Gluten Free Food Reviews

I just love Authentic Foods Vanilla Powder. Sometimes I will just open the bottle to catch a whiff- it is that good! So, when I saw an Authentic Foods Vanilla Cake Mix, I knew I just had to try it. One 11 ounce pouch sells for $5.89 and makes one eight inch cake.

I found the mixing instructions clear and easy to follow, and the cake batter mixes easily and spreads nicely in the pan. I baked my cake for the suggested 30 minutes, but it turned out way too brown and had some crispy edges. I feel 28 minutes maybe more appropriate.

The cake should be cooled completely before frosting or eating. I found this out the hard way- I tried a bit off the edge of this cake as it cooled on my wire wrack. Yuck! I was treated to a warm, bitter taste that did not tempt me to sneak another sample. This cake definitely needs a few hours to mellow out and let the flavors blend. In fact, I found that this cake tasted best about four hours after baking, and it started to dry out after 36 hours.

The flavor of this cake is simply wonderful- I was treated to a perfectly sweet vanilla treat with a hint of almond. The flavor tasted like a “real” vanilla or yellow cake. Yum!

Unfortunately, the texture of this cake wasn’t as great as the flavor. The texture seemed quite course, heavier with a large crumb, and I just couldn’t get past the texture to consider this a really good cake mix. It reminded me more of a coffee cake than a traditional cake one would expect for a birthday or special occasion. In fact, I feel if you added some cinnamon sugar and pecans, it would make a great coffee cake for brunch, afternoon tea or a snack. On the pouch, it has a recipe for blueberry muffins using this mix. I bet that would be a great combination!

I also found that this cake tastes yummy warmed up and drizzled with chocolate sauce, and would pair well with most anything chocolate.

PROS: great vanilla flavor with a touch of almond; easy to prepare

CONS: course texture

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

Ingredients: Granulated Cane Juice, Rice flour, Corn flour, Garfava flour (Garbanzo Beans, Broad Beans), Potato Starch, Baking Powder (Sodium acid Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Cornstarch, mono calcium phosphate), Natural Vanilla Flavor, Natural Butter Flavor, Natural Cream Flavor, Natural Almond Flavor, Baking Soda, Salt, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum.

I finally got it right! After my first flop at making this cake mix ( thanks to accidentally turning off the oven) second time’s a charm. This 15 ounce box makes one 8 inch cake. However I made about a dozen cupcakes.

This mix was easy to prepare with my Kitchen Aid mixer and just as easy to fill the cupcake liners. The batter is somewhat thick and comparable to a traditional cake batter. I baked these cupcakes 22 minutes, as the package recommends baking for 22-23 minutes. The cupcakes really didn’t rise much and had firm smooth tops- perfect for frosting and decorating. Likewise, they are easy to unwrap since the cupcake liners remove easily and cleanly.

The texture is almost exactly like a traditional “regular” cake and has a mild and sweet flavor- great for chocolate lovers, but not overly sweet and rich for those that are missing a chocolate sweet tooth. These cupcakes are moderately dense- neither light and fluffy, nor thick and heavy. This is great, since it helps the cake keep it’s shape with little crumbling and breakage.

My only complaint about this mix is that it’s not very moist. My glass of cold milk really came in handy; of course, a scoop of vanilla ice cream can help with that as well !I am not sure if a reduction in baking time would help since I followed the directions perfectly. I would love to hear other comments from others about their experience because in every other way, this is a great mix.

PROS: Nice mild flavor, not too sweet, great texture, easy to mix

CONS: fairly dry- maybe reduce baking time to help with that

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

Gluten-Free Pantry - Decadent Chocolate Cake Mix
From: glutenfree.com

Ingredients: Sugar, White Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Cocoa Powder, Tapioca Starch, Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt, Guar Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Monocalcium Phosphate.

What is my deal? All of my vanilla/white/yellow gluten free cake mixes are all so . . . ho-hum, nothing exciting or good so far. The ‘Cause You’re Special Moist Yellow Cake Mix is no exception. I purchased this 14.8 ounce mix locally for $6.19, and it makes one 8 inch cake.

