Teela Dreece has transformed her love of baking into Tee Cupcakes YYC, a gluten-free, vegan bakery.
With a dedication to various allergies, the 19-year-old baker and psychology student at the University of Calgary’s journey from childhood experimentation to creating allergy-free recipes has not only defined her passion, but also established her as an entrepreneur catering to a niche market.
“I’d bake for Christmas and holidays with my mom, like a lot of children probably do,” she said.
Dreece started taking baking more seriously in Grade 5. She planned to bake cupcakes with her friends on her birthday that year. However, one of her friends, Caitlyn, had celiac disease, preventing her from eating them.
“I was disappointed. Part of it was my pride. I had bragged about these cupcakes so much, I wanted to prove that they tasted good, but she couldn’t eat them,” said Dreece. “So I decided that I would make gluten-free cupcakes… I was like, ‘if you have to eat them, so do we.’”
Her first attempt didn’t turn out great.
“They were terrible. They were so bad,” she said. “It was dry, sandy, and it fell apart a little bit. I was so embarrassed.”
It didn’t take long for Dreece to improve her technique.
“I spent a year experimenting, at first, I used gluten-free flours that you can get at Superstore or Walmart, but they were always really gross,” she said, “Eventually, I started making mixes.”
She soon formulated her own recipe.
Developing a recipe was a blessing in disguise, as Dreece’s parents learned soon after they also could no longer eat gluten.
“I was like, that’s perfect. I don’t bake with gluten. You can’t eat gluten. We’re all good,” she said. “This is when our troubles started. My dad was allergic to eggs, and my mom was allergic to lactose. Suddenly, I could no longer use the two other main ingredients in these cupcakes.”
More changes to the ingredients followed. Dreece shifted from using milk to using water and from butter to vegan butter. But losing the ability to use eggs is what stumped her.
“Eggs are basically what holds everything together,” Dreece said. It wasn’t long before she found alternatives.
“When you use an egg replacer, part of what you’re losing is that eggs help the batter emulsify … when cakes don’t have eggs, they’re really dry,”
Dreece used xanthan gum instead, which made the batter a bit stickier.
“You lose all the moisture. I read that the fibre in applesauce is able to absorb moisture, kind of like eggs. I wrote all my own recipes through this whole thing.”
She didn’t give up hope of finding a recipe that worked.
“I was like, we’re going back to basics; we’re just gonna do the very basic flour blend, applesauce, xanthan gum,” she said. “It was good.”
Experimenting with her cupcakes and recipe led to Dreece figuring out little things like cocoa powder, which helped with the chemical balance in her cupcakes.
Soon, she began looking into opening a bakery.
“I researched my costs, how I could get licensed if I needed a separate kitchen to sell my stuff,” she said. “In Alberta, you’re allowed to sell things out of your home kitchen, not to stores, but you’re allowed to sell them in farmers markets, as long as you clarify on the packaging that’s made in a home kitchen.”
Dreece began selling her cupcakes at local farmers markets and her parents’ work events. She catered several events that her parents’ workplaces had and a steampunk tea party over the summer.
COVID-19 hit her business hard due to Dreece’s immunocompromisation. After catching COVID, she found herself allergic to all forms of apples, meaning she could no longer eat any of the creations she made. Despite this, she kept baking since it was her passion and her way of expressing herself.
“One thing that the pandemic did allow me to do was experiment with a lot of different recipes,” she said “My mom and I worked on different recipes, and we now have waffles. We also have cookies of all kinds. And tortillas, which we’re still experimenting with.”
Accommodating allergies is what started this business, and it’s what Dreece strives to do as much as possible. All of her baked goods are gluten, egg and dairy-free.
