The number 10 spot on my Gluten Free Mike’s Favorite Things goes to another company with a fantastic and delicious gluten-free product portfolio. I can honestly say that I absolutely love EVERYTHING I have tried from Shabtai Gourmet. Their decadent desserts are the real deal – made from simple, high quality ingredients. If you are entertaining this holiday season that do yourself a favor and stock up on some of these delicious goodies. Best of all they freeze (and defrost) like a dream making your dessert course super simple. You can check out their entire sweet portfolio on their Web site where you can also place an order to arrive at your front door in time for the holidays (and they are even offering free shipping for the holidays).
Now on to the products:
Shabtai Gourmet Raspberry Roll
It is no secret that I love Shabtai Gourmet’s products. So, here is yet another one of their delicious desserts as I eat my way through their entire product portfolio. Enter the famed jelly roll…This is a moist and spongy rendition that is absolutely indiscernible from its gluten-laden version. The cake itself is light and filled with delicious jam. The outer layer is rolled in shredded coconut giving the roll an added textural dimension that makes for the perfect marriage when you take your first bite. Perhaps the best thing about this product is that it freezes beyond compare and can be quickly thawed when surprise gluten-free friends show up unannounced.
Shabtai Gourmet Mini Black and White Cookies
Perhaps Jerry Seinfeld said it best, “Look to the cookie” when describing the goodness that is known as the black and white cookie. I am on a roll, and a few pounds heavier, thanks to my discovery of Shabtai-Gourmet products. So, I have been sampling their dessert offerings back to back over the past couple of weeks. Most recently I indulged in their black and white cookies. Now these are the mini version of the infamous oversized variety but every bit as good.The cookie itself is wonderfully spongy in consistency (as a good b&w cookie should be). The icing is nice and thick allowing for the crunch sensation when you first break it sugary crust. You can really taste the subtle notes of apricot and orange that make this otherwise simple cookie very complex. Again, Shabtai-Gourmet has taken an iconic classic dessert (and personal favorite) and perfectly cloned it in a gluten free variety.No, I do not own any Shabtai stock, I just love good quality, good tasting items. I am particularly fond of Shabtai-Gourmet because they not only use ingredients I can easily recognize, but they managed to replace a huge chunk of desserts that I quite honestly thought were gone with my Celiac diagnosis.
Shabtai Gourmet Rainbow Cookies
Continuing with my Shabtai-Gourmet kick, I had a box of these cookies in my freezer and thought why not give them a try the other evening. Well, I have been eating the steadily for the past few days. I grew up loving what is affectionately known as the rainbow cookie. When I was diagnosed Celiac, a huge and quite frankly delicious, part of my childhood was wiped away. That is until I came across these delectable gems.For those of you not familiar with the rainbow cookie, it is layers of brightly colored sponge-like cake held together by fruit jam and then…wait for it…covered in rich chocolate. I mean does it get any better? Shabtai’s version is the real deal. While eating them the other evening my non-Celiac other half also was eating them and made the comment, “These taste real”. They certainly do and it is largely because they are made from real ingredients (as with all Shabtai’s products). One you remove these cookies from the freezer they return to their soft and moist state. They are no worse the wear for being frozen and honestly I actually enjoy them frozen as well. Shabtai-Gourmet excels at taking classic, memorable recipes, and keeping them simple, honest, and real.
Shabtai Gourmet Ring Ting Cupcakes
As many of you know, I love sweets. I love chocolate, I love cookies, and I love cake. Unfortunately in the world of gluten free, it is often a challenge to find original creations – well my gluten free friends, your search is over.Shabtai Gourmet features a portfolio of products that would make Willy Wonka weep tears of joy. Their Ring Ting Cupcakes are, in a word, amazing. Think the Hostess chocolate cupcakes of your childhood which were full of real ingredients and not corn syrup and preservatives.Shabtai’s cupcakes are a throwback to the glory days of baking where a few simple ingredients combined to make magical desserts. The cupcakes are rich, devil’s food cake filled with a wonderfully sweet white cream icing center. Ah, the icing…you can feel the grit of the real sugar between your teeth as you savor every bite. You are not going to find this in today’s mass produced products. There is no corn syrup here. In fact here is a list of the ingredients: whole eggs, sugar, potato starch, organic palm fruit shortening, cocoa, cottonseed oil, tapioca starch, all natural vanilla extract, cocoa butter, and salt. Each cake is enrobed in a fantastically rich chocolate coating that, when coupled with the moist cake and rich cream, makes for a truly magical experience.Shabtai has broken the proverbial gluten free mold and provided Celiacs (and a range of allergy sufferers) with wonderfully decadent dessert options. I have a few more products sitting in my freezer and will be posting additional reviews in the very near future.
