This amazing gluten free Italian restaurant is run by the fabulous Julia and Daniele. And the best bit? The entire menu is gluten free. Yes, there is a ‘regular’ menu for those in your party who want to eat the wheaty stuff. But why would they? The gluten free menu is so packed full of delicious and authentic Italian dishes you can probably convert them for good.

Having visited last Saturday, I can thoroughly recommend the Pizz’Italia pizza with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, rocket and fresh ricotta. Seriously tasty. My friend had the Finocchiona pizza with mozzarella, tomato, artichokes heart, Italian fennel salami and parmesan. The pizzas are incredibly filling. But we still found room to share a slice of Julia’s chocolate cake. Delicious.

All the gluten free dishes are authentically Italian and prepared in a gluten free kitchen. For opening times and menus visit Bruschetta’s Facebook page (and become a fan!).

Gluten free tea at Claridge's

Do you remember last week we told you we’d been invited to tea at Claridge’s courtesy of Genius gluten free bread? Well, we went on Monday and we have to say it was absolutely delicious.

We enjoyed smoked salmon with horseradish and dill; organic chicken with lemon remoulade; dorrington ham; and cucumber and rocket – all with the crusts cut off, natch. And they were all made with Genius gluten free bread which will now be available as part of Claridge’s afternoon tea. (Just ring in advance and let them know.)

Gluten free cakes and pastries

As if that wasn’t enough we then tucked into gluten free scones served with Devonshire clotted cream and strawberry preserve; fruit tartlets; and to-die-for chocolate ondulay cake. These were all to Lucinda’s recipes although not part of the Genius range (yet!).

Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne Genius Founder

We managed to grab a few words with Genius’s founder, the lovely Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, who told us the sales of gluten free sandwiches in Starbucks (made with Genius bread) were selling really well. In fact, non-gluten-free-people were buying them without even realising! And she told us about new products in the pipeline, namely brown and white rolls. We can’t wait. Of course, the next step is to roll (no pun intended) Genius gluten free bread out internationally.

On the way out we received gorgeous goodie bags containing a couple of loaves of Genius bread and Lucinda’s fabulous book How to Cook for Food Allergies: Understand Ingredients, Adapt Recipes with Confidence and Cook for an Exciting Allergy-Free Diet.

Not tried Genus gluten free bread yet? It’s now available in all major UK grocery stores.

If you’re in the London area at the end of May and you suffer from any kind of allergy, you’ll want to check out the Allergy & Gluten Free Show at Olympia.

The ‘All New’ Allergy & Gluten Free Show from Friday May 21st to Sunday May 23rd is the only national live event for people with asthma, eczema, sensitive skin, hay fever, chemical sensitivities, food intolerance, coeliac disease and other allergies or intolerances.

What’s there to look forward to?

Free seminars covering food allergies, asthma, anaphylaxis, autoimmune disease, eczema, migraines and much more.

Expert advice from leading charities, associations, societies and support groups.

Free workshops for parents of children with allergies.

Cooking demonstrations from expert chefs using ‘free from’ ingredients.

The biggest and best allergy shop and clinic rolled into one with 1000’s of products, therapies, treatments, and ideas.

There will also be stands from UK medical charities, Allergy UK, Asthma UK and Coeliac UK as well as a number of companies specialising in ‘free from’ goodies. Hopefully we’ll get to taste a few new products.

Tom Treverton, event director of The Allergy & Gluten Free Show commented:

“…allergies and intolerances are negatively impacting approximately one third of the UK population. In many cases, lives are being devastated by related conditions, with effective treatment proving agonisingly difficult to find.

The Allergy & Gluten Free Show represents that only live platform for allergy sufferers to access the latest treatments – all in one place at one time.”

Tickets for entry into the exhibition, for both health professionals and the general public, cost £6 (plus booking fee) if bought in advance.Or £9 on the day. Under 16’s accompanied by an adult are free.

To book a ticket to the show in advance, visit TicketSoup or call the Box Office on 0844 481 8898.

See you there.

This is pretty cool. Gluten Free Girl and Gluten Free Guy received an invitation to tea this week: Claridge’s in Mayfair, no less. Now, I’ve always wanted to go for afternoon tea at this London landmark. But aside from the cucumber slices there’s not much we can eat on the menu.

So we’re thrilled to see that the people over at Genius are involved. And as you know we’re huge Genius fans here at The Gluten Free Blog. Genius bread is delicious. So we can’t wait to see what scrummy fillings Claridge’s serves up.

It’s Monday May 10th. So we’ll give you a full report after the event.