I gave my gluten-free sister a Flying Apron cookbook for her birthday, not realizing that the Flying Apron bakery is in Seattle. In honor of Presidents’ Day, Mr Shuck and I ventured to Fremont to test out their wares. The bakery was fairly large, with several tables and (judging from the number of laptops) WiFi. They seemed to have a wide variety of items to choose from; pretty impressive since they are gluten, dairy, and egg free.
They had 4 different cupcakes to choose from today. 2 had raspberry jam on them, so I had to pass on those. We ended up with Cardamom/Chai and Chocolate/Chocolate.
Gluten Free Chocolate cupcake from Flying Apron: click to enlarge
My first taste was of the Chocolate/Chocolate. Ingredients: brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, maple syrup, cocoa, canola oil, dark chocolate, palm oil, vanilla, baking soda and sea salt.
If I didn’t know this was gluten free/vegan/etc, I would have thought it was just a regular cupcake. The cake had a bit of an after taste and could have been more chocolate-y, but overall, it was very good. It was moist, but seemed to break up a bit too easily, I assume due to the lack of gluten. I would eat this again, but with the Black Bottom at Simply Desserts right across the street, I probably would choose to have some gluten. Rating: ♥♥
Gluten Free Cardamom Chai from Flying Apron: Click to enlarge.
The Cardamom Chai smelled AMAZING. Ingredients: brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, concentrated pineapple, pear and peach juices, canola oil, evaporated cane juice, palm oil, cardamom, cinnamon, chai, vanilla extract, baking soda and sea salt. I tried to get a photo that would show the speckles of spice in the icing, but it didn’t turn out as true to life as I would have liked. (I was unwilling to go downstairs to retrieve the “cupcake photo studio”.)
Mr Shuck thought this cupcake deserved 3♥’s. I felt the flavor was excellent, but the texture was off putting to me. Both the icing and the cake were grainy and mealy. I didn’t finish my cupcake and wouldn’t get this again. Rating: ♥.
Even though I didn’t like one of the cupcakes, I like The Flying Apron. I think it’s great for those that have dietary restrictions, like my sister. I love the fact that their menu has all the ingredients listed in case someone has other allergies and that it is largely organic and vegan. Since I have other choices, I will choose to go elsewhere, but I think it’s a great option for those that can’t just pick up baked goods anywhere. The chocolate cupcake was good enough to serve to everyone.
The Cupcake Addict's Cupcake Collection 