The mixing instructions were simple and easy. I mixed the batter in a stand mixer with ease. Getting the batter into the cupcake liners was a bit tricky, since it was quite thick, sticky and gummy. My cupcakes were done after 22 minutes, even though the directions indicated to bake for 25-35 minutes. My cupcakes came out of the pan looking like this:

The tops of the cupcakes rose unevenly, so they looked a bit strange. But did they taste good?

This cake mix is very sweet with a nice light texture. The cake was not grainy or coarse, and only slightly mealy tasting from the rice flour. Fresh from the oven, the cupcakes had nice crisp edges that softened over time as the cupcakes cooled. These cupcakes hold their shape well, although the soft and tender tops could make frosting them a challenge. Frost with care please! I imagine a slightly sweet frosting or fresh fruit would go well with this mix.

As I tasted this cake, I had the strange feeling that I had tasted these cupcakes before, but just couldn’t place the association. Then . . . BINGO! I realized that these cupcakes taste just like the “Cause You’re Special Biscuit Mix, only sweeter and a touch fluffier! Unfortunately, after I realized this tasty deja vu, I couldn’t eat these cucpakes without feeling like I was eating a really sweet biscuit.

PROS: moist, nice vanilla flavor

CONS: tastes similar to their biscuit mix, sticky batter

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

‘Cause You’re Special - Moist Yellow Cake Mix
From: glutenfree.com

Ingredients: Sugar, white rice flour, potato starch, corn starch, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), salt, xanthan gum.

As I scoured the gluten free section at Nature’s Pantry, I was on the lookout for a good vanilla or white cake mix. Not just a good one, but a great one. The description on the box of this Dowd & Rogers dark vanilla cake mix boasted this mix as “artisan” with Italian chestnut flour . . . ooh, fancy! Along with the attractive square packaging, I wanted to see if it would live up to it’s “fancy” expectations. This mix sells for $6.89 and makes one 8 or 9 inch cake. At that price, it better be great!

This mix made a great first impression- I loved the detailed and simple mixing directions, and I was able to whip up the cake batter quickly and easily. Inside the box, the sugar and flour ingredients are bagged separately, so you can cream the butter and sugar together first. Nice! After baking for 25 minutes, I was surprised when I removed the 8 inch pan from the oven. The edges were crisp with baked sugar! I broke and edge off the side of the cake and was surprised that it tasted like a sugar cookie!

After letting the cake cool completely, I served this cake as our traditional Sunday night dessert. My husband and I ate our pieces plain, and I spread some chocolate frosting on my kids pieces, since chocolate frosting goes well with vanilla cake, right? Wrong! Not this cake!

First of all, this cake is fairly dense and didn’t rise much in the pan, and was not at all light and fluffy like a traditional cake. The density and heaviness more closely resembled a hearty muffin. The flavor also reminded me of a sweet bread. I could taste the rich vanilla flavor from the vanilla powder ( I just love that stuff!) but I think the specks of chestnut flour and overly sweet flavor were just too heavy and overpowering. The cake was fairly moist, but crumbled “like popcorn,” according to my youngest daughter. The texture tasted course, but not gritty. The color did remind me of a dark vanilla, though- dark with specs of Italian chestnut.

Half of my family liked this mix, half of us didn’t. We agreed it tasted much better with no frosting at all, and would be more appropriate as a sweet breakfast item (i.e. coffee cake)than a special occasion cake. If you really wanted a frosting, a slightly sweetened whipped cream or cream cheese frosting, vanilla ice cream, or even a fresh fruit medley would best compliment this cake. Since most of the other online reviews I read were quite complimentary about this mix, I wonder why my cake didn’t turn out so great . . . different people, different tastes I guess!

PROS: moist, great mixing directions

CONS: too sweet, too dense, more like a sweet bread than a cake

Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

Dowd and Rogers Gluten-Free Dark Vanilla Cake Mix- glutenfreemall.com

Ingredients: Pure Cane Sugar, Gourmet Flour Blend (Fine White Rice Flour, Italian Chestnut Flour, Tapioca Flour), Cultured Buttermilk, Pure Vanilla Powder, Aluminum Free Baking Powder, Salt, Xanthan Gum, Baking Soda.

Read what CeliacsOnline , Alison from SureFoodsLiving.com, Ellen from IAmGlutenFree. say about this mix!

