Determined to make my Welsh in laws proud of me I made sure my first purchase from the show was a good Welsh classic!
Strategically, this was a bad decision as I had to carefully carry my four delicate Welsh Cakes around for the whole day. Nevertheless, I'm proud to say they all made it home in one piece! I promptly posted my proud purchase on Facebook to score Welsh Brownie Points. One of my friends was quick to notice that they seem to be called "Bakestones (Welsh Cakes)" which we all found a little stange. As she quite rightly said "You would soon know if you bit into a Bakestone!" For those of you not in the know the Bakestone is the large cast iron plate traditionally used for cooking Welsh Cakes on!
Anyway, enough Welsh history! The Welsh Cakes were good. A little crumblier than I expected but otherwise you wouldn't know they were GF! They get a big thumbs up from me but couldn't run them past Dale as he is a disgrace to his country because he doesn't like them!!
While stuffing ourselves with samples at the show, Mum and I made room for one of the fabulous looking cakes on The London Dessert Collective stand(www.londondessertcollective.com). We both went for the salted caramel brownie
Hmmmmm.... I have to say I was a little disappointed. The cakes looked so amazing, I expected great things. I couldn't get any of the salted caramel taste. The brownie had a strange texture (I like a good gooey brownie with a bit of substance myself) and it left a strange grainy coating on my teeth afterwards. Mum amd I were both unimpressed. I don't like to give a bad review when a company is flying the GF flag. However, I do like to give an honest review and these just did not float my GF boat.... especially when I know that Dale (*put fingers in ears now Dale*) makes much better brownies at a fraction of the cost! Sorry :o( .....maybe we just didn't choose wisely.....there were lots of other lovely looking cakes that I'm sure were fab!?
Ok, now, onto the savoury and to say I'm excited about these discoveries is an understatement!! Goodness me........they are both A-MAZ-ING!!!
Clives Pies!!! (http://www.clivespies.co.uk/gltnFree.htm)
There was serious excitement levels in our flat when I cracked this baby open!! Pies are a funny thing! Never really bothered with them in my gluten eating days but since they became off limits I developed pie cravings! I expected big things and I was not disappointed!!
It tasted just like......well it tasted just like a pie.....I mean, a normal pie!! I didn't think it was possible! Lovely, crunchy, crumbly, buttery pastry with a hugely tasty filling! I will, most definitely be purchasing Clive's Pies again in the very near future! (Ps, don't make the mistake I did....lifting the pie out of he foil by the pastry lid....big mistake....lifted straight off in my hands showing all it's innards? Oooops!)
Just when we thought the levels of Coeliac excitement couldn't get any higher, along came The Venice Bakery (http://shop.venicebakery.co.uk). I had wanted to try their pizza bases for a while so when I saw them at The Allergy and Free From Show I took it as a sign.....it was like it was meant to be!
Still, emotional from my pie experience, I was nearly moved to tears by my pizza! I've finally found a GF base that beats all others! It was crispy round the edges but soft in the middle, it held together well without feeling cardboardy and tasted great without tasting cardboardy!!
My GF life will never be the same again!!! I have said it before and I'll say it again...we are living in exciting GF times.....food is starting to taste normal again! Real life pizza, pies and Welsh Cakes! Whatever next?!?! (Please can I put in a plea for a GF Mars Bar, Chocolate Orange and Maltesers if anyone in the know is reading!!)
Oooooo and finally I'd like to give a little shout out to Helen ( http://bit.ly/HqWNnw) and her seeds for cereal.
Being a rebel I put it on my yogurt instead...
I really quite liked it! I can't eat nuts and don't like fish much so this is a great Omega 3 hit. It also reckons it should help with bloating which can only be good! Pretty impressed and as I near the end of my bag I'm sure I will be placing an order very soon!
Well, the summer hols started for me on Thursday wooohoooo! I have packed my bags and Dale and I are heading off to New York for a couple of weeks (arghhhhhhhh!! Woop woop!! Just a little excited!!) sooooooo my blogging my be a little erratic over the next couple of weeks but never fear...I shall be eating my way round New York (all in the name of research!) and I can't wait to fill you all in as soon as I can! Have a great couple of weeks and see you when I get back! (@lizprice79)
This post really made me laugh! I'm absolutely with you on The London Dessert Collective. I so desperately wanted to love their products and I was rather disappointed. Their macarons were exceptional and I did like the brownie (although, like you, I had the salted caramel one and, like you, couldn't taste any of the salted caramel at all), but I had the Pistachio Meringue Cake as well and it really was quite awful. More on my blog if you want to read about it but very sad that I had to throw it away in the end!
ReplyDeleteQuite interested in the Helen's Seeds pack. Are they oat-free as well?
Vikki - www.buttercupbakerybournemouth.blogspot.com
Ahh thank you for reading it! Yes, it was such a shame, it all looked so delicious didn't it?! I cant eat oats either, the packet i bought was definitely oat free (the one in the pic), not sure if they all were- very nice though, definitely worth giving it a go.
ReplyDeleteWill definitely check out your blog! :0)