Gluten-Free Carolans Irish Cream Liqueur : Excellent!

Carolans Irish Cream : Gluten-Free
(picture source : their corporate website)

If you have Celiac Disease and enjoy Irish Cream liqueurs, you may want to give Carolans Irish Cream Liqueur a try.  Their website clearly states on their FAQ page [note: last checked in 2016-SEPT, and still clearly gluten-free! The following quote is from 2010, where now it simply states that the product is gluten-free]:

"Carolans is suitable for Celiacs and is both gluten and wheat free."

I have long been a fan of Bailey's Irish Cream, but I decided to try Carolans Irish Cream after my daughter tried it and thought it to be superior to Bailey's, and after I verified that Carolans Irish Cream is Gluten-Free.   I picked up a bottle at Costco' liquor store for a mere $9.99 (for a 750ml bottle in a gift-pack that included a couple glasses too).  This was certainly cheaper than the Bailey's, and I was skeptical as to whether my daughter's "review" was going to be matched by my own product review.

Taste-Test: Wonderful!  And, a Bargain!
I was delighted with the flavor of this gluten-free Irish Cream liqueur from Carolans.  I agree with my daughter: this Irish Cream is indeed better than Bailey's, at least from my perspective.  The hints of honey in the recipe, coupled with Irish spirits, whiskey, and  rich double cream yield a superior taste in the resulting subtle blend of flavors.  The honey adds a delicate overtone that complements the Irish Cream quite nicely.

Simple "Real" Egg-Nog using Carolans...
This gluten-free Irish Cream recipe as delivered by Carolans quickly led me to experiment with another drink that I have had been enjoying for the Christmas / New Years holidays: Egg Nog.  I just recently reviewed an awesome gluten-free egg nog by Organic Valley (brand), and wondered how the two products would combine (to form an alcoholic version of egg-nog).

The results were quite tasty!  I tried a couple versions of my blended Egg Nog (using Carolans gluten-free Irish Cream with that Organic Valley gluten-free egg nog), and rather enjoyed the results whether I used a 1:1 formula or a lesser-alcohol 2:1 (egg-nog : Irish Cream) formula or even as little as 4 parts nog to 1 part Irish Cream.  It was all good! :)

Sure, all this cream may not be "good for you", but it sure does taste good and it is one of those once/year seasons where I indulge (not to mention it seems to be the only time of the year I can find good egg nog at the store: I am not going to make my own).  And, I consider this a "gluten-free dessert" since it is as rich and satisfying as a dessert -- just in liquid form (and not for children).

Bottom line: my daughter was right and this Celiac-safe Irish Cream is great both on its own and mixed into other drinks (like egg nog, coffees, hot chocolate, and so forth).

Happy New Years everyone!

Gluten-Free Eggnog : Organic Valley Brand

This organic gluten-free eggnog is fantastic!

Every year around the Christmas holiday season, I get the urge to have some eggnog, but I usually do not get any further than looking at a few brands and giving up without ever buying any.  The first thing that I want to make sure of is that whatever egg nog I find is safe for me gluten-free diet, and I need to find information to support that either: 1) on the carton directly, or 2) on a company's website or such.  Next, I totally avoid all the "eggnogs" that are nothing more than artificial flavors and thickeners -- those are not true egg nog (in my opinion) and just will not do...

I want REAL EGGNOG (made with the same ingredients I would make homemade eggnog with).

Organic Valley Eggnog: High-Quality Ingredients, Great Taste, and GF
This year I was lucky and found this Organic Valley Family of Farms organic eggnog at the local store, and was able to quickly locate the gluten-free status of this nog at the Organic Valley website GF page.  And, their ingredient list is essentially what you would expect to put in your own homemade gluten-free eggnog (and, all organic items in this case):

• Milk
• Cane Sugar
• Cream
• Eggs
• Egg Yolks
• Nonfat Milk
• Vanilla
• Nutmeg
• Carrageenan (I wish they left that out, but it is a simple seaweed-based thickener and last on the list of ingredients - should not be much of it in there if lower than Nutmeg on the list)

These ingredients add up to one thing: DELICIOUS EGG NOG!

