Hi everyone,

I've got a major humdinger:
I'm getting married at the end of July and I was hoping to be able to get a gluten-free wedding cake.

Unfortunately, I live in France.

I've done several google searches and haven't been able to find anything in France. The only places where there are special gluten free bakeries for such events are in the UK and the US and most of them won't deliver overseas.

I don't want to have to bake my own wedding cake, and I don't want to ask my future mother-in-law either - especially because she was the one who said we would need to order a wedding cake, then looked at me and was all, "Well, unfortunately, you won't be able to have any."

Does anyone know of any gluten free bakeries in France, or any ideas on how I can have a cake transported from overseas? My mother will be flying in for the wedding, so she has offered, if it is at all possible, to order a cake for me in the U.S. and bring it with her on the plane. The problem is that she is arriving 1 1/2 weeks before the wedding.

I should also point out that I live in Paris and the wedding will be in Paris and the surrounding area. There are about 20 guests invited.

Any suggestions or information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

Wow,
That's definately as tough one...
I'd have thought bringing one in Fresh is going to be really hard unless ypou did have any guests arriving the same day ?
Perhaps you could actually try some of the catering companies ? If your thinking of a buffet as well being gluten-free then you might be able to get them to find a pastry chef that would do one...
Alternatively I can also ask some of the professional chefs I know if any of them know a pastry chef that would be able to do it...
The hard part is actually someone with enough experience baking gluten-free.... since as we know most stuff for baking isn't as simple as using a gluten-free flour instead of regular...

Another option might be to find somewhere in Italy that can send it overnight delivery...

Hi gfp,

Thanks for your suggestions.

The thing is, we only picked the date at the beginning of this month, so we only have about 4 months time to get everything done, which is why we have invited only family, and why there are only about 20 guests.

We have decided to do a garden party at the in-laws house, with a buffet, but the in-laws are planning to cook more or less everything themselves. We are considering having a few prepared dishes, but it would be stuff like langoustines or other types of meat/seafood. I just don't trust the caterers here to ask for a gluten free cake - as it is, most people don't even know what I'm talking about!

However, I found a website for a baker in London who specializes in wedding cakes, and she will make gluten free cakes as well at no extra charge. The only problem here is the cost: either I can pick the smallest cake, which is 1-tier and serves 50 people for £275, or I have the option of mini-cakes (cupcakes, or the like, which can be with gluten), which cost £8.50 - £11 EACH depending on which I pick, so figure £11 times 25 - PLUS £150 for the top tier cake which will be gluten free. Then I have to pay for delivery : £250 - the baker herself will bring it to me, or she suggested I could take the Eurostar myself into London, where she will meet me at the station with the cake. I just checked the Eurostar website, and the only tickets left are in Business class, so it will be about 300 euros for the ticket!

While the cakes are beautiful and everything, the problem is it just seems incredibly expensive - it's probably going to come out to close to $800 - $1000 - and it seems like an excessive amount of work just so I can eat my cake. Plus she pointed out to me that this is the wedding season now and if I want the cake, I have to order it within the next 2 days because she is really booked up but happens to have an opening for the weekend of my wedding.

It looks like my only other option is to bake the cake myself at the in-laws house, but it's like the House of Gluten in there - and the mother-in-law thinks we really should have a nice cake with the frosting and decorations, and all that. I have spent the entire day calling up places and researching on the internet to no avail, but there just don't seem to be any options in this country other than baking it myself. I'm pretty much on the verge of tears right now....my mother in law thinks I am making a way big deal out of this (read: I am being unreasonable) and that I should just not have any cake and she suggested she will make me little gluten free COOKIES that I can eat, but I really don't think it is unreasonable for me to want to eat my own wedding cake!!!!!

Just a thought - Could you try posting at your local bio store for a gluten-free baker?

Around Toulouse there are some stores that have individuals that do gluten-free cooking courses and maybe someone would also do baking? If you have a good one close by, maybe they might know of someone.

