Food Allergies and Baking With Milk and Egg

As I've reported, we're adding tiny amounts of egg and milk in baked form to my egg and milk allergic child's diet. As all these food allergy transitions have been over the years, it's been challenging finding recipes that work. It sounds easy- just add an egg or some milk to any recipe.

It's not that easy. We're trying to stick to the guidelines of baking foods for at least 30 minutes at a minimum of 350 degrees. That eliminates most cookies and muffins and primarily leaves us with breads and cakes.

We've been eating an awful lot of chocolate cake in our house recently.

I'm in the routine now of having one baked good that contains one egg and one that contains a tiny amount of milk. My child eats egg one day and milk the next. The egg recipes are easier. Most cakes call for two eggs. For now, I use one regular egg and I substitute the other- usually 1 tablespoon flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons water. The milk recipes take an advanced degree in chemistry with a minor in math. My childis off the scale allergic to milk so we're proceeding with extreme caution. I found a cake recipe that calls for 1/2 cup milk. I use 3 grams (our food scale comes in handy here) of dried milk powder mixed with an 1/8th of a cup of water. Then I add 3/8 cup of soy milk.  The plan is to gradually increase the amount of milk powder.

So, I'm certainly not complaining. Any time we can add more options to this food allergy diet is cause for great celebration, but I do see a need for a new kind of cookbook as more people are able to tolerate baked milk and egg.

In the meantime, we'll have to share.