Who’s Your Daddy!

Less than a year ago, I jumped into the social media fray  – sheer serendipity is how I would describe it. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard any of the social media experts describe social media as serendipitous so I’m coining the phrase right now. We’ve heard paradigm shift, the new age of  business etc.- but I say social media = serendipity. OK, I’ll get to my point 🙂

Not long ago I serendipitously met the president of Earth Cafe on Twitter – he is @EarthCafe, I am @shescookin. That’s how I came to have six samples of their organic, raw, vegan, and gluten-free cheesecake delivered to my doorstep.

I called on my friend, Candice (@HealthOC) to join me and offer a second opinion and an experienced vegan palate. Plus my daughter happened to be at home and, when she spied the triangles of luscious nut-topped treats, we didn’t have to twist her arm to join us – so you have the benefit of a review by a picky teen, also!

Earth Cafe‘s  mission is to create gourmet desserts that are organic, raw,vegan AND delicious! They are also dairy free, wheat free, gluten free, cholesterol free, and contain no refined sugars or partially-hydrogenated oils. Wow, that is an amaZing accomplishment! Some naysayers might say, “then what the heck is in this stuff”, well allow me to reveal the ingredients:  soaked cashews, coconut, coconut butter, agave nectar, soaked pecans, soaked walnuts, vanilla extract, cinnamon, lecithin, and sea salt. not

Now for the results. We started with the “Rockin Rasberry” which I realized was still in its container so not pictured above.

The gorgeous ribbon of raspberry running through the middle adds major visual appeal to the Rockin’ Raspberry.  If  that doesn’t do the trick – the tangy, tart, sweetness of the first bite will. It was a little too tangy for our teen taster, but we all agreed that  Rockin Rasberry‘s had a smooth, velvety texture and, in the end, it was one of my top two favorites.

Who’s Your Daddy’s reputation for deliciousness was no secret as Candice has been carrying a torch for him quite sometime. So it was no surprise that all three of us were falling all over ourselves for Daddy. The admitted chocoholic teen pronounced the chocolate and nutty flavors well-balanced  with the chocolate flavor mild not overpowering. I rarely eat cheesecake because most are simply too rich and heavy, but I felt that I could indulge in “Who’s Your Daddy” without feeling like Lead Belly later. Candice swooned.

Next up, Sweet Potato Pie! We were all surprisee by the yummy better-than-pumpkin pie flavor! Distinctive cinnamon and nutmeg spices make this a comfort cheesecake. Lack of a nut topping results in poor Sweet Potato Pie being a bit plain compared to the others – it might boost his self-esteem to add a swirl of vanilla.

Strawberry Fields Forever  (:-) love the names)  tasted like creamy strawberry ice cream. Comments:  fun flavor, good for kids, brought back memories of birthday parties. Candice has found a new love which is going to make it tough at the store – just have to buy both!

While the vegan and the teen are almost exclusively chocolate lovers, I am a citrus dessert lover. I wasn’t wholly enamored by the Cali Style Lemon Cheesecake because I felt it needed more of a punchy lemon flavor. The teen disagreed. However,  it was light and refreshing and as smooth and creamy as the other flavors.

Cherry Dream Cheesecake was overshadowed by the bold Rockin Raspberry. We wanted it to be a bolder cherry!

New to vegan, raw, gluten-free desserts, I was pleasantly surprised that all the Earth Cafe cheesecake flavors we sampled achieved rich creaminess and smooth texture without any dairy products or resulting graininess. Discover which is your favorite and you can order whole cheesecakes at their online store! Locally, they’re sold at natural foods stores such as Mother’s Market, Whole Foods, Henry’s,  Stella Lucy’s in San Clemente,  some Ralph’s stores and, in a month, at Wholesome Choice.

We left you one bite of Who’s Your Daddy 🙂