I wish you the best of luck!
Theresa

nothing against your mother in law, but she clearly doesn't get it, it's not her darn wedding, and you deserve to be able to eat it, you're likely paying for it, it is one day not so unreasonable to make her eat something gluten-free without flowers on the darn cake. This is NOT her wedding. this is between you and your fiancee!!!!

Ugh I know, and I know she doesn't mean it to be mean or anything, but it is true that it has become a really big hassle. My fiancé is also starting to get annoyed about the whole thing, but at least he understands that it's not MY fault that there are no options in this country! It's just very hard when you are in any sort of minority here in France, that people have a hard time understanding.

My mom thinks that ordering the cake from London might not be such a bad idea as it seems to be the only viable option for now - especially considering that the weekend of our wedding is the only weekend they have open - most places are now fully booked til September! I think the total with transportation comes out to £650 - 700, so I guess that would be about 800 euros (close to $1000) Maybe I am a little naïve - I don't know anything about wedding cakes and I could understand 800 euros if I had over 100 guests, but $1000 seems like an awful lot of money for a cake for a total of 20 people.

I was at a bio restaurant here in Paris the other day; when I go for lunch I always ask for something gluten free and they are very good about substituting couscous with quinoa, for example. I asked the owner of the restaurant if she knew of any options, but she was like, "Whoa....not in this country!" She suggested I try calling some of the larger patissiers like Ladurée or Dalloyeau to ask if they can accommodate special dietary requirements, but I'm not sure they will really be able to - I bet they use the same gluten coated pots and pans all the time.

One alternative is to have two wedding cakes. A large gluten cake for the wedding guests and a small bride and groom gluten free cake that you make.

When I got married 25 years ago finding someone to make a gluten free wedding cake was not realistic. We had a gluten cake, which I did not touch.

Here's a thought...Make arrangements with a local baker (one that you could trust), you could have your mom bring gluten-free cake mixes with her and buy your own cake pans and bring everything to them. Or you could, again have your mom bring gluten-free cake mixes make the cake at your house, then bring to a cake decorator to have it frosted.

There are some really good cake mixes out there now a days. If she can't find one locally order it online and have them delivered.

I have a few ideas....
You could stick some ads in some of the biostores... but you could equally start asking around some of the larger hotels that do receptions and find if one of them could theoretically accomadate...
When you find which one you can then try and see the caterers and see if they can do a outside job... if your alternative is $1000 you have a lot of room to play with and make it interesting to them.

However I still think its worth asking in some resto's... simply because many of the chefs actually know each other.

At the Eurostar price you could also check out Italy... easyjet prices you can be there and back in a day....
With 1:200 people in Italy regestered celaics this has to be a common thing! Not to mention the Italians make a far bigger deal out of weddings than the French ....

They have a number you can call at http://www.celiachia.it/ristoratori/ristoratori.asp but only from INSIDE italy... (guess they got a cheap deal for the number..) but every time I'm in Italy they are really really helpful... I might suggest sending an email in English (unless you happen to speak Italian as well)...

You guys! Thank you so much for all your ideas, suggestions, and most importantly your support! I was just feeling so upset about it last night, because I felt like everyone else thought I was purposefully being difficult about it! Gfp, thanks for the Italy idea - I don't speak Italian, but the in-laws are very upset about me wanting to order a cake from overseas; they were all like "t'es gonflée" It was very much a "who do you think you are, wanting to order a cake from another country, when we in France are famous for our pastries" - I think they may have taken it almost as a personal insult, but then I was like "Have YOU found anyone in this ENTIRE country willing to make a gluten free cake yet? No, I didn't think so!"

Generic - that is a really good idea about having someone here bake the cake with mix brought back from the US - my fiancé actually suggested that last night too, and said we could supply the pots and pans and stuff, though we realized then that at that point, we might as well just bake the cake ourselves. I'll be in NY for the entire month of May, and most places are already booked through til September; plus I have a feeling that by the time we all agree on something, it will be too late and we will be forced to make it ourselves.

