About Us

• gluten free
• sugar free
• egg free
• dairy free
• casein free
• soy free
• peanut free
• nut free
• wheat free
• potato free
• chemical free

We wish you happy baking!

 

A note from Cat Wellington, Owner Sweetie Cakes Co.

We make amazingly delicious Organic, Fair Trade, Vegan baking mixes for people with food allergies. I started the company after I found out that I am allergic to eggs, dairy, wheat, peanuts and almonds. My twin sister and I are allergic to the same things and have been suffering for years trying to find yummy substitutes for the foods we love. Viola! Finally there is cake. The best gluten free cake we've ever tasted. And believe me we've tried them all....cake mixes, home made recipes, adapted recipes...you name it, we've tried it. After hundreds of cakes I finally perfected it. And I am able to use all organic ingredients. I believe we have the only Organic Vegan Gluten-Free mix out there. We are very proud and excited to offer our cake mixes online and soon in stores near you

We now offer Chocolate, Vanilla and Spice with organic sugar.

And sugar-free Chocolate Ganache, Gingerbread and Greek Spice

 

In the Media

      

 

HAVING THEIR CAKE - Innovator stirs up the vegan treat industry
August 21, 2007: For those who have food allergies or special dietary needs, birthdays are sometimes a bummer. Because forkfuls of fruit salad just aren't the same as molten mouthfuls of birthday cake slathered with sweet, creamy frosting. And where do you stick all the candles? But with her new line of specially formulated chocolate cake mixes, Cat Wellington is making sure big and little kids alike get their just desserts on birthdays and other occasions. Since January, the Goleta resident has been selling three kinds of organic cake mixes, including gluten-free and sugar-free versions, through her new company, Sweetie Cakes Co. In mid-October, she'll roll out a line of classic vanilla cake mixes.

 

The Chocolate Paradox
Kids allergic to dairy and eggs?Let them eat cake.

By Leilah Bernstein

July 29, 2007

Cat Wellington wants to save the planet with chocolate birthday cake. Not the kind that's loaded with eggs and slathered with rich buttercream frosting, but an organic vegan version for kids who have food allergies or other special dietary needs.

Undeterred by the seeming paradox that healthful chocolate cake can still be the life of the party, the Santa Barbara resident launched an alternative cake-mix business, Sweetie Cakes Co., about seven months ago. She distributes her certified organic, vegan and fair-trade mixes and frostings (the latter designation ensures that farmers and suppliers receive a fair wage) through her website and the Isla Vista Food Co-op. She's also talking with representatives at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Trader Joe's and Gelson's about the possibility of selling her products.

"For me, it's a win-win adventure," Wellington says. "I'm trying to protect our ecosystem, and that's the whole philosophy of organic. And I want to help kids."

Especially kids who have food allergies. Wellington didn't realize she was allergic to dairy products and eggs until four years ago. (No wonder, she says, all those birthday cakes she ate as a youngster upset her stomach.) So she decided to tweak a traditional chocolate cake recipe and create a dessert that she and her twin sister, Beth, who also has food allergies, could enjoy.

The result was a success, and on their 45th birthday last year, Wellington recalls, "I said, 'Let's make it into a mix and available for other people. I want to make it really easy.' "

It certainly is. Her three chocolate cake mixes (one gluten-free, one sugar-free and one "regular") come in plain brown paper bags that resemble children's lunch sacks and require only the addition of oil and water. The regular chocolate isn't actually "regular" because it's dairy- and egg-free. She's currently working on a chocolate-chai version.

As for the ingredients, "I'm really, really picky," Wellington says. The gluten-free mix, for instance, contains organic brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour and tapioca flour as substitutes for wheat. Her two chocolate frostings use powdered evaporated cane juice as the sweetener.

The gluten-free cake has a dense, brownie-like taste and texture. The batter has an oily smell, which mostly fades during baking. The regular version, containing organic unbleached baking flour, more closely resembles a typical cake in taste and smell. The frosting, meanwhile, is as sweet and silky as any homemade variety, especially if non-vegans use butter instead of margarine as Wellington suggests.

But do the cakes have fewer calories than the decadent ones we love so much? Surprise: Not really. Wellington's are about 250 calories per slice; a comparable slice of devil's food cake made with a Pillsbury's mix is 260. Still, in an unscientific survey, the Sweetie Cakes versions competed favorably in calories and taste with other organic and gluten-free chocolate cake mixes on the market.

For Wellington, they're simply a sweet dream come true.

 

Special Thank Yous

My Mom, Mary, and Bernie have helped me tremendously to start Sweetie Cakes and they continue to be a strong propelling force. Bernie is an engineer and designed packaging equipment for the company. My mom has been there every step of the way. We have been working together for 15 years making organic jam at Wellington Farm. We have retired from full-time jam making and we now offer jam and marmalade workshops at Wellington Farm

My beloved Bernie gets special thanks along with all the friends and family members that cope with our allergies. For all the times they patiently wait for us to figure out what we can order on a menu or wait for the waiter to come back with info. I feel really lucky because Bernie is from Greece and in Europe they are a lot more conscious about pesticides, chemicals and allergies.

 

My word of encouragement for all allergy sufferers out there: Focus on the great stuff you CAN eat and the way your mind and body will change for the better. Food allergies occur when our bodies don't have or stop making the enzymes needed to digest foods. It is very common for people in their 40s to lose tolerance to foods if they are allergic to them. These days a lot of kids have allergies from exposure to chemicals, pesticides, early immunization and stress. There is also another ailment called Celiac involving the inability to eat gluten. Once the problematic foods are eliminated from the diet there are no more headaches, tiredness, cellulite, depression, aches, pains, bloating and other ailments!

It is hard to deal with allergies. Stick with it and don't give up. You'll look and feel so much better!

Sweetie Cakes Co.                                                                                                                      shop online at Sweetie Cakes Shop