2010-07-25

Divvies Bakery Cookbook Giveaway (and their Famous Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe!)


This week I received a brand spanking new copy of The Divvies Bakery Cookbook for review, plus I have a chance to give a second cookbook away to one of my readers!  (Instructions on how to enter are down at the bottom of the post.)

[Update:  entries/comments have been closed, the winner will be announced soon.]

As you would expect from Lori Sandler, the founder of Divvies, all the recipes are free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and all dairy products.  The preparing to bake chapter ("Before You Begin") has some of the better ingredient substitution lists I've seen.  Most of the them are easily found in the grocery store, and she isn't afraid to name specific brands, such as Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese and Silk Soy Creamer, by name.  Ener-G Egg Replacer makes an occasional appearance, but most of the recipes are not dependent on it.

The baked goods are organized by occasion, rather than type, so that apple pie is grouped with family celebrations, oatmeal cookies with school treats and devil's food cake in the birthday party section.  A complete list of recipes in the table of contents keeps it from getting confusing.  The short chapter of kid friendly homemade drinks, such as Grape Soda and Hot-Mulled Apple Cider was a nice surprise.


So far I've tried out the Divvies Famous Chocolate Cupcakes and Vanilla Frosting recipes.  I was very curious to see how the cuppies would turn out, since the instructions break many of my own baking guidelines, such as always sifting cocoa and powdered sugar, mixing the sugar with the wet ingredients and adding wet to dry ingredients, rather than the other way around.  I was very happy with the cupcake's moist crumb and light texture, as well as the smooth and creamy frosting.



Divvies Famous Chocolate Cupcakes
(From The Divvies Bakery Cookbook by Lori Sandler. Copyright © 2010 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.)


1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 1/4 cups water


1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 12-well cupcake pan with paper liners.
2.  In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, paking soda, and salt together until well combined; do not sift.  Set aside.
3.  In a large mixing bowl combine the vegetable oil, vinegar, and water and blend with an electric mixer on medium speed.
4.  Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and mix until very smooth, scraping batter from sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula.  Continue to mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated.  This batter will be more watery than typical cake batters.
5.  Pour the batter into the lined cupcake pan filling each well about three-quarters full.
6.  Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes on the center rack of the preheated oven.  After 12 minutes, rotate the pan to ensure more even baking.  Remove the cupcakes to a wire cooling rack-this is very important as it allows excess moisture to evaporate from the bottom of the paper baking cups.
Makes 1 dozen cupcakes.


Vanilla Frosting
(From The Divvies Bakery Cookbook by Lori Sandler. Copyright © 2010 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin's Press, LLC.)


1 1/4 cups plus 1/2 cup unsifted confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, chilled
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rice milk


1.  Combine the 1 1/4 cups of unsifted confectioners' sugar, margarine, salt, and vanilla in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed.  Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula, and continue to mix for 1 minute.
2.  Add the rice milk and continue mixing on medium speed.  With the mixer running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until you achieve the desired sweetness.  Beat for an additional 4 to 5 minutes, until creamy.
3.  Frost cooled cupcakes or cake.


Now for the giveaway!  The cookbook is being shipped directly from the publisher, and they have limited the contest to the United States and Canada.  (Apologies to the rest of you.)  There are three ways to enter:

1.  Leave a comment!  Please make sure you either leave an email address in the comment or link your name back to a location (blog, etc.) where I can find it.

2.  Blog or tweet about the giveaway with a link back to this post.  (There's a handy new button at the bottom of the post.)  Leave a second comment letting me know you have done so.

3.  Subscribe to The Allergic Kid either by email or in a reader.  Leave another comment!

The contest will close at midnight EST on Saturday, July 31st, and I'll announce the winner (to be determined by Random.org) on Sunday, August 1st.  In case I am either unable to reach the winner via email to or verify blogs/tweets/subscriptions, I'll redraw as necessary.

Good luck!

54 comments:

Lori N said...

The cupcakes look yummy & I'm always on the hunt for egg/nut/peanut free recipes!

Lnadig at gmail dot com

nickandstaci said...

This book sounds great for my little allergy boy! I am always searching for goodies I can make him! Thanks!!

nickandstaci at hotmail dot com

Em said...

so excited to make them! Oh, I hope I win! I have such a hard time finding things for my daughter to eat!

emily wyatt
emwarner4@yahoo.com

Em said...

I have it under the blogs I'm following, and it informs me every time you put a new post. I love it and it's helped me a lot with ideas for my daughter. Thanks

emily wyatt
emwarner4@yahoo.com

Lisita said...

Looks like an awesome cookbook, would love to win it!

Lisa said...

What an amazing cookbook.

Candice said...

Those cupcakes look yummy!! I wish we weren't gluten free!!

Melinda said...

The recipes look great! I'm looking forward to trying them.

meliann78 at gmail dot com

Melinda said...

Blogged about the giveaway here

http://allergickid.blogspot.com/2010/07/divvies-bakery-cookbook-giveaway-and.html

meliann78 at gmail dot com

Melinda said...

