Product Review: Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake Mix & Dark Chocolate Frosting Mix

Well another birthday has come and gone. Mama made my birthday cake from a mix by Pamela's Products Inc. a company that makes gluten free products that are also non-dairy; which is important because I can't eat gluten and my sister can't eat dairy products. Making something we both like and both can eat can be a major deal.

Other than being a little dry, the cake tasted wonderful and like all the other gluten free cakes I've had it was flat. I know there is a scientific reason for it, but I don't understand why gluten free cakes can't rise up and be a normal size. The frosting was perfect; in fact I'm thinking next year for my birthday I should just request a cake size mound of frosting for a birthday cake. Would that be too undignified for a 50 year old?

The Classic Vanilla Cake was easy to fix - just add eggs, oil and water then bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes. The amount of time it takes to bake depends on the size of your pan and whether you decide to split it half to make two layers. My birthday cake was made to have two layers so it looked like a shorter version of a normal cake.

I didn't notice the six recipes on the cake mix package until I started writing this review. By adding a few ingredients you can change the Classic Vanilla Cake into a Pound Cake, Carrot Cake, Coconut Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Spice Cake, Apple Spice Cake, Lemon Cake or Orange Cake. If I had been paying attention I would have requested Carrot Cake - I really miss carrot cake. I think the only thing I miss more is pecan pie. The frosting mix package has ten recipes on it: Mocha Frosting, Chocolate Orange Frosting, Chocolate Raspberry Frosting, Chocolate & Cinnamon Frosting, Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Frosting, Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Sour Cream Sauce, Chocolate Pecan Coconut Frosting, Pamela's Easy Sweet Chocolate Cake. By the way, there are more recipes on Pamela Product's website: www.pamelasproducts.com.

On the side of the package it claims that "Pamela's Products donates to Celiac Sprue & Autism Support, and Research Organizations." I like that!

Ingredients for Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake: Organic Natural Evaporated Cane Sugar; Tapioca Starch; White Rice Flour; & Aluminum-free Baking Power (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate; Potato Starch); Organic Vanilla Powder (contains corn derivative); Rice-Bran; Gluten free Natural Vanilla Powder (Contains corn derivative); Xanthan Gum.

Ingredients for Pamela's Dark Chocolate Frosting Mix: Organic Powered Sugar (contains 3% corn starch); Organic Cocoa Powder (alkalized); Gluten free Natural Vanilla Powder (contain corn derivate); Salt.

Nutrition Facts for Pamela's Classic Vanilla Cake: The dry mix is 180 calories, prepared it is 240 calories per serving (there are 12 servings); total fat is 1 g, it is cholesterol free, sodium is 490 mg, total carbohydrate is 42 g (dietary fiber 4 g ; sugars 20 g) and protein is 0.5 g.

Nutrition Facts for Pamela's Dark Chocolate Frosting Mix: The dry mix is 105 calories, prepared it is 160 calories (there are 12 servings); total fat is 1 g, it is cholesterol free, sodium is 490 mg, total carbohydrate is 25 g (dietary fiber 0 g ; Sugars 23 g) and protein is 2 g.

Allergen Information: Both the frosting and cake mix are gluten free and wheat free. The two mixes were produced on equipment that also makes products that contain: tree nuts, soy, eggs, and milk.

Bottom line: I highly recommend the frosting. The cake was good, but the dryness of it was not totally acceptable to me so I will only recommend it if you know how to add moisture to a gluten free cake; if you do please PM me with the answer.