Rebekah, a practising solicitor, smiled as she said had embraced baking during her current maternity leave – her second baby is now nine months old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started baking because my dad is coeliac and a very fussy coeliac. He found it really, really hard to find nice, gluten-free food. Some of the offerings contain a lot of preservatives, which mean they last for weeks, but there was nothing tasty out there, nothing that would be fresh on the day that you could eat the same day,\u201d said Rebekah.<\/p>\n
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Rebekah Hill with her gluden free produce.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in the cooking industry, dad was spoiled, always having good food available, and, because he was only diagnosed coeliac about seven or eight years ago, he had a lifetime experience of bread and biscuits, which he loved. He still remembered how good things tasted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was given a packet of something that looks like it is from wartime, he just wasn\u2019t having it,\u201d laughed Rebekah, \u201cso after years of trial and error, we finally succeeded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad was a very honest critic. He would have told me, \u2018That\u2019s not good, maybe try again. It\u2019s too sweet or not sweet enough\u2019. Then we just finally got there with the freshly made baked goods.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt started off here in Claude\u2019s. I made him cinnamon rolls. We now stock them in the cafe every Saturday. I am up early with the baby, so early morning baking, so far, is going well.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything just snowballed from there. The cinnamon rolls were super popular. They sold out every weekend. That\u2019s when I realised there was a broader market than my dad. I was getting messages saying, \u2018I didn\u2019t get one or how can I get one?\u2019 and I was baking more and more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got in contact with a couple of other coffee shops who were looking for different bits. Gr\u00e1ft Caf\u00e9 in Rosemount stocks my cookies and there are some baked goods in Hang Ten on Strand Road – all gluten free,\u201d said Rebekah, who added, \u201cI found, people with food allergies now want more than factory-made gluten free food. It has been great.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gluten Free Artisan Bakery Co has now expanded its range to include bread and sausage rolls.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hold a pop up bakery with a full range of goods in Claude\u2019s on a Saturday, every three weeks,\u201d said Rebekah.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next one is on Saturday (November 29) from 4.00pm to 6.00pm. At the last one, there was a queue round the corner,.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be very keen for people who felt they had no option but to take away their gluten free goods – maybe at markets – and have to eat them at home, to be able to enjoy the whole caf\u00e9 experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, every three weeks on a Saturday afternoon, Claude\u2019s is open for coffees and teas and people can sit in and have a lovely time.<\/p>\n
\u201cDerry\u2019s Gluten Free Artisan Bakery Co is going really well. I can just about keep up with the demand. I am loving it and am excited to see where it will go. I really enjoy baking and it doesn\u2019t feel like work.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing in particular I love is baking little birthday cakes for people who maybe weren\u2019t able to eat cake ever in their lives. I have heard such lovely stories from people who are coeliac. After my cinnamon rolls, my next most popular product is the cream fingers. People just go mad for them. Again you don\u2019t realise how deprived with a coeliac diagnosis are,\u201d said Rebekah, who blends her own gluten free flour.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery one is different depending on the bakes,\u201d said Rebekah \u201cThe cinnamon rolls will have a different blend of gluten free flour than the cream fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I don\u2019t want is my baked goods to be \u2018good for gluten free\u2019. What I really want is for them just to be good – so anyone can eat them.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the minute I am playing the baking by ear and taking onboard any and all feedback. I am keen to find out what people want in this space and see what I can do. One day I would like to have my own gluten free baker or premises.\u201d<\/p>\n Derry\u2019s Gluten Free Artisan Bakery Co<\/a> can be found on Facebook<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.derrynow.com\/resizer\/150\/-1\/true\/2025_11_17\/Unveiling_of_memorial_bench_in_memory_of_Annette_McDaid__3-1763375952485.jpg--in_pictures__memorial_bench_unveiled_in_memory_of__our_queen_of_culdaff_gardens__annette_mcdaid.jpg?1763375952904\"\/)
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