Vegetarian Star

Photo Credit: Clarke Tolton

As if you really need another reason to enter our contest to win a copy of Erin McKenna’s BabyCakes cookbook as part of our one year anniversary giveaway. Isn’t the picture of the cupcakes on the book cover enough?

The lovely lady who founded the New York city bakery that is so popular among celebrities and mere non Hollywood mortals like ourselves answered a few of our questions about herself, the bakery, and some of her favorite recipes from her recently published cookbook, BabyCakes : Vegan, Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York’s Most Talked-About Bakery.

How did you determine which of your recipes to include in the BabyCakes cookbook?
I chose the recipes that people seemed to favor. I wanted to offer a collection of the greatest recipes.

What are a few of your favorite recipes from the cookbook?
I think my favorites are the volcanoes and the macaroons for sure.

You used to work in fashion and you said the one thing that really relieved stress at the end of the day was experimenting with baking and that prompted you to change careers. What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs who may still be stuck in a day job and want to get out and have a successful business?
I would tell them to live fearlessly and go for what is in their heart. It will work out and nothing beats doing what you love for a living. It’s what life is about.

There are several celebrities that have their personal stories in the Baby Cakes cookbook like Natalie Portman and Pamela Anderson? What was either your first or most memorable experience learning a celebrity was so fond of your desserts?
The first time a celebrity made it known how fond he was of BabyCakes was Jason Schwartzman. He came in once by himself the first time and then brought a whole gang of friends with him and had an eating contest in here. He was going crazy over everything–it was really fun!

Guess how many siblings Erin has? Four, five, six, seven? Higher than that! Find out after the jump…

You’re from a big family (11 brothers and sisters). Are any of your siblings chefs/involved with the food industry?
No, I’m the only one in the industry but my brother used to be a chef about 12 years ago.

Are you expected to provide dessert at family get togethers and Holidays?
Nah, they all know that I work really hard and never expect me to come with baked goods. I usually show up with them anyway, though.

Besides the fact that your product is delicious, for someone with no allergies, gluten-intolerance, or isn’t vegan or even vegetarian, what can your treats at Baby Cakes Do for them? In other words, what are the health benefits, in general of eating products made with the ingredients you cook with such as coconut oil?
Coconut oil is great for the metabolism and is really high in Lauric acid.  Agave nectar doesn’t spike your blood sugar the way sugar can and garbanzo/fava bean flour is high in nutrition.

Plus, did we mention the cupcake pictures on the book cover look really, really, good? What are you waiting for? Enter to win the cookbook today!

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