(no subject)

[rm]

I don't bitch about my food choices with celiac disease that much, because living in New York and making decent money, I've got it pretty good. There are lots of things it's hard to have spontaneously -- everything, it seems, requires a special trip, but mostly, it is there to be had.

Of course, this isn't always true. I will never be able to eat Darrell Lea coconut ice shipped in from Australia again. Same goes for Anzac biscutts and any number of weird Italian specialties I grew up with. But I manage pizza and pasta and find approximations of most things I've loved.

Two of the particular indignities of celiac disease have been the lack of black & white cookies and the lack of "wedding cake."

To clarify "wedding cake" is to me, those garish, striped cakes with the layers separated by raspberry or apricot jam and then the whole thing wrapped in chocolate. My parents used to buy them at the Italian bakery when I was little. It was, they said, what the inside of their wedding cake looked like.

Well, today, I found "wedding cakes" and black& white cookies in a D'Agastino on the UWS. Gluten -free and kosher for passover. I know the odds are high that they are seasonal, that I won't managed to find them again next year, and at $10 a box, they aren't cheap. But right now, I am so pleased.

Comments

Gluten -free and kosher for passover.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

Dude. Civilisation. Seriously.
This means we're winning.

[evil_plotbunny]

The wedding cake type cookies (which I grew up calling rainbow cookies) are mostly marzipan, so you might be able to find a gluten free version somewhere (or a recipe, but I suspect from the recipes I've seen that they're tricky to make).

[baxaphobia.livejournal.com]

Yay for yummy treats! Enjoy!

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

I assumed that a black and white cookie was a generic Oreo type cookie. Would that be correct?

[rm.livejournal.com]

No. It's a new york thing. Circular cookie, iced on top. half lemon, half chocolate.

[herself_nyc]

Sounds wonderful! Enjoy them.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Woo, lucky you!

(Was this the D'Ago's at 110th/Broadway by any chance? I know someone else who might appreciate the odd gluten-free sweetie.)

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes! It's a display right when you walk in. It's all kosher for passover gluten-free stuff. I've had the chocolate chip cookies last year and they were bad but these were great.

[sparta5.livejournal.com]

Wow! What a find! :-)

I haven't had Black and White Cookies in like...20 years. I wonder if I would love them now as much as I did then.

[ebonypearl.livejournal.com]

Go you!

There are a number of writers who attend a local con with celiac's, so I always make sure there are plenty of gluten-free foods in the Green Room just in case they haven't time to find anywhere to eat. I hate to see a starving writer...

[rm.livejournal.com]

Green room is so hard! Because it's really the only time I'm around that much food temptation. Really obvious stuff I never risk, because I would get so sick. ut thinkgs like certain dips for the beggies, I know I'm probably going to get a little sick off of, but can probably manage. That's the hard stuff to resist. One thing I love about cons though is no one thinks you are weird when you have to read the label.

[fangirlsays.livejournal.com]

Congratulations on your finds! We're gluten-free and dairy-free, so I understand how awesome it is to find something you thought you'd never be able to have again.

BTW, what are black & white cookies? It's making me think of Oreos, but that's probably not it since a GF version has been available for awhile.

[rm.livejournal.com]

It's a regiounal New York thing that clearly hasn't spread as far as I thought. They're a soft cake-like cookie that's iced on one side -- half with chocolate and half with something somewhere between vanilla and lemon.

[frodo-esque.livejournal.com]

What a find. =) Congrats! Does it taste like the real thing?

[rm.livejournal.com]

The wedding cakes are dead on. The black and white cookie is slightly off, but good, and off in a different direction than the other gf version I'm aware of. And this one's texture is closer. So I'm pretty pleased.

[otherdeb.livejournal.com]

Have you ever eaten at Risotteria? They do wonderful gluten-free stuff, and I often take folks with that restriction there.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes yes yes! We go there all the time. I'd eat there even if it wasn't gluten-free, which is a nice feeling. I've also gottne them to fix a panini for me they don't have on the menu but I used to eat in Australia all the time, so they make me very, very happy. Especially once they added Sicilian pizza.

[nex0s.livejournal.com]

OH!

Congratulations!!! Black & Whites are my favorites too, and I would be bereft without them.

I totally identify with you on the missing stuff thing. Nomato sauce has saved my nightshade-intolerant guts, lemme tell you. It's a godsend.

Enjoy your delicious cakes and cookies :D

N.

[hakeber.livejournal.com]

I am dead jealous. Those sound very good.

[marita-c.livejournal.com]

Mmmm... yummy... (*drooling over things I'm not supposed to eat in a low-carb diet*)

Do you bake? I've been making these sort of cakes for Passover dinner for years and can give you a recipe (they're made with potato starch).

Then again, preparation, work, messy kitchen. Is it worth it?

[graene.livejournal.com]

I bake and have gluten-intolerant guests on a semi-regular basis. And I'm far enough south for the mess to be worth it. Please?

[nisaa.livejournal.com]

OMG!!
I will send stevefava on a mission to get me some if he goes to NY at the end of the month!!

[rm.livejournal.com]

The brand is Shabtai and they are also dairy, soy and caesin free.

[thatwordgrrl.livejournal.com]

Oi!

My hairdresser is, as she puts it, "Celiac by genetics and vegetarian by choice."

Thanksgiving is just no fun for her, poor thing...

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

I had a gluten-free, vegetarian-except-for turkey Thanksgiving at my house this year (with a bunch of delicious sides). It can be done! (This fed two vegetarians, one person with a gluten allergy, one person with celiac, and two people with no dietary restrictions.)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I bought some Corn Chex yesterday, and the box said "Now Gluten Free!" Whether that means they changed them, or they always were, I don't know, but I thought of you.

[stardragonca.livejournal.com]

It probably means they checked their mill and factory for contamination issues, and are now willing to put their reputation behind it.

[crewgrrl.livejournal.com]

This is a great time of year for celiacs. So many people don't use matzah meal or cake meal (matzah meal ground up very fine) that there needs to be a substantial amount of potato starch/almond paste based alternatives.

Try Schick's bakery if you can find their stuff - it freezes really well. My personal favorite are their bonbons, which consist of small almond cookies with a dollop of chocolate cream, all covered in chocolate.

The likelihood is that you actually will find them again next year, just look in any Passover section. NYC is good to Jews that way.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yes, my mother will make a potato sponge cake for my father's birthday (ah, timing!)

[anathemadevice.livejournal.com]

Risotteria's Black & Whites are pretty good.

[rm.livejournal.com]

They are decent, but I find they fall apart too easily.

[shipchan.livejournal.com]

You found what? :0

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

This is brilliantly made of win. Edible surprises FTW.

[abnormal-apathy.livejournal.com]

I've never heard them called "wedding cake"...they've always been "rainbow" or "7-layer" cookies.