Shabtai Gourmet

Have you guys heard about Shabtai Gourmet? They're a gluten-free bakery that offers a delicious selection of treats that are also free of other common food allergens like lactose, soy, casein, and peanuts. Recently I was lucky enough to receive a care package of goodies from them to try, and I am very impressed not only by how yummy everything is, but also how close the texture and mouthfeel of their products resembles the "real" thing. Honestly, people wouldn't even know that what they're eating is gluten-free, unless you told them.

Everything came packaged in a sealed windowed box or clear plastic container and was shrink-wrapped on a styrofoam tray inside, so it all stays nice and fresh. First up, I want to tell you about the Meltaway Pecan Sandies.

These actually taste more like snickerdoodles to me than pecan shortbread, as they're sweet and cinnamony, which is cool because I love snickerdoodles. They go great with a cup of tea, and are very yummy.

A few broke in transport, but I went ahead and took care of those before snapping a photo. These are very crisp, kind of like a gingersnap-type texture, only thicker and crumbly. Some seemed to be more loaded with pecans than others, but these really are delicious cookies. Sorry Santa, there won't be any left for you.

 

Next, I'd like to rave about the Ring Tings. Who misses indulging in those Hostess chocolate cupcakes with the vanilla creme filling? Well, now you can enjoy a gluten-free version.

 

The cake is a nice and light devil's food, generously filled with vanilla creme and covered in chocolate glaze. Again, I'm impressed not only with the taste, but also the texture. I don't know how they do it, but these really don't seem gluten-free.

 

The cake itself is maybe a tiny bit on the dry side, but I think it probably needs to be in order to not completely fall apart with that much filling in it. Plus, the vanilla creme does a great job of adding moisture once you take a bite. These are pretty big, as well as being very sweet and rich, so they're perfect for sharing.

 

Whew, I'm getting hungry. Okay, let me tell you about the Raspberry Roll real quick.

  

This is a delicious and moist sponge cake rolled up with a raspberry filling and dusted in coconut. Heaven.

 

Just look at that raspberry yumminess oozing from between the layers. The cake is very light, and the coconut is a prominent flavor, which goes really well with the raspberry. I could eat this all day. In fact, I think I'll go have the last piece now. 

 

There were a couple of other treats in the box that I still need to tell you all about, but I'll put them in another blog post. You can check out all of the gluten-free products Shabtai Gourmet offers on their website, where you'll also find better photos and full ingredient lists for everything they make. We all need our guilty pleasures from time to time, even those of us with food allergies and sensitivities.

I received a selection of free products from Shabtai Gourmet in exchange for my honest review.