This has to be the best eggnog I have ever purchased. It had an authentic taste and was rich and creamy and not overly sweet. The subtle nutmeg and vanilla flavors were just right.  

And, to make things better, I happened to find the quart containers on a clearance sale (since best-by date was approaching in a week) for $2.00, which was roughly 50% off.  So, I have had my quart of gluten-free eggnog for the year, and I feel quite satisfied after not having any eggnog for at least 5 years now.  I look forward to purchasing this same brand for all of my upcoming Christmas seasons as long as it remains available, gluten-free, and the same awesome quality formula.  yummy!

Now, the only down-side is that real eggnog has quite a bit of saturated fats in it, but such is... it is a once/year thing and it is worth enjoying regardless :)

By the way, does eggnog qualify as a gluten-free DESSERT or DRINK?  As rich as it tastes, I placed it in the former category. Got me.

Amazon Kindle Gluten-Free Desserts Book

eBook-version of GF Dessert Recipes available...

Last week I finally completed the Amazon.com Kindle-reader version of our Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Gourmet Desserts Recipe book and have it published on Amazon's Kindle eBook store.  Until now, we have had the full-color printed book for sale only on our own website (Gluten-Free-Desserts.com), but we decided to join the electronic-publishing crowd since devices like the iPad, Kindle Reader, and others have been gaining popularity and momentum.  We were receiving more and more inquiries about whether we offered a Kindle/eBook version, and now we can finally say "yes".

Sorry, but all Print-Edition Books are sold, and we have also since stopped selling the Kindle version, as we prefer to simply offer our recipes online, at our website, for all to view: high-quality gluten-free recipes available for free online (link). Thank you for your support!

We thank everyone that has supported us over the past few years since we first created, published, and brought to market our Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Gourmet Desserts Recipes book.  We had even since released a Kindle (e-Book) version of our printed book as we were no longer planning to produce, inventory, and sell further print versions of this full-color, high-quality cookbook as of 2012, once our initial first-edition (a few thousand copies) were sold. We have since made the further decision to move our recipes online as time permits, making them available on the book's website. 

Gluten-Free & Wheat-Free Gourmet Desserts Cookbook
by Mike Eberhart (gluten-free-desserts.com)

Thank you to everyone that made the print version such a great success and the Kindle version a popular and top-rated (5.0 out of 5.0 stars possible) alternative to print! 

Thank You to all our cookbook buyers for such Great Positive Feedback

We greatly appreciate your feedback and comments about our cookbook!  Our 100% 5-out-of-5-Star Rating on Amazon absolutely thrilled us!  Having a 5-star rated gluten-free recipes book is all I could have ever wished for when I first started writing this, and when my wife first started creating and baking so many of the recipes.  

Thank you!

[ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM BLOG BELOW]
Kindle Books can be Viewed on...

• Kindle Devices (i.e., dedicated reader device) - see page for details and various models (WiFi, WiFi+3G, etc).
• Kindle for Mac (FREE Reader Software)
• Kindle for PC (FREE Reader Software)
• Kindle for iPad/iPhone (FREE Reader Software)
• Kindle for BlackBerry (FREE Reader Software)
• Kindle for Android (FREE Reader Software)

Gluten-Free Recipes book for Kindle Reader Device/Software
So, if you are one of those people that have been waiting for the electronic version of our Gluten-Free Desserts book, thank you for the patience and we hope you enjoy the eBook.  I personally like having the printed book with me when baking my desserts, but there are times it would be nice to just carry all my favorite recipes with me along with my other business documents and various books; and, with the little Kindle reader device and our new E-book, I can do just that.

Even though (as of this writing) the Kindle Reader hardware devices are gray-scale display devices, we published the Kindle version of our book in the same full-color format with beautiful pictures of each and every finished gluten-free recipe... it is the same content as the physical printed edition, but available as an "E-Book".   I purchased the latest version of the Kindle for testing the book on, and the pictures look very good in the multi-toned high-resolution gray-scale native to the device.  Because we published in full-color, viewing the eBook with a color-capable book-reader/viewer (like Amazon Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac or an iPad Kindle-capable reader) software will be visually just like leafing through our printed version.

