My friend and neighbor, Peggy, made me an awesome gluten-free and dairy-free cake for my birthday party last month. She worked on it all day and impressed everyone with this beautiful chocolate-on-chocolate cake! I didn’t ask for the recipe because I don’t stand a chance of pulling this off, but if you’re interested, let me know and maybe I can get her to share!
Tried this mocha cupcake from Babycakes LA the other day. The frosting was great – would’ve liked to try it on the brownie cake though.
Check out my past babycakes LA posts here, here, here and here.
Babycakes L.A.
babycakesnyc.com
130 East Sixth Street (between Main and Los Angeles streets)
Downtown L.A. 90014
(213) 623-5555
chocolate and mocha, chocolate and banana
May is Celiac Awareness month (though some celebrate in October). To celebrate, I headed over to Babycakes LA and picked up a couple of their vegan, gluten-free cupcakes. I was in luck, they had a couple of special flavors. They had only one chocolate with banana frosting left, so I immediately chose that one. The second was one they had created for a custom cake – chocolate with mocha frosting. Both were great. I hope they’ll consider adding these to their cupcake rotation.
Babycakes LA is located in downtown Los Angeles. Check out my previous Babycakes reviews.
The ever-popular Sprinkles has answered the requests of its customers and introduced a gluten-free red velvet cupcake – designated with a big red “G”.
I’ve never been to a Sprinkles, but always see a long line out the door at the Beverly Hills location.
Unfortunately for me, I can’t eat these because I also avoid dairy, and the frosting is made from cream cheese. So, readers: please try one for me, and leave a comment with your reviews!
Here’s a link to their site with details on their gluten-free cupcake and all of their locations – sprinkles.com
Picked a couple of these mint chocolate brownie cupcakes up over the weekend from Babycakes LA. They are incredibly good. 
They don’t have them every day, so make sure to get them when they do!
I was at Whole Foods and picked up this flat, hard piece of Super Seed Mochi. The package calls them Bake and Serve Rice Squares. Made out of brown rice, the mochi has added essential fatty acids, hemp and flax seeds.
To bake, you cut the mochi into one inch pieces and bake for about 8 minutes. The mochi expands, almost forming a hollow, bun like shape. This mochi is not like sticky dessert sushi, but more like bread with a crunchy outside and chewy inside. I tried putting olive oil and salt on one piece and honey and cinnamon on another. Both sweet and salty were tasty.
It isn’t easy eating at Disneyland–the food is expensive and isn’t particularly great. The one good thing is that they are sensitive to people who can’t eat gluten. And I emphasize the “can’t”. Here’s why:
During a recent trip to Disneyland, our group stopped at the Mexican restaurant inside the park. Apparently they serve everything on flour tortillas. I asked if they had corn tortillas available and was rudely asked, “Why, are you allergic?” I said yes, and they provided me with some. But, what if I just preferred corn?
Anyway, the tacos were tasteless, but served their purpose. On Main Street, one of my friends excitedly pointed out that they had a box of gluten-free cookies. I didn’t try them, but was glad to know they are available.
I don’t even remember the last doughnut I had. But, I do remember how much I loved them. Since going gluten free about five years ago, I haven’t even gone near a doughnut shop. I have had to endure watching co-workers eat them at the office, and see them sitting in pretty pink boxes on our work “calorie counter.”
Finally, yesterday, I was able to once again enjoy a doughnut. It was PHENOMENAL. I got to Babycakes NYC L.A. early Sunday (the last time I was there, they were sold out) and was glad to see they had two choices for me. I ordered one cinnamon doughnut, and I ate it on the spot. It was fluffy and crisp, without feeling too heavy. I couldn’t have asked for a better doughnut rebirth.
Being the holidays and all, I thought I’d do some taste-testing of pre-made gluten-free desserts. Unfortunately, the results left a lot to be desired.
For starters, I was jealous of everyone who got to have pumpkin pie over Thanksgiving. So, when I went to Whole Foods I thought I’d try
out the Fabe’s gluten-free pumpkin pie. It wasn’t worth the price or the calories. Mostly, it tasted undercooked. I even tried putting it in the oven, but it never really tasted great. For those who have no other option and really want pumpkin pie – it’s worth a try, but don’t expect it to be close to the real thing.
While at 
Whole Foods (Pasadena) I also spotted a new brand of cookies, called Lucy’s. They are also free of peanuts, tree nuts, eggs and dairy. I opted for the sugar cookies. They are OK…nothing to write about, unless of course, you’re writing a GF review 
.
My last dessert experiment was last night. A gluten-free neighbor of mine told me that the Ralph’s grocery store down the street (downtown Los Angeles) just started carrying a line of GF baked goods. 
I went to check it out and sure enough, there was a display in their bakery of French Market breads, cookies, cupcakes and muffins. I went for the four pack of chocolate cupcakes. The frosting is good, the cupcake was as dry as cardboard. I was glad they have the option now, but they really need to do better on the product.
Our aunts, Amelia and Sally, went all out on Thanksgiving to make sure they made the Gluten-Free Twins site! They succeeded with these chocolate cupcakes. The cupcake base was a Pamela’s mix. But Sally went off the directions and added plain yogurt and chocolate chips to make sure they were super moist. Mission accomplished. Waiting to see what Christmas dessert looks like!
Shaun
Heather