For my gluten-free profile of Asheville, NC (summer 2010 issue of Delight gluten-free magazine), I was fortunate enough to visit the World’s Best Carrot Cake bakery just north of the city. The owners of the company are some of the nicest people around and the business is family owned and operated. I also profiled the fabulous carrot cakes in this article, in case you are not familiar with the North Carolina bakery’s wonderful gluten-free wares.
When I entered the recent gluten-free vendor fair in Atlanta recently, the very first table I noticed was that of The World’s Best Carrot Cake. The owner Avi and her husband Morgan were there so I went over to say hello. As I headed back to my own table, Leah McGrath (dietitian from Ingles) asked me if I’d tried the new coffee cake from the Asheville bakery. I had not so I did a 180 and grabbed a small sample cup of the cake. Even at room temperature, the coffee cake was absolutely divine! I dashed out to get some cash and returned to buy a whole Pecan Coffee Cake. I wasn’t sure how many they had and I didn’t want them to run out before I got a chance to return to the show floor.
For many reasons, I did not overload on carbs at this year’s event. Because my job involves getting so many products to review, I just don’t feel the need to taste every single gluten-free item out there these days. Everything I tried at the fair this year was very good or great, but I didn’t taste that much compared to every other year I’ve attended. In years past, I’ve not been able to eat much for a day (or two) after the show due to overdoing it at the event. This year, I was excited to have coffee cake for breakfast the next morning. Due to the way the cake is packaged, I loosely wrapped the whole thing in foil and heated it up in a 250 degree oven. It took about twenty minutes for it to get sufficiently warm.
As I opened up the foil that surrounded the cake, the aroma of homemade coffee cake wafted through the kitchen. It was stronger than the turkey bacon my husband was cooking and I could hardly wait to taste it. My husband had not tried the cake before so he had no predisposed notion about how it might be when heated up, but I was ready to taste some gluten-free greatness. One bite of the delicious coffee cake was all it took to take me back in time. When I was a child, something called coffee can bread (bread baked in a coffee can) was all the rage and some people also made “coffee can coffee cake”. Back in the day coffee cans were made of metal. There was not any plastic involved in the packaging so you could use the cans to bake in.
As I looked at the shape of the coffee cake with a nut crumble topping, I realized it looked like it had been baked in a coffee can. I’d made a vanilla glaze for the cake, but decided to taste the cake before putting any glaze on it and I’m so glad I did. Not that the glaze could have ruined the cake, but the cake was perfect just the way it was. It was rich, moist and decadent and best of all – it was light and fluffy! There is no way I can explain how incredible the coffee cake was, but anyone who used to eat sour cream coffee cake with gluten in it might want to try this incredible new offering from The World’s Best Carrot Cake bakery.
The bakery offers online ordering and Whole Foods should be picking up the new Pecan Coffee Cake soon. Whole Foods carries several of the World’s Best Carrot Cakes, including gluten and gluten-free versions. Because the bakery is not a dedicated gluten-free facility, they take every precaution you can think of (and some you never would) to keep the gluten-free items safe. Those precautions include using color coded scissors and box cutters to open the gluten-free ingredients and the boxes they come in. Everyone at the bakery takes the issue very seriously, to say the least. I’ve never seen so many non food items labeled gluten-free in my life!
It was so much fun to learn about the World’s Best Carrot Cake company and to get the know the people that created such a special place. After our behind the scenes tour of the bakery earlier this year, Avi was kind enough to give us some cupcakes to take to our hotel in Asheville. As we tasted both the regular and chocolate carrot cake cupcakes later that day, we debated over which flavor was the best and why. We finally decided that we could not decide. They were both phenomenal so it’s no wonder that the new Pecan Coffee Cake cake meets the high standard Avi has set for her products – regardless of ingredients.
*Special thanks to Avi for our chocolate carrot cake cupcakes. They were fabulous – as always!
Kim says
Tiffany –
Wow, sounds awesome! Jon loves coffee cake!
Stacy says
Agreed! I sampled the coffee cake at the vendor fair, and immediately knew I had to buy one. I took it home and had it for breakfast the next day. It is the closest thing to the delicious gluten coffee cake recipe that I used to make before going gluten free three years ago. I cannot say enough about how delicious it was!!!
Tiffany Janes says
Stacy – I know! This coffee cake is one of the most impressive replacement type foods I’ve ever had. I’d serve it to gluten eaters any day and know they’d come back for more! What was special about buying the cake at the event was getting to feel it since it’s so soft. I think they cakes will be in the freezer when they hit stores, but it was nice to get one that felt like it came out of the oven that day. That bakery is a special place and it shows in their amazing food 😉
Jeananne says
I am looking for a gluten Free Birthday Cake for my daughter..Can you help?
Tiffany Janes says
Jeananne – if you’re looking for a mix, I’d suggest the chocolate cake mixes from Pamela’s Products, King Arthur (gf), Betty Crocker (gf), Cherrybrook Farms (gf) or Namaste. For yellow cake, try Betty Crocker (gf) or Gluten Free Naturals. The companies listed with a gf next to them make both gluten and gluten-free products so be sure to pick up gf versions of their mixes. The best cake I’ve had made with a gluten-free flour blend was one from Jules Gluten Free. If you want to order a cake where you live, try a Google search with the terms gluten-free cake and your city. You can also order cakes without frostings from Shabtai-Gourmet and several bakeries around the country. Good luck!