By Amy Coccia, What Do I Eat Now? - The week before Christmas I was busy preparing for the upcoming holiday, wrapping presents and writing cards, and being my general busy self. I was trying to think of what to make for desserts for the following week when a box arrived on my doorstep. It was a baker's delight, filled with baking mixes of all kinds. There was frosting, there was vanilla cake, spice cake, pancake mix. I was in my mix glory! Somehow no matter how much I cook from scratch, I love to fall back on the old brownie mix - grab some eggs and run with it. My girlfriends and I were having a little holiday get together to exchange presents and so I decided to experiment and for the sake of science, make a cake!

I picked the Pamela's Yellow Cake Mix with Chocolate Frosting. Both were very easy to make; one needed only eggs, oil, and water and the frosting only butter and water. I started with the cake. I opened the mix and was immediately struck by a sweet vanilla scent. This was going to be good. My favorite pint sized helper cracked the eggs (it states on the package can only be used with eggs, I didn't want to try an egg re-placer to veganize it) and I poured the ingredients all together.

I blended away while the peanut watched to make sure I did not make a mess. When it was all mixed together I pulled out the beaters from the mixer. It was a scene out of a commercial next as Olivia and I both stuck our heads in the bowl at the same time and took a deep breath. Mmmmm!! It was delicious and we hadn't even licked the bowl yet. I quickly got the pans out (I was making a layer cake and used 2 8x8 pans) and sprayed them with Canola Oil spray. I spooned and poured the batter in while Olivia waited patiently with her spoon to eat the leftovers. The package also says not to overcook the cake or it will be dry, so to err on the side of moisture I set the timer for two minutes below the recommended time of 25 minutes.

Then we both dug in. If you are like me and grew up eating cake batter and cookie dough before lunch while cooking with your mother, you will appreciate the subtle sweet vanilla flavor. It did not have a funny aftertaste like other gluten-free baking mixes I have used (yes I eat a lot of cake batter and cookie dough! Some people think it's gross, I think it's dessert!). And it did not taste like the non-gluten variety either as it did not have a "fake" sweetness to it due to the level of hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors. While the cake was baking and filling my house with a dreamy cake smell, I started on the dark chocolate frosting.

This was incredibly easy to make only mixing the Earth Balance margarine, frosting mix, and water. I whipped it up in about one minute. Then because I also eat frosting out of the bowl (it's really a wonder people that I don't weigh four hundred pounds...) I grabbed a spoon and tasted a bit of it. Well Merry Christmas to me, I was done! Perfectly smooth and chocolaty. NOTHING like canned frosting. It had the right amount of sugar and sweet with this amazing chocolate flavor that rolled right into the back of my mouth. My stomach took over my brain and forced my hand with the spoon back into the bowl for another taste. Stop it!!!! I had to leave some for the cake after all. I paced the house waiting for the cake to be done so I could frost the cake and eat the leftover frosting. Nothing like priorities right?

I agonized over the cake over laundry and cleaning and putting the monkey to bed; and as soon as I was able to I frosted the cake. The frosting spread easily over the cake and there was lots leftover, so before I decorated it, I ate the leftovers. It was a good thing I hadn't eaten dinner yet. First I used the gel decorating pens to write Merry Christmas on the cake. Then I thoroughly doused the cake with shiny red and green sprinkles. It was simply adorable. I took the cake to the party the next day and we all cut into it. It was perfect. The ultimate family friendly dessert that was unsuspectingly gluten and dairy-free. The cake had the light "yellow cake" vanilla flavor and didn't taste fake sweet and luscious like other cake mixes. It was a tad bit on the dry side, so perhaps I should have taken it out even sooner from the oven. The frosting was the best part however the right amount of chocolate flavor without tasting too sugary and gross. All the girls agreed that it was a yummy cake, but yes take it out of the oven sooner.

I took half the cake home that night and slowly made my way through it. I ate it for breakfast, snack, and dinner. OK it wasn't the best diet for a weekend, but it sure was delicious! These two baking mixes come highly recommended. Just make sure you leave room to eat them!

To Purchase:  Pamela's Products are sold in natural food and grocery stores throughout the United States, Canada and other countries.  Select Pamela's products are also available via Amazon Grocery.

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