It’s that time of year again. Boosted by the encouraging words of Mary Berry and inspired by a trestle table groaning under the weight of brilliant bakes, we pick up the spatula, determined to claim a little Victoria sponge victory of our own during National Baking Week.

There’s nothing like a little home baking to inspire kitchen pride, creativity and even nostalgia. Who wants to lick to spoon?

But it’s not so much fun when you’re living with food intolerances, desperately trying to avoid the trigger foods that make you feel a bit… unleavened.

Fortunately, we’re living in more enlightened times when it comes to food intolerances, with a booming free-from market and a growing interest in plant based diets, which naturally avoid dairy and eggs - two of the more commonly consumed trigger foods.

To make sure you don’t miss out this week, we’ve taken a look at some of the best food intolerance friendly ingredient swaps so you can still whisk up a tasty treat during National Baking Week.

As one of the more problematic trigger foods for people living with food intolerances, it can feel as though avoiding dairy means waving goodbye to a huge slice of our best-loved bakes. From cream cakes to butter filled shortbread, cutting out cows’ milk can seem like you’re putting the lid on baking altogether.

Happily, there are plenty of free-from substitutes you can use to replace cows’ milk and still whip up a stunning sweet treat. Grab the whisk and try these:

Milk

Nut milk
Coconut milk
Almond milk
Soy-milk
Rice milk
Hemp milk

Butter

Coconut oil
Mashed avocado
Ripe banana
Applesauce
Dairy free margarine

Bread, cakes and biscuits. If it’s baked, there’s a good chance it includes gluten – not great if it gives you the grumbles. Another common food intolerance for which alternatives have been widely welcomed, the gluten free market is rising faster than a soufflé. If you need gluten free grains, try these super substitutes:

• Buckwheat flour
• Quinoa flour
• Coconut flour
• Rice flour
• Almond flour

Used to bind ingredients together or help baked goods to rise, eggs are found in a huge range of sweet treats, but it’s easier than you might think to replace them and still bake a cracking cake. Give these swaps a go:

• Flax seed
• Applesauce
• Mashed banana
• Chia seeds
• Commercial egg replacers, found in the free-from section at your supermarket

Hopefully, these alternatives have given you food for thought. It’s always possible to remove and replace your trigger foods with nutritious alternatives, meaning you don’t have to miss out.

But what if you have problems with a wider range of trigger foods. Experiencing multiple food intolerances is actually very common. Gluten and dairy often get the blame but, as food intolerance testing experts, we tend to uncover reactions to between 4 and 6 ingredients from a list of 134 foods and drinks.

If you’re going free-from to replace gluten and dairy but still suspect something in your diet is making you feel unwell, why not get to the (soggy) bottom of it, quickly and accurately with Smartblood. Find out more about our affordable home to lab tasting kits.