I have been asked to do a cake for a boy with a nut allergy! Help I'm so scared. Has anyone ever had to deal with this? I usually doctor a white mix, but how do I know if it is ok????? I think the buttercream will be fine, I don't use any almond extract. She told me to be sure and not make a peanut butter sandwich while I'm cooking. Should I reconsider doing this???
Make sure everything is sanitized..your bowls..utensils...cake pans...everything.
And don't use DH mix. They run their mixes off of lines that have milk products and nuts.
I'm not sure about other boxed mixes. You might want to ask them.
I'd be really careful about taking the order. You also have to consider things like food colourings that you may have used before with any nuts, where you buy your supplies, etc.
I was buying cake boards recently and the supplier had packs of almond paste sitting right on top of a new shipment of cake supplies. That's cross-contamination that you'd never even think might have occurred. Who'd know?
I've gotten several requests for cakes for kids with nut allergies in the past, and I have turned them all down. IMO, it's not worth the risk to do it. Fatal allergic reactions can be triggered by seemingly innocent things, especially in people with nut allergies. If you do decide to take the order, you may want to consider having the mom provide you with all of the ingredients. That way, she will know exactly what is going into the cake. Good luck with your decision!
I recently turned down making a cake for a friend because there were just too many variables. Her daughter had allergies to dairy, nuts, eggs, you name it. I couldn't and more importantly wouldn't take the chance that something happened. You have to be very careful and sometimes it is just not worth it. She found someone who did this on a regular basis. I felt bad but would have felt worse if something had happened.
I have suffered a severe peanut allergy my entire life, and can maybe give you a things to consider. First, most of us are not only ingestion allergic, but airborne and touch sensitive-so it's really dangerous and almost impossible to guarantee. Crispy Cream is nut free company-their manufacturing facility, warehouse, and retail stores are all nut free. However, they will not guarantee their product to be "nut free" because once it leaves their warehouse, they have no control. The person picking up their product may have ate peanut butter, the truck it goes into may have had nuts in it at one time, and once into a retail establishment, they may be displayed near a PB candy bar, or cookies-etc.
A quick story so you know how bad it can be is my friend made me some chocolate chip cookies. I bit into one-didn't chew or swallow it, becuase I immediately tasted PB. I went into severe reaction mode and ended up in the hospital with the onset of anaphylactic shock. Later we figured out it was because she made PB cookies, ran everything through the dishwasher, put all the PB ingredients away, put the PB cookies in an airtight container and sanitized her kitchen with bleach. Later, she made my cookies, and although everything was sanitized, the aroma was in the air and was absorbed by the chocolate chip cookies.
You can do a nut free cake, but you have to be extremly careful. You have to read every ingredient on every label, make sure the area you bake and decorate are nut & peanut butter free and have been for at least a week. There can't be any peanut butter or nuts in the surrounding areas. No peanuts or peanut butter can be stored around the ingredients you will be using, nor can the cake be stored in the same area. No people who have had PB can be around the cake. Peanut butter is the worst offender-it's odor and airborne particles can be absorbed by just about anything.
It would be very time consuming at first, but could actually turn profitable if you are willing to do it. There are tons of Nut Allergy Support groups and associations that are always looking for somewhere to buy nut free products. Additionaly, we are always willing to pay a little extra because they are so hard to find.
To protect yourself, at the very least I would have the person sign a contract alleviating you from liability for things out of your control. Include that you will show them the areas you bake and decorate in, detail what precautions you are willing to take, but advise them why you can't gaurentee it will be 100% nut free-and maybe include some of the reasons Crispy Cream uses.
If you or anyone needs additional information, or has questions I would be more than happy to help you out. It's something I am very passionate about and it's actually one of the reasons I decided to try decorating myself.
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