For those following a gluten-free diet, the stereotype of bland, cardboard-textured baked goods can feel all too real. But Sydney-based Wholegreen Bakery is throwing some delicious shade at this myth with ‘The Cardboard Cake’.
It may resemble packing boxes, but don’t sink your teeth into a mailer for a sample. Coeliac-Australia-accredited, the Cardboard Cake delivers a delightful surprise beneath its deceivingly plain exterior. A unique blend of butterscotch, coffee, cocoa powder, pastry, caramel, and brown rice flour creates a rich and satisfying flavor experience.
In other words, it looks like cardboard, but it tastes divine. In other words, you’ve got to eat your words.
A bespoke baking tray, developed by advertising agency The Hallway, replicates the grooves of cardboard, allowing for the dessert’s wafer layers to be mass-produced. And of course, the cake is served in a cardboard box. Talk about a sweet illusion!
“If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard people say that gluten-free food tastes like cardboard, I’d be a rich lady,” comments Cherie Lyden, founder of Wholegreen Bakery. “We’ve been proving the skeptics wrong for years, but with The Cardboard Cake we’re taking it to the next level and tackling the misconceptions head on.”
She adds: “We call it The Cardboard Cake, which is ironic, because as you’re about to find out, like everything we bake at Wholegreen, it tastes like anything but. Bon appetit!”
Lyden knows the frustration of missing out on ingredients like wheat and barley all too well. Diagnosed with celiac disease alongside her daughter 10 years ago, she embarked on a mission to create delicious gluten-free options for her family and beyond.
The playful cake was a limited-time offering available across Wholegreen Bakery’s three stores through March 17. Though the “cardboard” has been packed up, it serves as a delightful reminder that gluten-free can be anything but stale.