Links to Our Book on Amazon.com
Our Gluten-Free Desserts eBook is available at Amazon.com at these links:

• SEE MY UPDATED NOTES ABOVE
• Also, the notes below accurately enumerate the types of recipes we offer.

What's in our book...
For those of you wondering what types of recipes are in the book, here is a list of the 100% gluten-free recipes:

• Gluten-Free Cakes (great for gluten-free birthday cake recipes, wedding cake recipes, special events and much more!): Carrot Cake, Chocolate Ganache Cake, Tiramisu,Chocolate Layer Cake, Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, Potato Citrus Nut Cake, Turtle Cheesecake, Black Forest Bundt Cake, Boston Cream Pie, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake, Yellow Cake, Coconut Dream Cheesecake, Chocolate Cheesecake with Cinnamon Crust, Almond Cake, Date-Nut Cake, Marbled Pumpkin Cheesecake,Strawberry Cream Cake, Chocolate Almond Buckwheat Torte,Cappuccino Cheesecake,Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes, Bittersweet Chocolate Torte, Lemon Angel Food Cake
• Gluten-Free Pies and Tarts: Standard Pie Crust, Berry Pie, Banana Cream Pie, Apple Pie, Peach-Strawberry Pie, Peanut Butter Pie, Frozen Chocolate Cream Pie, Rhubarb Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Mocha Tart, Creme de Menthe Tart, Mini Nut Tarts, Blueberry Lemon Tart, Pecan Pie / Tart, Chocolate Hazelnut Tart, Cheese Tart with BlueBerry Topping, Fruit Tart
• Gluten-Free Cookies, Brownies, Bars, Biscotti: GF Peanut Butter Cookies (best ever with unique flour blend that maximizes PB flavor), Almond GF Biscotti, Soft Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, Almond Snowball Cookies, Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies, Crispy Rice and Marshmallow Bars, Coconut Macaroons, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Spongy Chocolate Orange Cookies, Italian Lemon Cookies, Lemon Cookies plus Variations, Apricot Chocolate Chip Cookies,Chocolate Strawberry Cookie, Double-Chocolate Cookies, Everything Cookies, Jelly Squares, Lemon Bars, Chewy Fudge Brownies with Hazelnuts, Double-Chocolate Jelly-Accent Brownies, Chocolate Caramel Brownies, Chocolate Orange Macadamia Biscotti
• Gluten-Free Breads (sweeter dessert/snack-type breads): Gluten-Free Lemon Poppy Seed Bread, Pumpkin-Nut Bread,Ginger Bread, Chocolate Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread, Orange Carrot Bread, Chocolate Cranberry Nut Bread,Banana Bread
• Gluten-Free Cream Puffs, Puddings, Souffle', Parfaits, and other desserts: Chocolate Souffle, Lemon-Raspberry Souffle, Citrus Rice Pudding, Chocolate Cream Cheese Flan, Cinnamon Mascarpone Flan, Lemon Blueberry Parfait, Chocolate Parfait with Cake and Strawberries, Chocolate Coconut Parfait,Chocolate Pudding, Cinnamon Vanilla Pudding, Roasted Caramel Pears and Vanilla Pudding, Hearty Pearl Tapioca Pudding, Fruit Cup, Mocha Milkshake, Gluten-Free Cream Puffs you will hardly believe possible!
• Gluten-Free Candy and various other sweet creations: Pistachio Brittle, Chocolate Covered Strawberries, Caramel Apples, English Toffee, Chocolate Haystacks, Maple-Walnut Fudge; 
• AND, a few bonus items like Biscuits and GF Beer-Battered Onion Rings.

Any future books I write will definitely be electronic-only, and having the experience of publishing our primary gluten-free recipe book to the Kindle will definitely make that work easier.  I must say, I am looking forward to no longer having to inventory many TONS of books at my location!

The End of Printed Books
As I have hinted on this blog before, we will only maintain physical-inventory (i.e., *printed* GF Desserts books) for perhaps two years longer now that we have the eBook on the market.   The end of print version is near.  [UPDATE: ALL ARE LONG SINCE SOLD. THANK YOU]