Product Reviews

The Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix by Pamela’s comes in an attractive bag, and has a recipe on the side that is just absolutely stunning! The chocolate pound cake recipe, to be found on the side near the bottom of the bag, if made with gluten free chocolate chips added, will satisfy even your pickiest non-GF friends. It is a first-rate cake.

The cake will stay moist for days and will not fall apart or become petrified. This is the best GF chocolate cake mix we’ve tried yet, and that’s after trying quite a few mixes.

Wasting money is always a concern in the GF world, since everything is so darned expensive – how many times have you purchased a GF product and tipped the resulting “cake” or “bread” into the trash receptacle, wondering if the ancient Egyptian tomb builders might have used a similar mixture in building the great pyramids? That’s happened to us a few times, and it is so aggravating when you’ve shelled out a five-spot for the privilege. Well, go ahead and splurge on Pamela’s Chocolate cake mix, and a bag of GF chocolate chips, and then have the chocolate pound cake for breakfast also, in case you didn’t eat enough of it at dinner.

Ok, we’re done raving but did we mention that Pamela’s Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix might become a staple food for us?

A Gf-Zing! recommended product.

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.

Jennie-O Macaroons are delicious! They say “gluten-free” right on the can (they come in a can), and they have very few ingredients – a good sign! We buy them in the Whole Foods Market, and at Debra’s Natural Gourmet, in West Concord, Massachusetts.

These macaroons are in a yellow 8-ounce can, with a picture of a gentleman sporting a beard and spectacles on the label. That’s how you’ll find them in the cookie section – the package looks sort of like a small can of coffee, but with macaroons inside. They have apparently been being manufactured since right after World War I, which means they have some history to them and it means they are good or they wouldn’t be in business.

A Gf-Zing! recommended product.

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.

Gluten Free by George English Muffins, the cinnamon and currant flavor,
appeared at the freezer section of the Whole Foods market recently,
and we had try them. “Hope” is one of the common threads of the
gluten-free lifestyle – always hoping that the latest gluten-free bread
product will not crumble at the slightest touch like a skeleton in a
vampire movie; always hoping that the croutons we make from the
gluten-free focaccia will not sit there on the cookie sheet in the oven
like little cubes of a dishwashing sponge that will never dry out;
always hoping that the cookie baker will have heeded the words of the
Elizabethan cooks who said “forget not the salt.;” hoping that maybe
this time the manufacturer will not have interpreted “gluten-free” to
mean “flavor-free.”

Well, that was long-winded, but we have to vent sometimes. Now for the good news:
this guy George, of Gluten Free by George, has cooked up a nice little
English muffin. We actually look forward to eating these for breakfast!
And, more good news, if you put them in the toaster, they actually
brown, and they become hot, unlike other, seemingly heat-resistant
gluten-free bread-like substances we have toasted before. Three cheers
for George!

A Gf-Zing! recommended product.

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.

More choices, and Better Toast!

The search for good gluten free bread continues! We are looking for a bread with flavor! Somehow, when bread is made without wheat, the resulting bread can be flavorless – no matter how much herb and spice is added. One of our associates calls it “the black hole of flavor” in that an infinite number of flavorings can be added in to a rice-based bread yielding absolutley no improvement in the flavor whatsoever! We are also always looking for gluten free breads with structural integrity and moisture.

Recently, gluten free-bread mix manufacturers have begun branching out from the old rice flour recipes, adding interesting new elements like sorghum and chicory root. The result is that we now have more choices and better toast! The latest entry into the gluten-free Bread arena is a new mix from Pamela’s, which the manufacturer describes as gluten-free.

Pamela’s new Amazing Wheat-Free Bread Mix makes a nicely flavored bread that is perfect for sopping up gravy! This bread has a sort of spongy quality – you can drag it around the plate and it actually absorbs gravy instead of falling apart. Try it with the Beef Stew braised with Chianti and Coffee (filed under Meat Recipes). Interestingly, you can also return to the loaf of bread a day or two after baking it and the loaf is still moist and attractive! You don’t need to relegate this one immediately to the cryogenics department for eternal frozen suspension. You can leave it on the table, wrapped up, and return to it later without worries. This is a miraculous development, for those of us familiar with the old bricks of frozen rice bread that crumble to dust when awoken from their frozen state.

How about toast? Pamela’s requires longer toasting than wheat bread would, yielding a browned piece of toast with a pleasant, homey flavor. The flavor is unique and slightly sweet – something to look forward to at breakfast!

We are looking forward to trying this product again, in particular the intriguing recipes for cinnamon bread and sweet bread that are on the side of the package. Also, especially interested in using it for french toast – it may be perfect for that!

A Gf-Zing! recommended product!

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.

Oh my! This organic fruit spread – Fiordifrutta – from www.rigoniusa.com is quite delicious. It has a very concentrated fruity flavor and is not too sweet – Fiordifrutta — just perfect for dressing up a drab gluten-free pound cake. The website claims that the product is made only of fruit, no corn syrup in there for anyone concerned about corn allergies. The lemon flavor product has pieces of lemon in it, spreads nicely, and has just a ton of flavor. Best of all, you don’t have to make it yourself. The strawberry flavor reminds us of homemade jam. There is a slight bitterness to these products which will be attractive to sophisticated adult palates.

This product is available for sale at Debra’s Natural Gourmet in Concord, Massachusetts.

We purchased a store-bought GF pound cake and spread the lemony treat on a slice, then served it with a cup of hot darjeeling tea – on pretty china. We felt like we were sitting down to some kind of nineteenth century tea in a novel. Felt like normal; actually, felt better than normal.

Lemon or Strawberry Fiordifrutta – A Gf Zing! recommended product!

Note: Here at Gf-Zing! we do not verify the gluten-free status of any product. We rely on the manufacturers to declare the status of their products. It is up to the reader to check labels, and to verify that the products they consume are safe for them to use.