Allergies Away! Tasty Treats Can Stay!

With a son born with severe food allergies, Ginger Park vowed to find dairy, egg and nut free alternatives to children's favorite foods that tasted better than the real thing. After developing recipes since 1999 that have each been approved by her son Justin himself, Ginger and her sister Frances, co-owners of the chocolate shop Chocolate Chocolate, located in Dupont Circle on 1130 Connecticut Ave. NW, wrote Allergies, Away! (Thomas Dunne Books/May 2013) to share their recipes with anyone else who may be struggling to find allergy friendly foods that do not compromise taste. 

This essential cook book features more than seventy recipes for kid-friendly and favorite comfort foods including:

·         Seoulful Half-Moon Dumplings

·         Homemade Mac ‘n’ Cheeze with a Twist

·         Pan-sized Puffy Pancakes

·         Chunky Chicken Pot Pie

·         Rock Star Onion Rings

·         Orange Chocolate Muffins

Every recipe is free of dairy, nuts and eggs, where most recipes requiring eggs are made with unsweetened applesauce and recipes requiring dairy are made with the soy or non-dairy alternative. 

The Park family recently held a launch party for their new book at their shop in Dupont Circle, where guests were treated to a selection of desserts made with recipes found in the cookbook.

 Justin's Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, made with soy butter, unsweetened applesauce and dairy-free semisweet chocolate chips, were soft and chewy, just the way I like them.

The french puffs, made with unsweetened applesauce, soy milk and soy butter, were my favorite treat of the night. A little ball of fluffy dough topped with cinnamon and sugar: simple, but so satisfying. 

 Justin's 5 Star Truffles, made with dairy free semi-sweet chocolate chips, soy creamer and soy butter, simply melted in your mouth.

Soy Nut Butter Cookies, made with soy nut butter and vanilla soy milk, were indistinguishable from peanut butter cookies, one of my favorite cookie varieties. 

 The Oh-So-Sweet Corn Bread Muffins, made with vanilla soy milk, unsweetened applesauce and soy butter, were oh-so-delicious (and is probably why I never spotted a full tray of these yummy bites).

If I hadn't arrived at this event knowing I would be sampling allergy friendly foods,  I would have never figured out any of these desserts were made without milk or eggs. Ginger and Park have fully succeeded in making allergy friendly desserts that taste better than the real thing.

For a copy of Allergies, Away!, visit Chocolate, Chocolate on 1130 Connecticut Ave. NW. You can also order the book and chocolate treats (made with dairy) at http://www.chocolatedc.com.