Antonina's Bakery Gluten free Blueberry nut mini cupcakes, review

While in Portland I spotted a new label in the gluten free freezer.

 Antonina's bakery

They had two flavors, available in cupcake and Cake. Since the label said it was a dedicated Facility, I trusted it. Perhaps I should not have...

 



 



 

The cakes were yummy. They came frozen but it was over 70f so they did not stay frozen long. Moist, decent amount of nuts and blueberries. Good frosting to cake ratio.

 

Unfortunately, about 12 hours later I noticed the roof of my mouth was raw, and gums swollen. For me that is a sure sign that I have gotten a minor cross contamination.

 

As I brows their webpage, I don't see the product I bought. I doo see other products listed and gluten free. But it appears that the majority of their products are not Gluten free. On the "our history" page the owners focus on their desire to make "all natural and wholesome ingredients" and that "In the future we plan to open a certified Gluten Free bakery."

The copyright is 2011-2012. I'm not sure the current situation at Antonina's right now. But I suspect that since there focus is not primarily the Gluten free community, they might not have the same diligence to cross contamination. Those who are GF because they find it more natural, or wholesome, are not as worried about dedicated facilities as those of us who's health depends on it. Its been three days since the cupcakes, and my mouth is still raw. It might have been an isolated incident, but I'm going to steer clear of this brand, Just in case.

Great Harvest Bakery

Yesterday we went visiting family in West Seattle.
Squeaker fell asleep after having lunch with one of his Great Grandmothers. So she was kind enough to sit with him in the car while I ran into their Great Harvest Bakery.
This chain of bakeries in all over the Seattle area. But the one in West Seattle advertises gluten free baked goods.
They should have had cinnamon rolls, but sadly they did not.
I got a Chocolate chip cookie (with salt on it ;P)
a Pumpkin chocolate chip cookie (not as good as mine)
AND I tried their Cinnamon Chip bread.

The highlight was certainly the Bread.
It was dense, moist and super yummy.
I was tearing hunks off of the loaf and munching them down on the drive home.

I thought "this would make excellent french toast sunday afternoon" But none of it lasted that long.

I think I can pass on the cookies, but that bread was worth going back for.

Haggen Bakery has Gluten free cookies

Hubby was at the local Haggen's Bakery and noticed they had fresh baked gluten Free cookies. So I brought them home for me. Not sure what the kitchen methods are, so might be a cross contamination issue.

I don't know if it is just our local Haggen or if others bake gluten free too. 

Gluten Free Chocolate chip

Overall, soft, chewy, and the most resemblance to how I think a home made chocolate chip cookie should taste. Keep in mind it's been about 13 years since I had a non gluten free cookie)

The package contained ten cookies. Each was palm sized, not Huge, but not tinny either. In my opinion ideal sized.
Cost was about 6 dollars, so overall a good price.
Package lasted about 4 days. And last cookie was just as good as the first.

I will get these again.

Cupcakes in Kirkland

I recently went to Kirkland. There is a bakery there, that I have mentioned before: sweet cakes. on this particular day it happened to be a Wednesday, and on Wednesday the fresh cupcake flavors are key lime and orange creamsicle.Yummy as always, but costing over a dollar each.  

Also on Wednesdays in Kirkland, in June, it it summer market day, and so only a few feet away were fresh berries, flowers, and competitive gluten free baked goods. Several vendors advertising that their products were gluten free.

Fancy Free Bakery.
The Minni cupcake on the left is from Fancy Free, the right is Sweet Cakes.
Fancy free cost $.75
The frosting on the Sweet Cakes was sweeter. The Cake from Fancy free was moister.
Both were delicious

Cinnimon rolls

I was able to pick up a pan of 'Take and Bake" Cinnamon roles from Fancy Free Bakery.
The instructions for baking were clear.
The baked up very nicely.
And they were scrumptious right out of the oven.
I like the idea of getting them as dough, and baking them at home. It makes fresh cinnimonrolls on a sunday morning, in your PJs a posability again.

Fancy Free Bakery

Fancy Free Bakery fancyfreebakery.com
I found them in a booth at local markets.
I got some Minni doughnuts.

Very minni.
Taste good. Dence, but moist. Best I have ever had.

Alternative Baking Co Gluten free Cookie

Alternative Baking Co Gluten free Cookie: Pumpkin Delight

Very good.
Texture was excellent: Soft, slightly chewy, moist.
Not crumbly or undercooked.
Pumpkin flavor was nice, subtle. And Spices were not overpowering.

