Day 332 - Sweet Bites

We bought this box of a dozen petite cakes before my sister and brother in law came to stay with us for a few days.  I thought it would be a nice dessert one evening.  Then it turned out we were so busy – it was go, go, go the whole time they were here – that we never cooked a proper meal and sat down long enough for dessert!

Even the box is pretty!  Find them in the frozen section

So when we were invited for a Sunday brunch I immediately thought, “BRING THE SWEET BITES!”.  And of course, because of the blog (and because of what an annoying brunch guest I can be…), I asked other guests to help me REVIEW them.  J

Hey- I could bring THESE to the brunch!  :)

The box contains 12 petite cakes, 4 of each variety.  The flavors are:

·         Chocolate and Coffee Opera Cake

·         Raspberry Macaron Aux Framboises Cake

·         Caramel and Chocolate Cake

As you will see, opinions were varied.  Tasters included my nephew Chris (who works at an ice cream shop), brother-in-law Greg (who drives a Prius), David (my partner, Greg’s brother, who also drives a Prius), Stan the Sausage Maker (this is not a hold-over moniker from his frat days, he actual makes fancy sausages), and Doug (from New Mexico, where he can hike to gorgeous locations and look at amazing scenery while eating lunch).

I displayed them on this super pretty plate

Here is how it went down: 

David (ate 2 cakes):  “I think this box is a good mix of cakes.  I like the SMALLNESS.  I like the light, fluffiness of the mousse at the heart of them.  I liked the crunchiness at the bottom of whatever the gelatin topped one is (editor’s note:  that is the Caramel and Chocolate Cake).  I like the balance of the chocolate and coffee one.  I haven’t had the raspberry one yet, but I will!  I give these a 4.”

Doug:  (ate a white cake – Raspberry Macaron Aux Framboises Cake) “I am guessing that was RASPBERRY CREAM.  I am a liberal scorer – I would give it a 4.  I believe in grade creep!  The cream taste was very light and fluffy – not too heavy.  It was complimented by a little bit of fruit and the crust.  It was quite nice!  It was light and I like light things!”

Oops - snapped you with your eyes closed, sorry Doug!  But at least you got a yummy cake out of it.  

Chris (age 17) (ate a cake with gelatin on top – Caramel and Chocolate Cake): “ I think this is a very nice blend of flavors…  the way the cheesecake sort of flavor mixes with the crunchiness at the bottom.  The gelatin adds a nice TEXTURE to the mouth.  It is very interesting.  I would give it a 3.75.”  I asked him, “What is the flavor?” to which he replied, “I have absolutely no idea…”. 

Chris - ate the whole cake and still couldn't identify the flavor.

Greg (Chris’ Dad):  (He ate the same cake as Chris, so I asked him if HE could identify the flavor) “It kind of tastes like a flan.  A bit eggy, caramel-y, with some chocolate notes.  I agree with Chris – the added little delicate crunchiness is a reallllly nice feature.  It is sort of like Rice Krispies!  A think layer of Rice Krispies on it.  I would give it a 4.5!” (Editor’s note:  at the Trader Joe’s dinner party earlier this year Greg was a notoriously hard scorer, so his 4.5 would equal a 5 in most people’s scales J .)

Greg mid-bite - he liked this cake!

Stan (ate a Chocolate and Coffee Opera Cake):  “I think the coffee cream is very nice – it has a good coffee flavor.  The CHOCOLATE leaves a lot to be desired.  It doesn’t taste like chocolate to me.  These are good for dieters.  If you are counting calories and can eat only one, these are a good size.  I would give them a 3.5.”

Stan checking out the cake.  

I myself did not eat a cake, since I was stuffed from Eggs Benedict, a caramel roll, and fruit salad.  But I trust the other reviewer’s opinions.  I think that overall these make really sweet little desserts.  They look beautiful all laid out on a plate.  They would be fun to serve if you were pretending to be fancy and busting out a lovely tea pot and china tea cups and playing “tea time”. 

Nice variety of cakes at a reasonable price

Price – $6.99 (which works out to about .60 cents per petite cake)

Rating – 4 (average of 5 scores)