I really like lemon, almost as much as pumpkin, and since I still haven’t found a really great lemon bar recipe or mix, I thought I’d give this lemon bar a try from the Bittersweet Bakery in Eagan, Minnesota. It is conveniently located by my parents’ home off of Cliff Road, and the half empty pan in their display case convinced me that they must be pretty good, if so many were gone by 11 a.m. So I splurged, purchased a generously sized bar for $2.25 and went on my merry way.

The bottom layer is a vanilla-tasting yellow cake. My piece was quite dry and crumbled profusely. The top layer of icing is a sour lemon flavor that is brittle and cracks when cut with a knife or fork. It tasted a bit old and stale. As an afterthought, I realized warming this cake in the microwave could have helped. Because I like this bakery so much, I think this product deserves another chance. However, overall I was really disappointed with this product experience.

PROS: Umm, it’s gluten free

CONS: dry cake, sour icing, the combination of the two tasted strange

Rating: 2 stars

For more information on Bittersweet Bakery’s products, click HERE.

To read the review for their yummy pumpkin bar cake, click HERE

This amazing pumpkin cake/bar is brought to you by a local gluten-free bakery in my hometown of Eagan, Minnesota. The Bittersweet Bakery is located at 2105 Cliff Road. My family told me about this small bakery when I was visiting in June. I just had to stop in and explore, since I have never been in GF bakery before, and I was excited to see what they offered. It was wonderful to walk in the door with greetings of breads, rolls, hamburger buns, cakes, cookies, and sweet rolls. They even have pancake and cornbread mixes! It was a pleasure to buy just one hamburger bun for my family’s cookout that evening. No bun o’ lettuce for me that night! Along with my bun, I just had to get the pumpkin bar to try. I love most anything pumpkin when it comes to baking, so this was an easy one to say “yes” to.

The pumpkin bar is generously proportioned ( pictures above is only half!), and at $2.25 a bar, you get your money’s worth. The pumpkin cake is super moist and doesn’t taste anything like a gluten free product. The cake is also soft and full of flavor without too much sweetness or crumbling. The frosting on top was a thick cream cheese/vanilla concoction that was really sweet. So sweet, that I scraped a portion of it off my pumpkin bar. Just a little was perfect for me.

Unfortunately, they do not ship at this time ( plans for nationwide shipping are in progress for this fall, according to store employees), but I hope anyone passing through or local will stop in and give their products a try. There is nothing I like better than to support a local business that has quality products. In the upcoming weeks I will have reviews for their other products as well.

Becky, I know you are in Minnesota, you’ll have to let us know if you have been here, and what you thought of their products.

PROS: moist and delicious, does not taste gluten free, great value

CONS: frosting is too too sweet

Rating: 4 stars

Visit Bittersweet Gluten Free Bakery’s website for more information!

Amie, this one is for you ( since you asked ), and anyone else that likes frosting that isn’t too sweet, but very flavorful. It is so good we are lucky if we have enough left for our cake!:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. whipping cream

1/4 c. light corn syrup

1- 12 ounce package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp. vanilla powder

In a saucepan, bring the cream and corn syrup to a simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Let stand for 3-4 minutes. Whisk mixture until smooth. Cover and chill 90 minutes or until it reaches spreading consistency ( stirring every so often). remove from fridge and beat until fluffy ( frosts two 8 or 9 inch cakes). Enjoy licking the spoon!

 Later this week I will have a review up especially for Neena, who asked about comparing Pamela’s Lucious Chocolate Cake Mix to the Gluten Free Pantry’s Decadent Chocolate Cake mix. I tried to make G.F.P’s on Sunday, but accidentally turned off the oven when I put in the pan. Oops. Let’s just say they didn’t turn out as I had hoped. Hopefully I’ll do better the second time around.

This is Kristina, “the sister”. This is my first time reviewing so I hope that it is up to par!

Sorry that the pictures is not the best, but our flash is a little too strong!

If you have been looking for a white cake, this is the mix for you. This cake has a wonderful texture. It is airy and spongy. There is none of the graininess that can come with rice flour products. The taste is plain. Not very strong, which is perfect if you want to add frosting or some other topping. Very much a traditional white cake.

