Welcome to Atuvava Bakery. My name is Alex and this little bakery is a labor of love I created after my kid and I were diagnosed with celiac disease over ten years ago. Before our diagnoses, baking had always been a passion of mine. I gained my “ten thousand hours” proficiency early in life, and bread was one of my favorite things to make. I loved experimenting with the process and ingredients and learning the secrets of traditional artisanal loaves. Bread was a favorite, but cookies, cakes, tarts, and pies were some of my kitchen staples as well.
My child was diagnosed with celiac at age seven, and I was diagnosed a few months later at… slightly older than seven. Obviously, I was motivated to crack the GF code to baking. Our house hosted loads of kids and families, and food was always at the center — now that food needed to be free from that fiendish gluten protein.
I was back to square one. Transitioning to a gluten free diet forced me to become a novice baker again. I started reading every book I could find on GF baking. I sought out websites, tested recipes, made-up things, threw out LOADS and LOADS of failed and icky experiments… but then, things started getting a little better. As I understood how different grains worked together - or didn’t - and as I understood how much my process was just as important as ingredients, my bakes got better. And in no time, I was baking the cake all the kids wanted!
Soon, whenever I’d be called on to bring treats to school events, asked to bring a cake to birthday parties (old and young!), or asked to provide bread and cookies for my kid’s dance classes, everyone was loving and eating what was brought. They would say “this isn’t really gluten free, is it?”
Yeah - it is.
So, a couple years ago I decided to take this fun vocation and turn it into a business. By first operating under the Minnesota Cottage Food License we were able to work out of a residential space and test the waters of “is this a business?” As it turns out, it was. Word spread pretty quickly about the quality and variety of our baked goods, and we were getting new and returning customers each week. Now, years later, we have finally moved into a commercial kitchen and storefront of our own.
I am filled with joy every time a customer tells me how excited they are to eat GOOD bread again. I am elated whenever a customer tells me they never thought they’d eat a “real” cinnamon roll or a “real” scone. And I believe to my core that just because you can’t eat gluten shouldn’t mean you can’t eat delicious, quality food.
I look forward to baking for you!
alex (she/her)