Sunny Valley Wheat Free; Chocolate chip Cookie

I picked up a ready to eat cookie from Sunny Valley Wheat Free, and a WOW cookie, for comparison.
The Sunny Valley Wheat Free cookie had a strange after taste. I flipped it over and on the back, several ingredients are Bean flours. So that explains it.
So far, no product has been able to hide that bean taste. It overshadows the rest of the ingredients.

To me, the WOW cookie is still top.

Gluten free Donut review

GLUTINO glazed original VS Kinnikinnick Vanilla Glazed

 Kinnikinnick was better. the Glutino tasted stale right out of the box.

Kinnikinnick has a smother texture. Glutino were very dense.

I found a recipe for Cake Pops, using stale doughnuts, so we will try that with the Glutino, and I'll tell you how that goes.

Flying apron @ Whole foods

Our Whole foods just started caring, in there bakery, individually wrapped goodies form the Flying apron bakery.
I am SOOOOO excited.

It's a long and difficult drive to get to Fremont where the Flying apron Bakery is, before they close. So having a supply near by is very exciting.
I told the clerk that as I check out, with a few goodies in my GF cart, and she told me that I was the third customer she had heard that from that day, being the first week that they started caring it.
Hum,,,
They way I figure the math: I would think that means that 3% of there customers were excited to see the Flying apron bakery display.
I don't know marketing, but I would think 3% would be worth noticing.
I might have to write Whole foods a letter, just in case that checker did not pass on to her manager how many people were excited by the new addition.

I love the Pecan Cinnamon rolls. They are actually rolled, and the frosting is just right.More of a maple flavored glaze...Not too much Cinnamon and just enough nuts.
And when wrapped individually they were the moistest and softest I had ever tasted. Even when I have gone to the bakery!
Happy day!

whole foods bake house pie crust 2

i understand that it is common to want thanksgiving  food when pregnant.

so hubby got a turkey thigh and breast for us to have our own thankful day. and he also got more crust to make a pumpkin pie.

once again the crust was good.

Pink a Bella Cup Cakes

I got a new job.
It's In Redmond and we will be moving because My Hubby works in Redmond too.
SO I was investigating our new neighborhood.
And as I wondered Redmond town center I peeked in the window of Pink a Bella Cup Cakes. Three elderly women were very excitedly selection there cakes, and I glanced at the pricing board, surprised to see at he bottom "gluten free...$3.25"
Now, that is a hefty price to pay for a single cupcake, but the other cupcakes were $3.00, so I figured a $.25 mark up for GF was not too bad.
So I waited and spoke to the sales girl.
She explained that they keep the GF cakes in the freezer, and that today they only had ONE left, it was vanilla; but that she could top it with fresh frosting.
She offered to top it with "Oreo" frosting, but I pointed out that if it has Oreo in it (and it looked like it did) that I can't have it. So I went with plain Chocolate frosting.
She offered me sprinkles, and I asked if they were also GF. She did not know, so I passed on the sprinkles.
I would think that if you advertise having GF then you staff should KNOW what is and is not GF. OK rant over.
I went home with my frozen cupcake, and had it for lunch the next day.
It was good.
But I don't think it was worth three dollars. For the price of two cupcakes I could get a cake mix and have a dozen!
I understand from other locals that the attraction is the unique flavors. The day I was there, I saw at least 10 flavor combinations on display. {Pina Colada* Bananas fosters*Root beer float* and several with alcoholic ingredients}
Perhaps If I had eaten something more exciting then a vanilla with chocolate I would be more impressed, but it does not sound like they do the Exciting ones GF.
Overall not impressed, and probably will not go back.
(Sweekcakes in Kirkland was better)

Ashcroft House Bed & Breakfast

We decided to have a little weekend get-away.

There is a new Temple in BC and I wanted to go attend one of the tours they give to the public.

SO I Put "gluten free" "Bed" "Breakfast" and "BC Canada" into a search.

Only one Bed and breakfast came up; The Ashcroft House Bed & Breakfast.

One of the owners bakes gluten free from scratch. The sights looked lovely. So we called and made a reservation. We however, did not realize that they are on the island. So our weekends get-away included more time (and money) on Ferryboats then anywhere else.

And sadly, no grey whales were spotted. (it is the season for them)

It was fun, and Ashcroft House Bed & Breakfast was lovely.

The King bed was very tall.