However, the French family has also come up with an interesting suggestion - which is to have a pièce montée - basically, it's a tower of pastry puffs or macaroons. The mother in law has suggested that she can either bake all gluten-free macaroons and we can make the tower ourselves, or that we have the tower made in a form that can accommodate a small gluten free cake on top, which we will bake ourself and the father in law would decorate for me - his dad was a chef, so he knows a lot about cooking and cake decorating. So long as I go with something simple, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm not very into the pièce montée idea since I think they look rather hideous, but we've also decided to have a slightly larger wedding in NY in 1 - 2 years, so my mom said to just go with what the Frenchies want for this wedding, and for the wedding in NY, at least we know it won't be a huge problem for me to have a really beautiful gluten free wedding cake.

Anyway, I really appreciate everyone's support and suggestions, and I will keep everyone updated with the Cake Fiasco. It is just so heartwarming and a real relief to be able to talk with people who understand exactly what you are going through!!!!

I doubt you'd need to speak Italian, they are really helpful and will probably speak decent English anyway... they even started putting their website in English (imagine that for AFDIAG)

If it was me I'd either tell them to find somewhere can MAKE A REAL CAKE or just get onto Italy...

If your also planning to be married in NY then you need to check out the different types of marriage liscense unless you end up with different types in both.. which can lead to a lot of complications... (I have friends did this in reverse)...

I don't know the exact details but it makes a huge difference to things like inheritance...

Just another idea to throw in... Have you considered having a "fake" wedding cake for the official cake cutting photos and then having a separate, simple gluten free cake that is served to guests? I've seen it done at weddings here...essentially an elaborately decorated fake cake is rented from a bakery. Instead of cake, you could also choose to serve an entirely different type of dessert to the guests that is naturally gluten free.

One wedding I went to, bride and groom had an enormous "cake" made of profiteroles (called a croquembouche), and each guest was served a couple of those. For my wedding, in addition to a traditional cake, I had a Norwegian cake (http://www.fantes.com/kransekake.htm) and Ukrainian wedding bread.

The sky really is the limit...you have the option of creating something really unique & memorable that is gluten free...just need a bit of imagination.

Michelle

Hey everyone!

Well, gfp, the Frenchies are flat out refusing to get a cake from another country - too much trouble and too much cost - plus, I think they are taking it as a personal insult. They are really upset about the idea of getting a cake outside of France and are determined to find a solution here.

Anyway, so I made several phone calls again - most places insisted they would be unable to do a gluten free cake at all, because "isn't that that stuff that's in EVERYTHING?" I even called a few organic catering companies but none of them were able to provide any references for a gluten free cake. I did find the phone number of a bio catering company that supposedly does wedding cakes as well (not sure if this is true at all or not) and it says on their website that they will adjust the dishes for special diets, such as "gluten-free, low-sodium, dairy-free". Unfortunately, every time I call, no one answers.

I also called Ladurée at the suggestion of the owner of the organic restaurant, and they were unbelievably helpful. The person who answered the phone took down my number and said he would call back as soon as he had talked to the pastry chef. He called me back about an hour later and said that the pastry chef said that off the top of his head, they do make a few gluten free products - he suggested either a pièce montée with pistachio and chocolate macarons, because those are the only 2 macaroon flavors without any gluten - or else a kind of cake that is made with egg-whites and a rose petal or chocolate cream filling. He mentioned something about some flaky pastry part that goes around or on top, but then said they could possibly do it without the flaky pastry. The guy on the phone then said that since the wedding wasn't until July, that I should stop in sometime in the next few weeks and speak directly with the pastry chef myself, so that he understood exactly what gluten was and what my options would be as far as decorations and stuff. He said that the pastry chef wasn't exactly sure what contained gluten in general - i.e. "Do eggs contain gluten? What about milk? Because then, we really can't make anything for you at all". The prices for a Ladurée wedding cake are actually not too expensive - he told me it would be 210 euros for the macaroon thingy, but that the cakes are priced according to what you decide, and that we would need a 2-tiered cake because the largest cake they make is for 14 people - he did say that prices start at about 78 euros for 1 cake. It seems like a good option for now, but I'm very careful to not get my hopes up too high - I have a feeling that I when I meet with the pastry chef to explain about gluten, he's going to freak out!

