Ames Entrepreneur Creates Gluten-Free Treats

Lucy Barton sells fresh, gluten-free baked goods at the t under the name Tall Tree Bakery. Barton, a West Coast transplant and Ames resident, creates bread, vanilla cake, cupcakes, pasta, brownies, coffee cake and Oreos with alternatives like almond meal or tapioca flour for shoppers with Celiac Disease or gluten allergies.

Barton realized she was gluten sensitive while in college. A naturopathic doctor tested her using an elimination diet. After a bad reaction to ranch salad dressing, she read the first ingredient was modified food starch or wheat. From then on Barton removed all gluten out of her diet. She has now been gluten free for 12 years and feels much, much better.

Prompted by a roommate who was an amazing baker, Barton realized she was missing baked goods.

“My roommate really enjoyed cookies and bread and made me want to have them too,” she said.

Barton is particularly proud of her new product: granola.

“I’m gung ho on granola. I am really excited because it has been so long since I’ve had it. It’s really good with yogurt in the morning for breakfast. It fills you up," she said.

The name Tall Tree Bakery was inspired from a collection of works by beat poet and environmental activist Gary Snyder. The well-named Tall Tree Bakery uses local, organic and seasonal products as much as possible. Barton works during the day at an organic vegetable farm in Granger. She often incorporates her natural environment into the foods she sells. Recently Barton has been using edible pansies from the farm to decorate her miniature cupcakes, which sell four, for $3.

You can find Tall Tree Bakery 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through Sep. 24 at the Ames Main Street Farmer's Market.

Barton hopes to bake special orders and build up her clientele for the winter season after the Farmers' Market ends. Offering her gluten-free products to local grocery stores, restaurants and coffee shops is a future goal.

Sue Swan recently special-ordered a white cake for her daughter, Laura Roy, who is gluten-intolerant.

“Not only was it beautiful, all decorated with fresh, organically grown pansies from her garden, but it was simply delicious with a wonderful almond flavor," Swan said.

Swan's daughter Roy, and her new husband Jeremy Roy enjoyed the cake with their family on Sunday and then took it with them on their honeymoon.

"Initially Jeremy had not wanted any of the cake, but he took one bite and promptly went back and cut himself a big piece," Swan said.

“Gluten free is actually really good,” Barton said. “Everybody can eat it and enjoy it and then no one feels excluded. Kids especially can have a treat, or even adults get a coffee and want a danish or a muffin.”

Lucy Barton and Tall Tree Bakery can help with that.

Correction: The name of the bakery was misidentified twice in an earlier version of this story.