I met a new company and a great group of ladies at the Chicago Gluten & Allergen Free Expo.
Ardenne Farm, a new dedicated gluten free company, is located in Mills River, NC. Their "secretive and innovative" flour blend contains NO artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.
They have a
variety of mixes, including chocolate and yellow cake mixes, a brownie mix, 4 cookie mixes and 2 muffin mixes. While I was at the expo I tried their chocolate chips cookies, which were very tasty. Many of my fellow bloggers were saying " You have to try the cookies that are in the glass jars!"
When I introduced myself, and mentioned that I was a Official GFAF Expo blogger, they asked if I would be willing to take home a few of their mixes to try. I obviously said yes and thanked them for their generosity. I asked one of them what her favorite product was, and she said she liked the Chocolate Cake mix. So I chose that and their Cinnamon Crunch Muffin Mix, as I haven't seen one like it on the market.
I decided to make the Chocolate Cake Mix for Easter dinner.
The mixes are really to put together. You only need eggs, butter and water. The batter is rich and thick, but easy to pour. I know they say not to eat raw batter, but I admit that I licked a bit off my finger when I was done separating the batter into my 2 9 inch round baking pans. The batter had a great chocolate flavor, but a lightness to it as well. I figured if the batter tasted that good, the finished product would taste great!
The cake baked up perfectly, and didn't drop or sag after cooling. Big plus! I remembered to grease and flour the bottom of my pans, but apparently I did one better than the other. One of the cake rounds broke apart a bit on the bottom. I just made sure to make that the bottom layer. No one was the wiser.
I frosted the cake with Betty Crocker Whipped White Frosting, as it says "gluten free" directly on the canister. I also decorated the cake with Dove Chocolate Eggs (making sure to check the
NFCA Easter Candy List) and topped it with sprinkles. My husband said he thought the cake was "beautiful!"
The cake was a huge hit at our Easter dinner. Everyone mentioned that they loved it. My father also has Celiac Disease and my step-mother said she would definitely be interested in buying this mix. My only "issue" with this light and airy cake was that it was a bit crumbly. I'm curious if adding another egg would help.
There were only 6 of us for dinner Saturday night, so I took the rest of the cake to Sunday School with me on Sunday morning. Everyone who tried it said they enjoyed it. And there was just enough left over for Brad and I to have another (third piece) with our Roasted Chicken Salad with Dried Cranberries Sunday night. Yum!
Thank you Ardenne Farm for giving me the opportunity to review the product. I look forward to making the Cinnamon Crunch Muffins!
Labels: product review
