Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Product review...Namaste Vanilla Cake Mix...

Hi all. I hope today is going well for you. I have been baking since early this morning trying new bread recipes, tweeking here and there with different flours, searching for that perfect blend. I have also decided to try a egg substitute as well when baking, as it seems I never have enough eggs in the house when most of my  recent "TRYS" have been dropped in the garbage pail...

I decided to try a Vanilla cake mix from Namaste today as we will be visiting my husbands family in Buffalo over the weekend and I need to be prepared with non wheat ladened items in tow for me to enjoy. There are always desserts galore lining the desert table when visiting and I refuse to be tempted!

This is the second time I have tried this particular cake mix from Namaste since I wasn't pleased with the first results thinking I must have done something wrong. So loaded with a few helpful tips from the company I decided to give it a try once more.

Since we will traveling over seven hours by car I thought it best to make cupcakes instead of a cake as they will travel slightly better. The mix makes 24 cupcakes, enough for traveling, and some for the freezer I thought. I followed the directions to the letter... The cupcakes rose quite well and had a wonderful scent while baking, same as the last time. I took them out of the oven when they were done and left them cool for over a hour. Since I hadn't been pleased with the way the previous batch had turned out I had decided to wait before mixing the icing packet they were also so kind to have sent, untill after I had sampled the results.

The cupcakes were soft and moist to the touch like most of the wheat laden cupcake mixes on the market. However the inside texture of the cake itself was a totally different story. They were moist, but almost had a elastic type texture when you tried to break a piece off. Although the flavor was spot on I just couldn't enjoy the texture in my mouth or the denceness.

This is the first cake mix I have used from this company and although the flavor was good I don't feel I would ever get a  "I can't believe this is gluten free" from anyone I might try to serve these to. They have more of a muffin/bread texture rather than a cake.

Maybe it's me....If you have had a better experience with this mix I would to hear from you. Maybe you can provide a tip or two for me as well as my readers.

Ingredients:

Sweet brown rice flour, tapioca flour, brown sugar, evaporated cane juice, arrowroot flour, rice milk powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, xanthan gum and ground vanilla bean.

Rating: 2 3/4 Stars

You can visit their home site at Namaste Foods

As always...Have a great wheat free day!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Product review...XO Baking Co. Pancake & Waffle Mix...

The sun is shining and it is a beautiful day! Not a day you would expect to have pancakes for breakfast, yet pancakes were on my mind...I recently received a GF Pancake & Waffle mix from XO Baking Co. and I have had a hankering for some soft tender cakes, and today was the day to indulge.

These pancakes were moist, tender, raised perfectly, and were quite tasty. Being that this was the first time I have tried any of the XO Baking products I was quite pleased. I am not the best pancake maker on the planet but I found that I did a fairly descent job this morning. Since I was the only one home for breakfast I had them all to myself!!!

XO Baking products are produced in a dedicated gluten free facility (manufactured in a facility that uses soy and milk). Along with being gluten free the products are also Kosher.  For those of you who live a Vegan lifestyle  XO Baking products also contain no milk or eggs, however they are not certified as Vegan. They are also 100% Trans fat free, and contain no artificial colors or flavors, using only unmodified ingredients.

The owner of  XO Baking Co.,  Lindsey Deitsch, is a Certified Health and Nutrition Coach as well as a  professional chef and baker. When finding she had Celiac Disease herself in 2009 she was determined to produce a product line for  herself, as well as others, that tasted delicious.

Organic coconut flour, high in fiber,  is found in all 16  of XO products. If you need to avoid soy then you will want to check out the companies All Purpose flour blend, Gingerbread Cookie mix, Banana Bread mix and their Cornbread mix which are all also soy free.

The nice thing about XO Baking is that all orders over $45 are shipped FREE!!! I have several other products from the company which I will be reviewing in the future, and can't wait to see if they are just as tasty. I have to say that this pancake mix is as close to the "real" wheat laden versions that I ate for all those years. The taste and texture were spot on. I would recommend this mix to everyone who craves a good old fashioned pancake.

Ingredients:
Premium Cassava flour, unmodified potato starch, pure cane sugar, organic coconut flour, baking powder, sea salt, xanthan gum, organic vanilla flavor.
*Contains Coconut

Rating 5 Stars

To see XO's other products or to place a order visit their website at XO Baking Co.

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