Any day of the week, junior Pixel Marcus can be found making allergen-friendly baked goods in any open kitchen, whether at school, home, or friends’ houses. Marcus aspires to open a café someday that creates a safe place for people with sensory needs and allergies. 

“I have friends with celiac disease, a dairy allergy, and one of them is vegan, so finding a place for everyone to eat and enjoy is about impossible,” said Marcus. “I was inspired to do this because there have to be families out there who also have these allergies and just want to go out and enjoy good food that won’t hurt them.” 

Marcus grew up baking with their mother and developed a deep love for it. In hard times, baking became an activity that brought Marcus solace. 

“The methodic, step-by-step process creates a calming environment for me,” said Marcus. 

Baking for people with allergies acquires a strong attention to detail. 

“I bake a lot and get dozens of different opinions from people, so I have to make sure that cross contamination doesn’t occur,” said Marcus. “It gets to be quite challenging when I also have to wait for things to get out of the oven to continue baking.” Another challenge has been the cost of some special ingredients. 

“It’s simply more expensive to buy a smaller bag of gluten free flour or an egg substitute or anything allergy friendly than it is to buy its gluten or non allergy friendly counterpart, which typically comes in large quantities.” 

Learning this style of baking and working with recipes with allergen-friendly substitutions has been a rewarding process. 

“It has been very fulfilling,” said Marcus. “I get to let others enjoy the hard work and care I put into baking.”