"I've created all my own recipes. I've converted a lot of recipes too, from regular gluten recipes to gluten-free," baker Katie Taylor said.
The 22-year-old is running hard between her booming gluten-free catering business and the new gluten-free bakery she is about to open in Danville on June 26.
"We have cupcakes, cookies, brownies, tarts, pies," Taylor said.
It's called Miglet's Cupcake Shop.
"I've thrown out so many cupcakes in the first two months. it was really hard figuring out what the blend needed to be because sometimes it would turn out too soft, sometimes it would turn out hard as rocks," she said.
Katie chose gluten-free desserts and breads because of her mother's illness and the kids she met while she was a counselor at Camp Arroyo in Livermore, who suffer from celiac disease. Their bodies can't tolerate gluten, a protein in certain grains like wheat, barley and rye.
"On a gluten free diet, my migraines went away, my osteoporosis went away, it changed my health entirely," Katie's mother Elaine Taylor said.
Katie's parents, Elaine and Barry Taylor, started the Taylor Family Foundation in the East Bay 20 years ago to help children with life-threatening illnesses.
Now, their daughter is helping sweeten their mission as she begins her own career.
"This ability to be able to just turn it on and just focus is really exciting. I see a great future for her," Barry Taylor said.
"Who would have thought a 22-year-old could just put this together like she did," Elaine Taylor said.
Katie had to learn a lot about how to make gluten-free food and it was extremely important to her to make it taste really great.
"I use fine brown rice flour, but other than that, I can't tell you anything. It's that secret because if we gave that away, then everybody would know just how to make such a gluten-free product," she said.
