(Photo by Jake Williams)
While there’s no singular replacement for wheat flour when baking, there is indeed a singular, gluten-free replacement for quality baked goods in Champaign-Urbana. Meet RegCakes.
“We’ve tried very hard not to sell things that taste ‘gluten-free,’” said, Regina Johnson, owner of RegCakes. “We don’t like to put it on our shelves unless we think it’s delicious and fairly indistinguishable from things with gluten.”
(Photo by Jake Williams)
A 100% gluten-free bakery, RegCakes sells various baked goods ranging from cupcakes, cookies, muffins, pizza dough and cake. The bakery uses six different flour blends developed in-house to replace the standard wheat used in typical recipes. Instead of milled wheat, the flours are from ingredients like rice, potato and tapioca, and include flour-adjacent ingredients like xanthan gum and apple pectin.
“A lot of people tend to think that gluten-free foods taste bad,” said RegCakes baker and manager Cassie Dolderer in an email. “That is the case for some mass produced items you'd find at a grocery store, but here at the bakery it is completely different.”
With non-gluten flours, baked goods often do not rise as much as gluten foods. But RegCakes has found multiple ways to adapt to the challenge.
The bakery bakes each cake layer individually, instead of the typical glutinous recipes that would include cake layers cut in half, but in order to maintain a soft, pillowy (and most importantly delicious) gluten-free cake, layers have to be handled individually to maintain good structure.
In addition to providing gluten-free options, RegCakes is also mindful of other allergens typically found in baked goods.
“By nature of what we do when you omit one allergen, it tends to attract customers who are wary of other allergens as well,” Johnson said. “That’s part of the business that I didn’t really anticipate, but it’s been a big thing.”
Johnson said about half of their products are also dairy-free, and the bakery boasts a few soy-free items as well.
RegCakes originally started as a way for Johnson to continue her love for cake art after discovering her intolerance for gluten. Sure enough, the bakery rose to something unimaginable.
“This is a small business that grew up from scratch,” Johnson said. “From just baking a few things in my basement bakery at home to having a commercial operation.”
Johnson started initially with just gluten-free cakes, but once she realized the gap in the market for gluten-free goods in Central Illinois, RegCakes was born.
But for Johnson, it’s about more than just selling gluten free goods — it’s about giving home bakers the tools they need to live a gluten-free life at home. RegCakes sells dough, dinner rolls, loaves of sandwich bread and baguettes that gluten-free customers can use to feed themselves and their families well, as well as packages of their own flour blends.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
In addition, Johnson wants to bake goods that are not typically made gluten-free, like tiramisu, cinnamon rolls and croissants.
“We’re not only a source of gluten-free products, but we’re also a source for education and experiences,” Johnson said.
RegCakes offers occasional gluten-free baking classes in addition to events like afternoon tea. As they look towards the future, they hope to expand on these offerings.
The bakery’s products are also available and in use at several restaurants and markets across Champaign-Urbana like Martinelli’s Market, Pekara Bakery & Bistro, The Space and the Walnut Street Tea Company, meaning a trip down to Savoy isn’t always necessary.
“We have people that come in and are in awe to have found a completely gluten-free bakery,” Dolderer said. “A lot of them are overjoyed to finally have a dessert that they had given up before they developed a gluten intolerance, and it's awesome to see their faces light up! They say RegCakes is a gem of a find, and in my opinion, I agree with them.”
Felicity Abbott is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the assistant arts & entertainment editor of The Daily Illini.