About a month ago, I received an adorable little package in the mail. And I do mean adorable. It had come to me from a company called Cake in a Crate. I wasn’t sure who’d sent it to me, but I didn’t really care. Whoever it was, I immediately decided they were my new best friend.
When I opened the box, I discovered that it was not, actually, a cake. Even better: it was a kit with which to make my own dessert, sent to me via Bob’s Red Mill. I’m a member of their “Heroes of the Mill” program for bloggers. This means that, once in a while, they send me a sample of something to try. If I like it, I write about it. Bob’s carries a number of gluten-free products, and I’m always interested in discovering new things I can eat, since there are so many things I can’t.
This box was filled with the ingredients I’d need for making Cake in a Crate’s Maple Coconut Caramel Macaroons. Some of those ingredients came from Bob’s Red Mill. All of them had been portioned out for me ahead of time.
(I turned this into a collage and added a frame because the pre-portioned ingredients were just so. dang. cute. And I saved the tiny jars and bottle, though I don’t know what I’ll do with them. Tossing something so cute into the recycling bin just felt wrong.)
Cake In A Crate provides baking kits that, according to their website, are “gluten-free, refined sugar-free, soy-free, kosher-friendly, and vegan.” The recipes they provide are created and tested by food bloggers, and the ingredients are sourced from artisan food makers. In other words, these are kits made by people who love real food.
I do eat a gluten-free diet, as I mentioned earlier, but I’m not opposed to refined sugars, soy, or animal products. And I’ll be honest: I was a little concerned about how good a dessert could taste if it wasn’t full of refined sugar and butter. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot.
My box came with an illustrated recipe card and very easy-to-follow directions. I like to cook and have a decent skill set in the kitchen, but this was a very simple recipe and wouldn’t be difficult even for a beginner. It mostly involved stirring things. The only slightly advanced step was using a food processor to combine the ingredients for the coconut filling.
The process started, however, by making a maple caramel sauce. I confess that I wasn’t entirely sure this would work–I’ve only made caramel with white sugar. But there was no need for my concern, because the sauce came together easily and tasted delicious. I stirred in the vanilla and let the sauce cool a bit while I toasted the pumpkin seeds, then added the remaining ingredients to the work bowl of my food processor and got started on the macaroons.
After combining the filling ingredients and processing them together, I added some of the maple caramel sauce as a binder. Then I used a cookie scoop to portion out the macaroons. (I came out with a few more than the recipe card said I would, which was a nice surprise.) I put them in the oven and, once they’d browned up nicely, set them aside to cool.
Time for their crowning glory. I melted the chocolate chips to make a drizzling sauce and sprinkled the toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) over the top. The recipe indicated that I should also drizzle the remainder of the maple caramel sauce over the macaroons, but I’m always concerned about desserts being too sweet, so I didn’t. I just sprinkled on the flaky sea salt and called it good.
And wow was it good.
The combination of crunchy pepitas, chewy coconut and creamy chocolate was just perfection. I wouldn’t have thought of putting these ingredients together on my own, but they came together beautifully. The maple flavor of the caramel sauce provided an interesting contrast to the chocolate and coconut. The flaky sea salt was a particularly nice addition; it kept the macaroons from being a mouthful of sweetness. I left the salt off a few of them, though, since my son isn’t a fan of the salty/sweet combo.
If you have a friend who enjoys baking–especially if that friend eats a gluten-free or vegan diet–Cake in a Crate would make an excellent gift. They offer a wide selection of kits, everything from Caramel Apple Spice Cake to Double Fudge Brownie Pie to New York Cheesecake. I’m positive there’s something for everyone among their offerings.
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