There was a step stool so you could get up onto the bed.

The house was old with all the charm you would expect, but had all the updates.

Each room had it's own bath.

The roome was large and tastfull.

We could see that water from our room.

And breakfast was indeed Gluten free.

Cereal, Blueberry coffee cake and "scones"

We had fun, and should we ever go out to the island again, we will probably go back to Ashcroft House Bed & Breakfast.

Chaco Canyon Organic Cafe

My hubby takes a night class at the university. He gets there from work on the bus, but I pick him up. I noticed a sandwich board one day that said "Gluten free" on one said and "Organic" on the other. But the place was always closes that late at night.
So finals week I drove my hubby TO class and I stooped in.
I got a slice of lemon cake and a tropical smoothies. It was over $12.

That seams a little high.
This is the university district. Pore college students.
I'm constantly saddened at how expensive it is to eat gluten free. Who would think leaving something OUT would make things more expensive?
So I do a little thinking when I purchase gluten free.
For reference, minimum wage in this county is $8.07 a hour.
So that is about a hour and a half of work to earn a smoothie and a piece of lemon cake.
And I thought, would I work for an hour and a half to earn this?
Probably not.

The guy who gave me my smoothie told me to come back on Wednesday because that is gluten free baking day. So Perhaps, on Wednesday afternoon, when it is fresh, it might be worth the time and expense.
If you go on a wednesday, let me know.

Pizza Crust

I can get pizza on a gluten free crust from SEVERAL places all over the Seattle area.
I have tried about a dozen different places. Even had a "crustless pizza" down town once (read: ceramic bowl of melted cheese and peperoni)

I have to say, and so did my hubby, that Pizza Works has the best crust so far.
http://www.pizzawrks.com/ & http://www.pizzawrks.com/blog/
The crust I tried came from "Sunny Valley" Which is not opened to the public. But Pizza Works let us purchase a set of frozen crusts.

They had some unique pizza toppings to select from. Green olives, Red Pesto, capers, over 30 options, with multiple sauce and cheese options, including non dairy . The possibilities were endless. My hubby liked that we got sooo much toppings.

We had two small pizza's (10") and a large serving of spaghetti and meatballs, with a soda, and chocolate peanut butter bars (also Sunny valley).

Over all the crust was the highlight.
I would go again, but just for the pizza.

http://www.sweetcakeskirkland.com/

1st let me say YUM.
My sister in-law and brother in-Law took me to Sweet Cakes bakery in Kirkland. The store is not exclusively Gluten Free, but they have Gluten free products daily.
Yesterday when I went, they had gluten free chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with three frosting options each.
Chocolate with chocolate frosting
Chocolate with Mint frosting (Andy's mint peaces on top)
Chocolate with peanut butter frosting.
Vanilla with Vanilla frosting.
Vanilla with coconut frosting.
Vanilla with orange frosting.
They come in regular size and a minni size.
They were good.
Even my family, usually not interested in Gluten free things liked them.
The chocolate is good. I have to say that even I can make chocolate cake, so that is not too impressive.
It was the white cake that got me.
It was good, it was moist, and it was fluffy.
And the price was VERY reasonable for Gluten free.
I will be going back again.

"Cinnamon roll"

I have been gluten free for over 9 years now. And I will admit there are still a few things I have yet to find a reasonable GF facsimile of.
Well, Flying apron bakery http://www.flyingapron.com/ just took Cinnamon rolls off that list.
The sweet bread dough was soft, moist and tender, but held up well enough to un-roll the bun to eat it. (Which I might add it 60% of why I love them.) The frosting was a subtle glaze, that let the roll shine. Pecans and Cinnamon in a fine balance. They were individually crafted/baked kind of rolls. Like my grandmother
If you prefer the pan baked style with Cream-cheese frosting, and a more syrupy cinnamon to your roll (a la that famous cinnamon roll place in the mall) then I recommend http://haleyscorner.com/ as exactly what your looking for. But last time I was there they had all sold out, 'cause they only make them on Friday and they closed at 6 so I could not get there until Saturday. I just checked there web menu and I could not find "Cinnamon rolls" listed, so perhaps it's by request only?
I will say that is one flaw with most of the GF bakeries I know. The menu's are so large that you don't know what they won't have on a given day. In my case you can drive for hours and then find out they don't have what you want. That is my biggest problem with Davinci's too.
So I guess my request is if a GF bakery owner ever reads this: Make a few things, make them well and make then often.