Subscribe to The Allergic Kid through yahoo reader.

meliann78 at gmail dot come

Unknown said...

what a wonderful giveaway! would be great for my little man who has a dairy and nut allergy.

edsperkins@gmail.com

Sarah said...

I am so glad to have found this. My daughter is lactose intolerant and allergic to soy. We also think she is sensitive to nuts as well. It would be great to have a copy of this.
sassysarahl@hotmail.com

sy said...

i love cupcakes, these look so yummy. i'm lactose intolerant so i'd love dairy free recipes,

sy said...

i tweeted http://twitter.com/syytta/status/19554137552

sy said...

i subscribe in google reader.

Camille said...

Your cupcakes look great. Can't wait to try them myself. My daughter is allergic to dairy, peanuts and tree nuts.

Patty Jensen said...

This looks amazing. My niece is allergic to so many things it has been difficult for me to find some baked goods that she is able to eat and is tasty. I am going to try this right away. Thanks!

Unknown said...

They look and sounds delicious... I will definitely look for this recipe and book if I will have to make something without eggs, dairy and nuts.

rosemaryschild said...

I luv chocolate!

rosemaryschild said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
rosemaryschild said...

I luv chocolate! spierssusan52@gmail.com

rosemaryschild said...

I left a Tweet on Twitter about this giveaway! spierssusan52@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Sounds yummy....always on the look out for new allergy friendly books
outtamond1@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

my neighbor's son is very in need of this!!! He eats all of divvies stuff now. Love the cookbook.
Thanks.
lauraleechambers@hotmail.com

kimberly said...

LOOKS SO GOOD! I so want to win this!!!

kimberly said...

Tweeted

kimberly said...

Link to tweet: http://twitter.com/kimmymay03/status/19596725726

kimberly said...

Subscribed to your blog!

Reeni said...

Your cupcakes are gorgeous! And the cookbook sounds like a real gem for people with allergies. Please don't enter me in the giveaway - I'd rather someone who could really benefit from it win.

Janet L said...

I love Divvies! My allergic kids have been enjoying these cupcakes for a couple of years. This is the only recipe I have found that non-allergic kids and adults really like. utfans@knology.net

Janet L said...

Subscribed to The Allergic Kid

jddwvu said...

This cookbook is made for my boys...both allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts! Would love to have one! :) We LOVE Divvies prepackaged cookies for school lunches..and order a box of choco bars each summer for s'mores. So glad I've found this blog...someone I can relate to!

jddwvu said...

forgot my email! ericandjulie@localnet.com

Kelly C42 said...

I would love to grab a copy of this book, either by winning it or at the book store the ol' fashioned way! It's perfect for my household and allergies. Those cupcakes look so festive and yummy too!

Kelly C42 said...

Posted a link to my Facebook as well!

Kelly C42 said...

Just subscribed as well!

Sanjeeta kk said...

Lovely treat! Nice to be here. Best wishes.

Melissa said...

The cupcake recipe looks so yummy, I had a hardtime trying to find cupcake and cake recipes that look and taste like real cake! I would definately love to win this cookbook but would definately consider buying if I do not win.

trdmosgrls said...

This is fantastic and I will def. be using it at my daughter's tea party next week. This would be a fantastic win!

Megan-

Email: hollywood310@hotmail.com

trdmosgrls said...

I Subscribe!

trdmosgrls said...

Since both my daughters have severe food allergies- I am totally hoping for this so I Facebooked it too. :-)

Anonymous said...

I'd love to have a copy of this book. My daughter has treenut and peanut allergies. I'm always looking for new ideas for treats.

Linda
lndmlb@aol.com

Lori said...

I'd love to win! Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

Lori said...

I also subscribe in google reader!

Mamma Sarah said...

mmmm!!! and I also have you on google reader! :-D

gfe--gluten free easily said...

Those cupcakes are scrumptious! Seems like these recipes would be easy to convert to gluten free. :-)

Thanks for stopping by my blog and entering the Sweet Freedom giveaway!

Best,
Shirley

Anonymous said...

I would LOVE a copy of this for my milk/egg allergic son. I'm always looking for new recipes.
jbats101 (at) sbcglobal.net

Anonymous said...

Just posted this on my blog as well.
http://www.simplefoodallergyrecipes.com/2010/07/allergic-kid-divvies-bakery-cookbook.html

jbats101 (at) sbcglobal.net

Anonymous said...

Just subscribed to your emails!

jbats101 (at) sbcglobal.net

Anonymous said...

I would love a copy of this!
bvlemon@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

My son and I love trying new recipes! These cupcakes were delicious! We really enjoyed making and eating them! Thank you so much for the recipe!

sonia879@yahoo.com

MC said...

They look really good, and with several food allergies myself, the cook book sounds really cool.

Hannah said...

So excited to have new recipes in my arsenol for my twin 2 yr olds who are now very into sweets and treats! Thanks for your blog, too. I check it often for meal ideas!

miscwebmail@yahoo.com

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Your cupcakes look gorgeous. Even though we eat eggs, we aren't very fond of them and any baking without eggs is very welcome.

Wish I could have qualified for that giveaway. :)