Sounds better though
Try and keep your cool though and keep asking places would be my bet...
Everywhere that say's no try and at least pop in and see them and see if you can't build a rapport and they suggest someone else?
I'll also ask around... since I have a few friends in the business (non actually pastry chefs) but one might always know another.
Another person to ask might be one of the owners of Fish resto and Cosi sandwiches... I forget his surname but he's an Australian called Drew. THe reason I suggest it is he personally (as opposed to the resto's) is quite into healthy stuff and being Australian knows more about celiac disease than the average French person... and he's in the business ... the sandwich shop makes the bread for the resto which is apparently (I wouldn't know) very good ...

Its not I think they can do it, just he'll give you the time of day and maybe know someone in the industry.
I don't really know if the French really place much value on the wedding cake itself...?
The croquembouche, is only a part of the whole thing... probably less important than the carrel or "coup de marriage"...
Being honest from a guys POV I don't get the importance anyway... (but I realise you do so its important!)...but what I mean is it wouldn't be a big thing for me... indeed if the relatives wanted a gluten one it wouldn't bother me in the slightest...
It occurs to me that the symbolism for the cake mifht not be appreciated by them... nor how important it is...
The traditional croquembouche is just puff pastries piled into a big messy mound... the idea of adding icing only happened when Charles II got married and the mound was so big they had to hold it together?

I appreiciate its important fro you.. even though I don't understand it... but then I don't really understand why girls like watching cut flowers die... I just realise they do and so I buy them...
However that's just me and I know I'm wierd and have to make an effort to try and do things I don't understand...
So if they are just regualr folks they probably think this is just far too big a deal and don't think to realise how it might be culturally different...


Ok another idea... find a French company imports from Italy (like one of 100 deli's) and see if they will do the import for you.. just don't mention the origin to the in-laws to be and say you bought it from a French Deli shop... which is true

Hi,

If you are considering making a gluten-free Wedding Cake here is a recipe I posted on the Irish Coeliac Site
for another bride to-be.

The sources/ manufactures of ingredients in brackets are to Satisfy the Coeliac Society criteria that all ingredients are vetted and guaranteed free from cross-contamination, you don't necessarily have to abide with them.


Link to wedding cake recipe.

Hope this is of some help.
Best Regards,
David

Hello,
I just happened to see your message about your desire for a gluten free wedding cake, in Paris. I have worked for a bakery in the US for 3 years, and have made many cakes--including gluten free. I am coming to Paris for 3 months, and may be able to help you. If you are interested in discussing this further, please let me know. I can send you pictures of the cakes I've done, and talk to you about your needs. Please respond asap because I am leaving in only 1 week...
Thanks

Hey everyone,

Thanks again for all the info and advice. I think the problem has been resolved for now:

My mother-in-law made an appointment to meet with a baker in Fontainebleau (near their house) who is supposed to be a very prestigious and famous baker, or so I hear. His name is Frédéric Cassel, and we met with him and explained the gluten problem, which he seemed to totally understand, and seemed quite knowledgeable.

He had several solutions: 1) we do a pièce montée of macaroons, as he could guarantee that the macaroons were totally gluten-free; or, 2) he could bake a cake of 2 or 3 tiers, of which the top tier would be gluten-free - it would have a cream and fruit filling, and the rest of the cake will be a normal cake.

Also, I am currently in NYC right now, and stopped by my all-time favorite gluten-free restaurant Risotteria where I chatted a bit with the server about gluten-free wedding cakes and explained the situation. The server said that they have already had requests for gluten-free wedding cakes for overseas weddings. (The owner will create a recipe for the wedding, and it would have to be made at home, but the owner will give incredibly detailed directions for the mix, the ingredients, baking instructions, frosting/icing, etc). The server also said I could ask at a gluten-free bakery on the Lower East Side (I can't remember the name of the place right now, but it is on Ludlow Street) as they often do gluten-free wedding cakes.