Gluten Free Cake: Jennie's Gluten Free Bakery Pound Cake Mini's - Product Review

Gluten Free Cake: Jennie's Gluten Free Bakery Pound Cake Mini's

PRODUCT NAME:                    Pound Cake Mini’s

BRAND:                                   Jennies Gluten-Free Bakery

COST:                                     $4.78         

SIZE:                                       7 oz. (5 cakes)

COST PER OZ:                        $0.68

CERTIFIED GLUTEN FREE:      YES

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       GFCO

ORGANIC:                               NO

CERTIFICATION AGENCY:       NA

VEGAN:                                   NO

GLUTEN FREE FACILITY:        YES

LOCATION OF FACILITY:         Pennsylvania

SHELF LIFE:                            2 Months          

*These statements are based on the information printed on the product packaging.  We cannot verify the accuracy of this information.  For verification of the statements above, please contact the manufacturer.

REVIEW:

This week I am reviewing Jennies Gluten Free Bakery Pound Cake mini’s.  Pound cake is one of those foods where I am never quite sure what it is and I feel like it falls into a wide range of what it could be.  Perhaps that’s just me.  I know that whatever it is, I love it.  It’s moist, sweet, and tasty.  I do a fair amount of gluten free baking myself and I know first hand how it’s tough to recreate anything that is made with regular flour.  Yet, it is possible to get a flavor that is pretty close to the original recipe and sometimes even better.  Event so, I went into this sampling optimistically knowing that whatever happened within my first bite, there was absolutely nothing that drenching in rum, whipped cream and berries couldn’t fix!

Gluten Free muffins can sometimes be a little tricky to make.  The flour is different and can sometimes be tough to work with.  It looks like this challenge has plagued this muffin.  After sampling a few of the muffins, I noticed inconsistency within the box.  All was not lost though, because there is always a remedy.  The first one I sampled was dried out a bit and while it could’ve been saved with a drizzle of honey and whipped cream, it couldn’t have held up on its own at all.  The second one I sampled was perfect.  It was light, spongy, squishy and soft with enough bounce-back when you touched it.  It could’ve easily accompanied an afternoon tea or a morning coffee all on its own.  The third one I opened just to see which one it would be, too hard, just right or is this one going to be more of a momma bear, somewhere in the middle.  And you guessed, it, it was somewhere in the middle.

While I really enjoyed the one that was just right, just what I wanted this little tea-sized pound cake to be, the quality of the other two left me a little wanting.  Still, I think this could easily be amended by adding a bit of flair to these otherwise plain cakes, which is pretty much what pound cake begs for anyway, gluten free or not.  So, my recommendations would range from jam, marmalade, lemon curd, fresh fruit, whipped cream, crème freche, nutella, drizzle of honey (with some crumbled pistachios, almonds, whatever you fancy), splashed with a touch of Gran Marnier or Nivan, then topped with afore-mentioned tastiness or any number of other things you can think to put on top of cake.  All in all, I think this is a decent product and one that if you are in a pinch and need some kind of dessert for guests or a party favor, could be dressed up fancy enough to hide the imperfections of the taste.  I think they would be perfect in trifle and pudding recipes too, where they would soak in the ingredients well and take on the flavors of its surroundings.

Nutrition Facts

Each one of these little cakes, which are roughly the size of two or three fingers put together depending of course how large your fingers are, is 130 calories.  Ouch.  But obviously, let’s keep in mind this is cake, not health food and you would want to eat these every day.  The upside is that it is not only gluten free, but dairy, soy, peanut and casein free so it’ll work for a majority of your food allergy conscious dinner guests. 

Taste:  Depends on each cake: can vary from soft, spongy, perfect cake texture, to more condensed that does not hold up without some kind of topping camouflage

Labeling:  homogenous coloring on package, nothing really jumps out and says, “buy me”

Packaging:  cardboard box with plastic container.  Each cake is individually wrapped in plastic as well.

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RATING:

Texture:                 3                             

Taste:                     2.5                         

Value:                    3             

OVERALL:              2.8         

Reviewed by Krisztina L