Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Eating Local: Cal's Cupcakes

Okay, okay. So I know when people refer to eating locally, they usually mean buying produce from close-by farms and eating cheese from local goats, but, can a cupcake count? I know the gluten-free flour and sugar in the cupcake probably doesn't come from Massachusetts, but the cupcakes themselves were made just mere miles away from me! So, while not technically correct, in my mind I'm eating locally...

When shopping at my nearby health food store the other night I was browsing the refrigerated section and noticed a box of four chocolate cupcakes calling my name. Usually I ignore this siren's song because most often they are cupcakes made from gluten, but this time I decided to look a little closer and in bold print the words: gluten and casein free were right there on the label. And remember in my last post how I stated I have a difficult time not buying new gluten-free products? Well, this was the perfect example, but surely not a mistake on my part: these things are good.

Cal's Baking Company, a Hingham, Masshusetts based company is the maker of these gems. Deep chocolate with just the right amount of frosting, they could replace any gluten-filled cupcake you've tasted. Cal's also sells a variety of mixes which I have yet to try, and you can special order sheet cakes and cupcakes (something I will surely look into for the upcoming wedding). I felt a special connection to Cal and her family; the story of her son and husband discovering their gluten intolerance is very similar to mine. Perhaps it is to yours too.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love your definition of local! And those cupcakes DO look very good--just look at all that frosting. Mmmm!

Jen said...

where did you get these?!?! :)

Liz said...

Haha -- thanks Ricki! I like how she doesn't cover the whole cupcake in frosting like some cupcakes.

The Good Health Store Jenny! And they have all of her mixes there too. And... I was talking with the owners of O'Briens Bakery in Quincy a month or so ago and they were telling me how they make gf brownies, cakes, etc... we should totally take a trip there sometime. I type this as I'm reminding myself that I need to cut back on the sugar... once the holidays are done I'll do that perhaps :)

Emilia said...

These look good, like really good.

I looked at the ingredients they use and they looked ok, no trans fats etc. It's nice to know that someone makes these kind of gluten-free treats :)

Liz said...

And they were Emilia! I liked the fact she uses wholesome ingredients too -- a big plus in my book.

Dish This! said...

Hey Liz, thanks for the blog comment! I just read through your blog, it's awesome! You have some really nice photos. These cupcakes look amazing!

Jen said...

I figured that's where you got them. YES we should definitely check out O'Brien's!!! Oh yeah, I'm cutting back on sugar too... hey you've gotta have a treat sometimes!

Unknown said...

Oh my goodness, thank you so much for posting this - and for the heads up on O'Brien's!! As a fellow Quincy-ite, I reading your blog for the local options... thank you, thank you!

Meredith said...

You will not believe how good Cal's chocolate cupcake mix is! It is so moist and tastes better than any cake mix you could find in a supermarket! They are amazing.