Lula's Fancy Debuts at the Farmers Market

I debuted Lula's Fancy, my line of gluten-free treats yesterday. Now that I have a state-certified home kitchen (glad that I could finally put to use that background in culinary and food manufacturing) I'm working on developing a line of products that people with wheat intolerance, allergies, and celiac can enjoy. For the next few weeks I'll be trying out different products at the Russell's Farmers Market in Wayland (the market runs from 10-1 pm) at the Karma Coffee booth.

Since this is a brand new endeavor, I'm trying to learn as much as I can from customers about what they want and don't want. The runaway hit seemed to be the gluten-free fruit tarts, made with my tart dough and summer raspberry preserves.

Oats seem to be a real sticking point - some folks I spoke with were interested in oats as long as the oats are certified gluten-free. One customer asked if my facility was certified gluten-free. The answer - until I manufacture at a dedicated bakery- is no. I bake as cleanly as possible using dedicated pans and ovens on dedicated baking days (I do not bake anything with wheat flour on days when I am baking gluten-free, and the kitchen is thoroughly cleaned before I begin baking on gluten-free days; additionally I store my gluten-free ingredients in a closed area that cannot be contaminated by wheat).

For those who don't know me, I cut my teeth in gluten-free, allergy-friendly food manufacturing when I worked for Enjoy Life in Chicago. I'm a pastry chef by training and for the last year and a half have been developing gluten-free recipes I can live with. I've been pretty disappointed with the quality of gluten-free baked goods on the market and want to offer an alternative that both tastes good and is slightly better for you than the average baked good. Gluten-free often looks great (anything made with combinations of 'white' flours like rice, corn, potato and tapioca) but lacks great flavor or texture. I won't sell anything that doesn't taste good to me first. And I'm kind of picky.

When I bake, I use a combination of whole-grain flours: teff, buckwheat, coconut, brown rice, and tapioca round out my baking mix. I NEVER use flours made from soy, potato, corn or sorghum in my baking, either because of nutritional issues (corn, potato), digestibility issues (sorghum), or allergy issues (soy). I make my own vanilla extract from vanilla beans and rum (distilled and always gluten-free), make my own fruit jam fillings, use organic ingredients where ever possible, I mostly use organic rapadura (evaporated cane juice) for sweetness and avoid processed sugar. I use a gluten-free baking powder (made, unfortunately, with potato starch) and use Enjoy Life's soy-free chocolate chips.

If you click through this blog, you'll find recipes for many of the things I bake and sell. I urge you to try baking for yourself at home. There's nothing better than home-made baked goods!

Comments

[Patti Anastasia]

Congrats on making your debut! Your packaging looks great. Now I want a raspberry fruit tart!

[Cake and Commerce]

Thanks Patti! I have A LOT of kinks to work out (what, exactly, should Lula's Fancy be?) but it was great to finally get something out there!

[Patricia Marko]

Yay Linsey! I am so excited for you... ;o) I hope the market was super successful. P

[H.Peter]

hey Linsey,

congrats on the venture. Go big soon!

[Cake and Commerce]

Thanks Patricia - I have to still sort out what is the best mix of products though I've enjoyed the process thus far! I'll keep you posted.

[Cake and Commerce]

H. Peter! Great to hear from you. I hope I hit upon the right combo of products sometime soon so that's an option. Right now I feel a bit like the hobbiest, but I'm hoping that will change.

[Beth Hayden]

Yay! Congratulations! Is your stuff shippable?? I completely agreed about the lack of flavor in most gluten free baked goods - would love to try some of yours of you're willing to ship to Colorado!

thanks,
Beth

[Cake and Commerce]

Beth --

Right now I'm not licensed to ship out of state. That may change in the future. Everything can be shipped, however. I have many of my recipes on this blog (go into the archives, I've indexed the sweet recipes in an entry in December) though I am working on some new recipes for the market.

Thank you!

Linsey

[Nadine Velazquez]

It is neat to see this new product line. The treats look good and I want to be able to try some. It is great to see some treats that are actually somewhat healthy for you. Thanks for the education!

[Cake and Commerce]

Thank you so much! I hope you'll have a chance to try them again - I'm going to try out new things at the next market.

[Kitchen M]

Congratulations Linsey!

[Adrienne]

Linsey, congratulations on this new venture! Also, kudos to you or your graphic designer, the packaging is really lovely.

[Deanna]

Congratulations on the new business! Let me know the second you can ship out of state--I would love to buy lots and lots of stuff that I'm too inexperienced/lazy to make myself.

[Kate Crook]

Congrats on the new endeavor! Everything looks great and love the packaging - best wishes to you!

[Yvette]

Go Girl!!!

The packaging looks fabulous!! I love it!! I can't wait to try some of the new products! Best of luck! I found the farmer's markets to be the absolute best way to get genuine customer feedback and its also the easiest place to market different ideas because you can change your products week to week. I have to get over there!

[[email protected]]

lindsey , I tried your whoopie pie at the Russell's event last week end It was fabulous! Finally someone is making gluten free foods with nutrition in mind and the stuff tastes good ! best of luck
laura

[Linsey]

Laura- thank you SO MUCH for the feedback! I love hearing from my customers (and in the case of this blog, from people who try out the recipes). You can find a recipe for the whoopie pies on the blog, but it isn't quite the same as the one I'm doing now (I don't use almond flour anymore). All the same, it will come out pretty similarly to the one you tried.

Thanks again!

[Cecelias Marketplace]

Congrats on the certified kitchen. Having to rent one is a lot of work and hassle.
I know what you are saying about gluten-free oats, they can be hard for some to trust, plus they are pricey.

[cakes to vijayawada]

Congratulations! All the best for your business.

[Sara]

HOORAY!! Linsey, this is fantastic news. When can your NY friends start ordering?!

[Amy]

Congratulations on the new line! More power! :-)

[wine blog]

Congrats! I totally love independant products and businesses. I'm totally passionate about people who make really good quality stuff and go into business for themselves. That's what America should be about, not stupid places like Walmart.

[CakeLover]

Congratulations on your debut. I hope that things continue to go well for you. I know how tough it is starting out, but it sounds like you're moving in a very positive direction!