Las Vegas Weekly

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Imagine you’re a 10-year-old kid with a grass allergy in the middle of summer. Being diagnosed with gluten intolerance must feel just as unfair.

According to the Celiac Disease Foundation, gluten is a generic name for proteins found in wheat, barley, rye and their derivatives, which are the foundations of many breads, cereals, pastas and other favorite foods. Celiac sufferers have an autoimmune response to these proteins, damaging their ability to absorb nutrients and putting them at risk of life-threatening damage to the small bowel. And other forms of gluten sensitivity can cause issues from rashes to stomachaches.

No treat is worth that, but alternatives are getting tastier thanks to Summerlin’s new gluten-free bakery Beau Monde. Using battle-tested recipes from industry leader GF Patisserie, Beau Monde makes practical items such as pizza crust, hamburger rolls and artisan breads. On the fanciful side, it offers Italian buttercream cupcakes, banana bread, brownies, lemon loaf, coffee cake, cookies, tarts and tiramisu. And none of it looks like a compromise.

Some of it tastes a bit like a compromise, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good in its own right. The tiramisu’s texture is pretty one-dimensional, but the flavor is rich and balanced. The cinnamon-dusted coffee cake is a refreshing departure from its greasier, heavier, gluten-rich counterpart. The cupcake has the same lightness, making a case for the airy, intensely vanilla frosting. Only the lemon loaf disappoints in being overly dense, though it tastes wonderfully tart.

Choice is a blessing. Beau Monde makes not having one less like a curse.