Robin Knight, owner of Emily Kate’s bakery, credits its opening to two things—acknowledging the quality of her own recipes and a gap in the marketplace.
“When my kids were first diagnosed with gluten intolerance there were no baked goods available that weren’t poor quality, poor taste or full of preservatives,” Knight says. “So having a really good product and an unmet need seemed like a good enough reason to jump into the bakery business.”
Prior to opening the bakery in 2015, Knight was sharing her gluten-free treats with her family. She didn’t have professional baking experience and neither did her team.
“None of us came from a bakery background, but none of us came from a small business background either,” she says. “So as with everything else, we’ve figured it out as we go.”
Kitchen manager Amber Abram says one of the biggest learning curves in gluten-free baking is learning how gluten-free flour behaves. Emily Kate's recipes still use butter and sugar, and flour is the main difference.
“We’ve learned that gluten-free flour has no personality, so we have to take into account every step, from the amount of liquid you add to exactly how long every step has to be mixed,” Abram says. “It’s finicky and fragile, but that’s the beauty of baking. It’s a science.”
Their everyday menu includes cinnamon rolls, buttermilk biscuits, lemon blueberry donuts and more. Customers can also place custom orders for birthday parties or family gatherings. While developing seasonal menus, the Emily Kate’s team reflects on what sold well, frequent customer requests, new trends and popular flavors.
“We will always have our classics that everyone is looking forward to, for example, lemon bars every spring, but then we try to think outside of the box and get imaginative,” Abram says. “I think in the gluten-free business, the staples are everywhere, such as chocolate cake, brownies, etc., so we think about what our customers might be missing that you can’t find gluten-free.”
Emily Kate’s treats are available in Whole Foods stores in Kansas City, POUR coffeehouse in Olathe, Roasterie Cafe and various other local businesses. Knight has found that partnering with other businesses not only provides an opportunity to reach more customers locally but also creates a mutual support among small business owners.
“I think the other reason [partnering with local businesses] is so important is that it makes things so much fun and so interesting," Knight says. "Whether it’s partnering with Roasterie and using their coffee, or baking donuts for Donutology and creating special flavors just for them like our Nutella donut, or even partnering with Steps of Faith by providing desserts for Jason Sudekis’s Thundergong event, it gives us the opportunity to do and try new things with really lovely people. But also we all love Kansas City and the brands that make this city what it is. Getting to be a part of that is pretty special.”
The company hashtag is #tasteslikegluten—a nod to how taste does not need to be compromised by dietary restrictions.
“We want our products to taste like gluten-filled desserts that even your family and friends who aren’t gluten-free can enjoy,” Abram says. “Gluten-free products don’t have to be bland, pale, small desserts you see in grocery store aisles. They can be rich and flavorful!”