Vegan & Gluten Free Recipe Tips by the ‘Substitute Teacher’

August 7, 2015 · by Gina D. · in Food & Travel, Good Advice, Have you met...

An Vo presents her Organic Designer Desserts in NYC. With a lifetime of indulging in her sweet tooth and 5 years of baking, the founder of the Organic Designer Desserts, invited me and Tia Rudd, the Gluten-Free Princess, into her world in one of the sweetest ’50’s styled kitchens I’ve seen!

An Vo, The Dost, & Tia Rudd

Organic Designer Desserts is a vegan and gluten free dessert catering company servicing the NYC area. They design dessert tables and wedding cakes and also offer cupcake decorating parties and baking classes! An taught us how to replace some of our sweetest cravings with more healthy (and delicious) options, she was our ‘substitute’ teacher for the day.

I was addicted to sugar but also diagnosed lactose intolerant and started switching ingredients to better suit my health.

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One of my favorite substitutions was her use of coconut sugar, which I tried for the first time — and now use it for my morning coffee!

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Lesson 1: How to substitute fat in a recipe (oil or butter) with homemade applesauce.

Leave out the unnecessary fats in oil and butter and turn to mother nature for a better option. The apple really gives the product a softer and more flavorful texture. Slice up your apples and use a blender to liquefy it before adding it to your mix.

One apple can go a long way in taste and nutrients!

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Lesson 2: Turn your flour mix into a grain one — How to make homemade gluten free flour from grains commonly found in your kitchen using oats, quinoa, and brown rice.

That’s right — ditch the flour and move straight to something that fuels your body better! Blend this mixture in a Vitamix or Ninja – An recommends the need for a high powered blender and says these two are the only ones on the market that can turn grains into flour.

Also, can we just take a moment to love her kitchen tool set — hearts, hearts, and more hearts! Like they say, baked with LOVE ♡

♡♡♡

Lesson 3: How to substitute eggs using chia egg and flax egg.

An breaks it down for us and helps me understand how chia egg is a great substitute. Here’s how it works: One tablespoons of chia seeds grinded + 3 tbls of water = one chia egg. Also, flax seeds have great omega! It replaces the same thing 1 for 1 in any baking recipe.