Freedom Bakery (Severna Park, MD) specializes in 100% gluten free baked goods, including breads, muffins, pies, cookies, cakes, and of course…cupcakes! My mother-in-law kindly picked up some goodies for us one Saturday morning and had very nice things to say about the friendly and knowledgeable employee who helped her. She was told the baked treats are made with rice, corn, and/or barley instead of wheat and some are even vegan, containing no milk or eggs. After hearing about the selection, my mother-in-law chose 6 for us, all of which looked great!

Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Frosting
Vanilla cupcakes are definitely a classic and the competition out there is fierce. We thought this cupcake was a tad on the dry side, not uncommon in my experience with gluten free cupcakes, but the frosting was delicious!

Chocolate Cupcake with Chocolate Frosting
Chocolate is also a classic and, for chocolate lovers like myself, the expectations can be high. Just like with the vanilla, we found that the cake was drier than we prefer, but the frosting was perfect!

Carrot Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Another classic, carrot cake is usually one of my favorites and this one was no exception. The cake was moist, with bits of real carrot and good spiced flavor. I think adding carrot helped maintain the moisture of the cake. The frosting was the perfect balance of sweet and savory, complementing the cake well.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
As with most red velvet cake I’ve experienced, this one was unfortunately dry and flavorless. Because of this, the cream cheese frosting tasted sweeter than it did on the carrot cake. I think the spice in the carrot cake was able to tone down the sweetness, whereas the red velvet cake did not have the same advantage. For me, this was just another example of why I tend to stay away from red velvet cake.

Strawberry Shortcake
The Strawberry Shortcake cupcake was shortcake, with a whipped cream topping and fresh strawberries. The shortcake was dry and crumbly, but I think that’s how it’s meant to be. It had a good flavor, almost like a biscuit, and the moisture in the whipped topping and strawberries really helped redeem this cupcake.

Mississippi Mud Pie
The Mississippi Mud Pie cupcake was the standout of the group that day. It’s fashioned after its namesake, with a dense, moist, and therefore almost fudgy chocolate cake. Instead of ice cream on the side, there was a marshmallow cream topping and instead of a chocolate cookie crumble crust, they had a crunchy chocolate cookie on top. This cupcake alone would be reason enough to visit Freedom Bakery again.

Although some of the cupcakes didn’t live up to our standards, I’m sure gluten free folks are glad to have a place to quench their sweet craving. I’m still interested in trying out their other selections, like the cookies and breads, which look amazing!

What is your experience with gluten free products? Do you think they can’t compete with baked goods that do contain gluten?

– Posted by Cupcake Crusader, Jenn (Westminster, MD)