I was recently sent samples of gluten free baked goods from the Butterfly Bakery. No, no, I’m gluten free or anything. I had actually asked if I could try the sugar-free goods, but I guess that just wasn’t going to happen and a few weeks later I got these gluten free baked goods in the mail.
I’m very skeptical of gluten free products and if they’ll taste good or not. Since I’m perfectly okay with eating up glutens, I really tend to shy away from gluten free stuff since well, I don’t really need or want to eat them. But hey, I’ll still try things.
I was sent two products to try:
The sliced plain vanilla creme cake and…
banana walnut mini muffins.
[Vanilla Creme Cake Facts & Ingredients]
Both products are made with 100% teff flour – which is a very small grain, about the size of a poppy seed.
[Banana Nut Muffin Facts]
I’ll admit now that I know nothing about teff flour. Or about gluten free products. Let’s just consider this a taste test from a non-gluten person to you.
I had a furry little helper with me while I was taking photos and taste testing the products. I guess this was a sniff test. Sniff test was approved and I was able to move on to the next step.
The first one I tried was the Vanilla Creme Cake slices – very similar to a pound cake. The creme cake slices had a nice, sweet flavor with a bit of nuttiness detected (probably from the teff flour). It was very crumbly though – much more crumbly than a regular pound cake or cake slice. I had to be gentle moving them to a plate. Most of the slices in the package had completely disintegrated and I was lucky to have a couple of slices to photograph.
I still thought the flavor was just a bit off, but it wasn’t off-putting. I thought it’d be nice paired with a little whipped cream and strawberries for a nice little dessert for as a slice for breakfast or a snack. While it wasn’t what I was used to, the flavor was still well enough for me to enjoy the taste and flavor. It was moist and held it’s own quite well. If I were given two slices of cake, I’m sure I could tell which was the gluten free version. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different.
[Banana Nut Mini Muffins]
Yeah… so. These ones.
Maybe I’m biased because I don’t dig bananas that much, but I didn’t really enjoy these little muffins at all. The flavor was just really off to me – almost kind of mineral-y taste. The nuts are finely chopped into the batter and the banana taste was a bit off to me.
This one was not very crumbly and held it’s shape up during the journey. I had my family try this one, too, and no one really cared for it.
But, we all agreed that the vanilla creme cake was pretty good and passable.
Would I buy this on my own if I saw it in the store?
No, probably not. But if I needed a gluten free item, I’d totally go with that vanilla creme cake. It tasted more like regular cakes than the muffins.
My little helper dog agrees with all of my statements.
Disclaimer: This products were sent to me and were complimentary. I was not paid for this review. All opinions are my own.
FYI – teff flour is what is used to make injera, the spongy flatbread used in Ethiopian cuisine. If you guys ever eat at an Ethiopian restaurant (I recommend Harar on El Cajon Blvd/near Texas St or Awash, also on El Cajon but in the City Heights section), you will be served injera along with your meal. It looked like little rolled up pieces of a light grayish brown towel. I know that doesn’t sound good, but it reminds me of a little hand towel. You unroll it and break of pieces and use it to scoop up your vegetables or meat. No forks or spoons, just our hands and the injera. Food is also served on top of the injera.
Sorry for the long-winded comment..! Yikes!
Hi CC – thanks for the background! I haven’t heard of teff before and could only find basic info on it!