Preparation was very simple, with a whisk I mixed 4 eggs, 3/4 cup oil and 3/4 cup water. After mixing well you add the cake mix and mix until barely combined. I baked it in a 9 x 13 pan. The instructions suggested cooking for 25-30 min at 350 degrees but after 20 min my cake was done.

I also froze a piece and tried it the next day. It tasted just as good.

All in all, I was not disappointed by this brand. I am not sure I would want it for a wedding cake, but is ideal for birthday cakes, cupcakes, or even eating it with some fruit.

Pros: Mild flavor and great texture

Cons: I am not sure I would want such a spongy cake for a wedding cake

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Wanna try this mix? Click the link below!

Kinnikinnick - White Cake Mix
From: glutenfree.com

Ingredients: Sugar, Potato Starch, White Rice Flour, Sweet Rice Flour, KinnActive Baking Powder, Guar Gum, Salt, Pea Protein, Sodium Bicarbonate, Pea Starch, Pea Fibre

When I opened my sample box from Gluten-free Essentials, the title of this cake automatically caught my eye- an Extreme chocolate cake? This had to be good. With a title like this, how could it not be?

I prepared this cake and again found myself disappointed in the directions. The package indicates you will need applesauce and 2 eggs. No problem, right? However, in the mixing directions it also asks you to add gluten-free vanilla and water. I have learned that with this brand of mixes it is always best to read the directions completely before you begin.

This mix doesn’t rise very much in the pan and has a very smooth and flat top surface. The flavor is surprisingly mild- not very sweet and just a touch chocolate. It is not bad, but definitely not the “extreme” chocolate experience I was expecting based on the name. The texture is ultra fine, smooth, and silky, just what I would expect from a gluten free mix utilizing rice flour. The taste and texture is not like a “regular” gluten cake, but it is still quite good. I would recommend this mix more for snacking rather than a birthday or special event cake. Also, this is a very moist cake, which is a bonus.

PROS: Perfect for snacking, smooth texture, mild flavor

CONS: not the flavor and texture of a traditional cake, package doesn’t list all added ingredients

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

GlutenFreeEssentials.com

Ingredients: sorghum flour, rice flour, sugar, cocoa powder, GF baking powder, guar gum, corn starch, baking soda and salt.

If you like Pamela’s Products Brownies, you will just LOVE this cake mix! And if that isn’t a good enough reason, every inch of the packaging is covered with a variety of gluten free recipes to try. Yum! Recipes include mocha cake, egg free chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate chip cake, chocolate pound cake, ultra rich chocolate cake.

This Pamela’s mix is easy to prepare, just add 2 eggs, oil and water; mix by hand, and pour into two 9 inch cake pans or into cupcake liners. I opted to make cupcakes, and found the batter easy to work with since it has a thicker, more traditional consistency.

These cupcakes were easy to frost once they cooled, but I honestly preferred them “naked,” since the flavor was so rich; It really didn’t need anything to dress up the mix. The flavor of these cupcakes is almost exactly like their brownies, but in a lighter form. However, I found the cupcakes to be somewhat dense compared to other mixes, so I would suggest using the 3 egg option listed on the instructions for a lighter, more traditional cake. This mix is sweeter, but not overpowering. The chocolate tastes more like a dark chocolate base, which I really enjoyed.

I froze extra cupcakes and they held up very well. The flavor and texture was not affected; However, the tops of the cupcakes did become extra moist on the top and slightly sticky when thawed completely. Overall, a yummy product I would buy again.

PROS: easy to prepare, freezes well, great rich chocolate flavor, many recipes on the package

CONS: tastes like their brownie mix, add the extra egg for a fluffier cake.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Where Can I Buy This Mix?

GlutenSolutions.com

Ingredients: Organic natural evaporated cane sugar, Brown Rice Flour, Organic Cocoa Powder (processed with alkali), White Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Chicory Root, Sweet Rice Flour, Grainless & Aluminum Free Baking Powder (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate, Potato Starch), Sea Salt, Gluten-free Natural Flavor (contains corn derivative), Xanthan Gum.

See what glutenanddairyfree.com has to say about this mix!