Im making a cake for a 4th birthday for this Saturday. The flavor is yellow cake with Chocolate buttercream, I used some hazelnut extract in the chocolate buttercream. Does anyone think this is bad since it is a kids party and some kids might have nut allergies?? Not sure if the extract will cause nut allergies or not... Thank you for looking

~Heidi~

If there are kids with nut allergies at the party I would definitely let the customer know that the cake contains hazelnut extract. Allergies to tree nuts are not as common as peanut allergies among kids but it's still important to disclose the ingredients.

Having a child who is allergic to both peanuts and treenuts, I would eliminate the hazelnut extract completely. Just think of the child at the party who is told at the last minute that he or she cannot have a piece of the cake with everyone else.

Extracts are usually an imitation flavoring and don't necessarily mimic the actualy nut. If the client did not discuss nut allergies with you then make the cake as you do, but tell her that you used the extract in case anyone asks her. As a parent of a child with peanut/tree nut and seed allergies, I always bring something for my child to eat at birthday parties as I would never put that responsibility on the host to make the decision on what my kid could have. In fact, I just pulled out cake balls out of my freezer for my kid to take to a bday party this afternoon. I assume most parents will do the same or at the very least call beforehand to ask about the food being served.

Extracts are NOT usually imitation, although there are imitation ones out there. My niece is allergic to nuts, and can't have extracts of nuts.

If the client did not request it be nut free, you don't have to make it nut free. It is the responsibility of the parent to make sure that whatever their kid is eating is safe for them. If they are concerned they need to inquire ahead of time, or plan to bring food their kid can eat.

Disclose your ingredients, not your recipe, so the information is there for those who need to make use of it.

I did not want to make it sound like I was telling the party host or the baker what to do. I always ask the party host about the food in advance and my daughter usually ends up taking her own little treat for cake time. I can count on one hand the number of times she has been able to eat the cake in the last 7 years of parties. She is always so disappointed so my thinking was that if you had a choice as to whether you put in a potentially allergic product or not, then leave it out for those with allergies.

My personal thoughts and experiences with my daughter would not allow me to give her the cake even without the hazelnut extract in it since clearly the baker's bakeware has been cross contaminated and there is also a big question on whether the other ingredients are nut free as well.

I apologize if I gave some confusion on the extracts. Most of the nut ones I see on the market (though for obvious reasons, I don't look at them often) are imitation. My daughter can have some oils of a product that she is highly allergic to in it's natural form so imitations don't always pose a problem. Again, this really boils down to a parent's experience with their child's reactions or tolerances for certain allergens and what they are willing to allow their child to have. I find each parent is different in what they do and don't do regarding allergens.

I say all you can do is make your cake and provide information.