Sweet Christine’s Bakery in Kennett Square specializes in gluten-free confections. They bake different types of cookies, brownies, cupcakes and breads which are for sale to the public and also available wholesale to restaurants and stores.Recently, owner Christine Ruggio announced the distribution of their goods is going nationwide. Kennett Square Dish wanted to learn more about the origins of Sweet Christine’s Bakery, successful gluten-free baking, and how the business has grown, so we caught up with Christine for a chat.
KS Dish: Many folks may not be aware of what “gluten-free” means and why it’s so important. Can you give us a brief overview?
Christine: Gluten is a protein that can be found in grains and wheat, like rye and barley but can also appear in beverages, condiments, medicines, makeup etc. Celiac Disease which is what I have is an inherited and chronic digestive disease that causes the body to create an immune response to gluten. If I was to eat gluten it would damage the villi of the small intestine which causes nutrients to pass through the digestive system without being absorbed.
KS Dish: I believe your first experiment was baking gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in your kitchen. Can you tell us how the business grew to having your own bakery?
Christine: My favorite dessert to make for me and my children was chocolate chip cookies. When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and my daughter was diagnosed with gluten intolerance, I knew I was going to have to find out how to make a gluten free chocolate chip cookie taste just like we were used to. It took at least 100 different tries but finally my children decided that I mastered it. When my children celebrated their birthdays at school or had to bring in a treat for a party they would bring in gluten-free cookies. I had many parents and their children come up to me to tell me that the cookies were so good. I told them, “Thank you I am glad to hear you like it. I didn’t want to tell anyone they were gluten free before they ate them.”
That was my test. If it could pass a class full of children I knew I had perfected it. From that moment on I started getting phone calls asking if I would make gluten free cookies for this person who has celiac disease and this other person who has a wheat allergy and this other person who has ADD…the list went on. Word got out and a local grocery store asked if I would be interested in wholesaling. So the story begins… orders started coming in and I realized after a year of working out of my house it was time to open up a dedicated gluten free facility!
KS Dish: Do you have any tips for the home baker who is just starting to explore gluten-free baking?
Christine: Not all gluten-free flour is the same. You must experiment with it all. One company’s white rice flour is different from the other. To make better product buy the more expensive white rice! I promise you your product will taste better and do not substitute white rice for all purpose flour! This is a big mistake so many people make. My flour mix is made up of four or five different flours to make an all-purpose flour. Do not use white rice flour as your main flour. Your product will be grainy and will crumble!
KS Dish: What’s your most popular item in the bakery?
Christine: Our most popular item that people travel far to buy is our sandwich bread, slider rolls and baguette. Oh, okay so that is a few… so I guess I would say our bread line! We sell our hot dog rolls, hamburger and slider rolls to many stadiums. But our pizza is right up there! People say we should just open up a gluten free pizza shop. We have many people coming in who don’t have to eat gluten free. They come just because they love our thin crust, then they leave with a bag of our crust so they can make their own at home.
KS Dish: Can you tell us about the recent announcement on nationwide distribution? Will you still be making items right in Kennett Square?
Christine: We have opened up a manufacturing facility in Chicago and all of our wholesale baking will be done there and distributed from there as well. We are the gluten-free supplier for many other businesses across the nation, so we needed to build a facility that was more central.
Our new facility is gluten-free certified, certified kosher, certified organic and peanut free. We also have new packaging that will be in stores beginning in March. We can be found in schools, universities, restaurants, hospitals, grocery stores, sport arenas and food service areas. Our current location will be going through some changes in the next few months, but our hours will stay the same during this transition.
In February, we will be offering a new line of gluten-free and vegan speciality cakes and wedding cakes (Sweet Christine’s Gluten Free CakeKraft Series)! We will also continue to bake wholesale in Kennett for our local businesses. Lots of exciting changes so we want our customers to keep watching it unfold and to remember during this transition they can always place their order by phone or go to our on line store and have everything shipped to their door.
Sweet Christine’s Bakery is located at 132 West State Street in Kennett Square, PA. The bakery is reachable by phone at 610-444-5542.
