In 2004 Laura was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis. I am not going to get into all of the details of this condition but I will tell you that it limits her diet, including no dairy. We are not talking about a little stomach ache if she has dairy, we are talking about a 24 hour visit to the hospital. So when it came to our wedding cake we were concerned about being able to get a non dairy one. When we first started talking to hotels about this they all said it could not be done. One catering manager told Laura that they could not do it but that it's no big deal because "everyone else can eat it and we can get you a fruit platter." It was stating to get very frustrating - this is going to be our day and I want Laura to be able to eat HER wedding cake.
Early on in our talks with the Wynn we asked the question about the wedding cake - they told us "it should not be a problem." Upon hearing this news we were estatic. The chef's at the Wynn worked on a couple of recipes and soon Christine, the catering manager, called us and said they were ready to do a cake tasting for us. Christine had Laura's non-dairy cake ready to go and when Laura took her first bite it looked like she died and went to heaven. I asked Christine (Wynn Catering Manager) if food allergies were a common issue at weddings and how difficult it was to make a non-dairy cake. Here is her response -
I always find that folks who laugh at a special request aren't very adventurous or talented. It's the creative genius of folks like Chef Fredric Robert and Chef Pierre Gatel that push pastry to the next level. Food allergies are becoming more common. However, most folks don't even think to ask because like you guys they've been laughed at or discouraged. Making a non-dairy cake isn't hard, making it taste good is the trick. When you have a James Beard award winner like Fredric Robert on the job who is passionate about presentation, taste and customer enjoyment you will have a sweet success every time!
The non-dairy portion of the cake is going to be just for Laura. Everyone else will have the regular cake. Since Laura can not have dairy it was my job to taste and sample all of these cakes. OMG! Guys if you are getting married and your finacee says that you have to go to a cake tasting - GO! I sat down for one hour and ate cake - amazing cake. They bring out piece after piece. Funny though, I guess you are just suppose to take a sample of each peace. I went to town, devouring every piece in sight. Needless to say I hit the stair machine for 45 minutes after the fact.
