The First Tia’s Cake

THE EARLY YEARS OF TIA

Tia always loved baking. She remembers the first time her grandmother, Tia Ida, allowed her to decorate her first cake. It was Tia’s 3rd birthday. Although the original Tia is not with us any longer, she is still a huge inspiration to Tia’s Bakery today.

Tia learned the basic skills of baking and life while very young from her grandmother who also taught lessons that would be the inspiration behind Tia’s Bakery Gluten Free. The most important being – to LIVE freely, LOVE fiercely and to LAUGH often.

HOW GLUTEN MADE ME SICK, TIRED AND INSPIRED! After marrying her high school sweetheart, Tia’s family grew, along with her baking skills. Birthday cakes for her two sons, nieces, nephews, children of friends and friends of her children. Wedding cakes, anniversary cakes, baby shower cakes, custom cakes, and sculpted cakes. Cookies for church, cookies for school, cookies for her husband, Paul, to keep him from destroying the kitchen cabinets in search of “something to munch on.” Baking and loving every moment, it seemed as if she lived in a cloud of wheat flour. Then in 2003 that all changed. After suffering with symptoms of bloating, reoccurring headaches, unexplainable fatigue and joint pains, Tia discuss her concerns with her homeopathic physician Dr. Jan Head, a clinical nutritionist. Dr. Head, who holds a fellowship at the British Institute of Homeopathy, soon discovered the sources of her aliments; the culprits – gluten and refined sugar. Tia was diagnosed with gluten intolerance.

No more tasty desserts, no more cakes and cookies. She was devastated. Until the day her  youngest son Max said “Mom, you don’t have to eat it, just make it.”

But she didn’t want to bake and not be able to taste what was made. Tia couldn’t imagine depending upon others to tell her how her cookies tasted. Gluten had changed not only how she lived her life, but had also taken away a part of who she was as a person. She was determined to somehow, once again enjoy baking.   HOW TIA FOUND HER GROOVE When Tia returned to baking, she did so with a renewed passion, experimenting with all sorts of wheat flour substitutes. Rice flour – both brown and white, tapioca, cornstarch, cornmeal, corn flour, spelt, kamut and potato flour. Her research created innovative formulations and new ways to revive the recipes of her grandmother. After four years of work, Tia achieved gluten free desserts that would satisfy family, friends and most importantly herself. On Jan. 1, 2009, Tia’s Bakery Gluten Free was created with a goal of providing healthy, high quality, great tasting products that would exceed customers’ expectations. Tia’s Bakery is dedicated to advancing the use of alternative, sustainable ingredients that meet our goal of providing customers with “The Best Tasting Gluten Free Desserts”. She has never lost sight of what is most important – to LIVE, LOVE & LAUGH.