Yuliya had always loved baking. In an effort to incorporate healthier eating habits into her lifestyle, she started experimenting with alternative ingredients, recipes and techniques to create more nutritious baked goods to enjoy. Although she didn’t suffer from a gluten allergy, she was intrigued by gluten-free bakery products and how they were marketed as a healthy option. “Gluten-free is a trend right now but it doesn’t mean healthy because it’s full of starches and sugars used to recreate the texture of normal baked goods,” Yuliya explains. She started tinkering with recipes over weeks and months, eventually discovering the right combinations for delicious breads and desserts that were not only gluten-free but also delicious and good for you. Yuliya remembers, “When we started to give our friends the baked goods, they said, ‘Okay, you need to sell them!’”
She teamed up with her husband Denis and together they renovated an old video rental store at Bloor and Shaw and transformed it into Cock-A-Doodle-Doo Gluten-Free Bakeshop, which opened its doors in January 2016. The bright and beautiful bakery is tastefully decorated with pretty framed prints, potted plants and rooster-themed decor items – a warm and welcoming space perfect for tasting some of Yuliya’s freshly baked, gluten-free treats.
