My younger sister is getting married. Sometime...next year, the year after. No one is really sure but she and her man have been dating for what seems like forever. You don't have one with out the other. They are peanut butter and jelly. They are the moon and the stars. However you want to put it, they are inseparable. So when she announced that his family was coming over to meet us all, we were super excited. For the first time we would meet all the cousins, aunties, and other random family members we only heard about.

The day before they came my twin sister and I ransacked the house, cleaning every nook and cranny lest his family come over and think we were (gasp!) messy! Okay, we are sometimes a disorganized bunch. Piles of papers here and there. Every horizontal surface from one side of the house to the other has something on it. So when we finally deep clean (about once a month) it usually is an all day project, full of laughs and "where the heck does this thing go?"...

I decided we needed a break from the action with a little "tea party". I had received a box of goodies from Cinderella Sweets otherwise known as Shabtai Gourmet. Every morsel was vegan, gluten-free, and best of all kosher. How much better can it get?

We tried the 7-Layer Cake, the Sponge Cake, the Meltaway Crumbs, and the Rainbow Cookies. They also sent me the raspberry roll, but I had to leave the tasting of this one up to my sister, as I am deathly allergic to the coconut that it was rolled in.

We sampled the Rainbow Cookie first, after all does a rainbow cookie really taste like one? The Peanut LOVED this cookie and I really believe she ate about 90% of the box. It was layered with marzipan cake and chocolate frosting in nice festive colors. I tasted no rainbow, but I did taste some heavy almond flavoring. Not my cup of tea, but for those who like almond flavoring, this is a great "cookie". The plus sides of this little cake was that it was moist and for those who like the flavor, really flavorful. I'm glad the Peanut liked them! The only down side I could think of was they have hydrogenated oils in them, which, in mass-production bakeries I guess is a given, but that was a little disappointing!

Up next was the Meltaway Crumbs. Reading the ingredients I again was pretty excited. I was kind of expecting the cookie to melt in my mouth and not crumble in my hand. But I do prefer crunchy cookies over soft ones! I did let it linger in my mouth for a while to get all the taste in I could! It definitely had a distinct almond flavoring (arrrrggghh!!) but it also had hints of pecan and cinnamon, a plus in my book! My twin liked these cookies as well, said they were a bit on the sweet side to eat more than a couple at a time, but enjoyed them. The Peanut loved them (she likes the almond flavoring I think!) and Miss Picky (my niece) put it back after one bite. But this kid won't even eat mac and cheese; does her opinion even count?! (just kidding Joce!)

Up next was the 7-Layer Cake. I unwrapped the container and started peeling off the top chocolate layer... surprisingly it tasted like the outer layer of a chocolate-coated donut. YUM! I haven't had real donuts in forever, so I was excited about the rest of the cake! A little on the sweet side, this is not a cake you can demolish in one sitting. But the cake was moist and the filling layers were creamy and delish. I was quite happy with this one! It is definitely comparable to any commercial baked good. You know, Stop & Shop brand 7-layer cake? Meet your match, only allergy friendly! The Peanut, the Twin, and Miss Picky all enjoyed this one as well, so it was a hit for the non-allergic bunch. On the down side? Those pesky hydrogenated oils again!

Next to last we had the Sponge Cake. Oh this was my favorite! I always love having pound cake with strawberries and whipped cream drenched on top. I could picture in my head myself devouring a strawberry shortcake as soon as I bit into the lemony sweet cake. No one would guess this dessert was GF-DF, much less kosher or even remotely healthy. It was rich, it was vanilla-y (is that a word?!), with a hint of lemon, and a pound of goodness. This one melted in my mouth and made me wish I had some strawberries and a boatload of whipped cream. The Peanut loved it, Miss Picky hated it, and the Twin liked it. 3.5 stars because of mixed reviews, but it gets a 4 star award in my book!

The last one to try was the Raspberry Roll. Never mind the Twin had to open it away from me, but she liked it a lot. She said it was on the sweet side, but enjoyed the raspberry filling, with those deadly flakes on top. Again, probably not a cake you want to have four pieces of at once, but for a Cinderella Tea Party? One was just enough!

Thank you Cinderella Sweets for sending me the bunch of goodies! The rainbow cookies are gone; I'm pounding away at the Sponge cake, and wishing I had another tea party to go to so I could serve the 7-layer cake!

And oh by the way- the house is clean... for now!

This is a third party review by Go Dairy Free reviewer Amy B. Shabtai Gourmet / Cinderella Sweets does have a website at Shabtai-Gourmet.com, but it is in its infancy.  The easiest way to sample this line of GFCF goodies is via Amazon.

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