Let Them Eat Cake!!

Cake!!!! I've always loved cake. I love to bake it and decorate it and eat it. Cake is what you eat when you are celebrating. I like all kinds of cake. Cake is good and something that doesn't fit into a gluten free diet all that easily.

Once I made the decision to "go gluten free", I thought about all the things I would have to give up and cake was on the list - or maybe not. Strolling down the grocery store aisle, I happened to find that Betty Crocker makes a gluten free cake mix. Wooohoo!!!! I never noticed it before but in my new gluten free state of mind I see it and my heart was filled with joy. Of course the cake mix is twice as much as a normal cake mix and only makes half as much as a normal cake mix but it is still cake and that is something to be happy about.
Once home, I happily get out the ingredients and mixed up my new found cake mix and waited until it came out of the oven. It was easy enough to make - like any other cake mix except that you had to add vanilla in addition to the butter, water and eggs. After it cooled, I frosted it with some chocolate frosting.

The Verdict: it was okay. It certainly looked like regular cake and was moist. I am sort of a cake snob since I am baker and come from a long line of excellent bakers in the family so I might be too harsh a critic though. It did have a slightly different taste to it that I couldn't place and was a little dense. I am guessing that has to do with using rice flour and potato starch instead of wheat flour. It wasn't dense like a pound cake but wasn't light and fluffy like a normal cake.

Normally, I would have snacked on the cake for a few days but after a couple pieces of this cake I wasn't all that interested in it any more and threw it out. This was my first adventure in a gluten free product and I was pleasantly surprised but a little disappointed. I was surprised that the cake was edible but was disappointed that it wasn't as good as regular cake. In my heart, I was hoping that I would be eating cake that was just as good as a regular box cake.

I happened to find the same cake mix at Big Lots the other day so I bought it to give it another try. As I have been eating more gluten free products, I have decided to not anticipate them to be like regular food and to judge them as what they are and not in comparison to gluten food because gluten free food will never be exactly like gluten food.

In hindsight, this cake was probably better than other mixes. And it is nice to have an alternative to being the only kid not having birthday cake at the party.


Next up - brownies!!!