At the 2009 NFCA Appetite for Awareness event, I had the pleasure of meeting Allison Lubert & Heather Esposito also known as the dynamos behind Sweet Freedom Bakery. After a wondrous sample of their gluten free cupcakes, I anxiously counted the days till their mid-January 2010 opening in Philadelphia, PA. Sweet Freedom’s baked goods are not only gluten-free (score!), but vegan (dairy-free, casein-free, egg-free) and without corn, peanuts, and soy. It was overwhelmingly amazing to walk into a bakery and be able to eat every single item on the menu! Note to self: restraint is key when visiting Sweet Freedom.
Our venture into Philly started off as any typical day in early 2010…with snow. Undaunted by the forecast of (sigh, yet another) two feet, we loaded Thing 1 and Thing 2 into the car and headed towards the City of Brotherly Love. Once on South Street, we easily found metered parking right in front of the bakery (probably due to the impending blizzard barreling our way). Having obsessively studied the bakery menu, I was prepared to order. That was until I stood witness to the rows of muffins, cupcakes, and cobblers calling my name. Our first selection was a Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich. I’m not sure what excited the children more, the fact that they were eating a “sandwich” that was actually a cookie or the fact that their Mommy Dearest was (willingly) sharing her gluten free goodies with them. Yes, I admit, I have a tad bit of difficulty sharing. Keep in mind that my hubby and kiddos can eat gluten, so I feel totally justified in threatening to administer a karate chop if they venture near my gluten free stash. But I digress…The Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich ($3.50 single/$38.50 dozen) was utterly fabulous!
We then moved on to the Magic Bars ($2.75 single/$30.75 dozen). Oooh, these were good. We barely left room for one chocolate and one vanilla cupcake ($3.50 single/$38.50 dozen) iced to perfection. Unfortunately, Thing 1 and Thing 2 gobbled the cupcakes up in record time, so the photo opportunity was missed.
Pros
- Delectable vegan baked goods free from gluten, corn, peanuts, and soy.
- Dedicated gluten-free facility.
- Fresh baked daily.
Cons
- Pricing. While I completely understand that the price point for gluten free baking is higher, I felt that $38.50 for a dozen cupcakes seemed excessive.
- Unless you are lucky enough to find a metered spot, parking in the adjacent lot was pricey ($10.00).
Cookies, Cookies
Jell-o No Bake Real Cheesecake Dessert. While making the first Jell-o recipe, I had used all of my Health Valley Rice Bran crackers. So, what to do for a crust bottom? I had a moment of spontaneity and (holy crap!) improvised. After melting five squares of Baker’s Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, I drizzled enough chocolate to cover the bottom of all 24 mini-cupcake wrappers. Again, the Filling Mix was gluten free, so I prepared that per the directions. During this time, I popped the chocolate-bottomed cupcake wrappers into the fridge to harden. After adding the cheesecake filling, I topped these with fresh blueberries. The result — these were tasty but really messy! The cheesecake filling was light and airy, not dense like your “typical” NY style cheesecake. I think a cookie crust would work much better. Unfortunately, the chocolate base melted as soon as you took the cheesecake out of the wrapper. Despite refrigerating the cheesecakes per the instructions (and even putting them in the freezer as well!), they were very gooey. On a positive note, the mini-cupcake wrappers worked perfectly for this recipe as you were able to delicately shove the entire thing in your mouth in one fell swoop (classy, huh?). I would like to try making this again (they were a huge hit with my family!), possibly using a pie plate instead of the mini cups.
