Euforia Confections of Tucson, AZ: Offering gluten-free, hand-made gourmet cakes – Review

I was excited to see the FedX man at my door this afternoon. I was hoping he would hand me a package that I was expecting which might be the perfect accompaniment to my just-poured cup of green tea. Ahh, yes – it was the package from Euforia Confections, of Tucson. Perfect timing! Inside the outer box was a smaller, rectangular box … a nondescript, ordinary white box. Within that box was another one and I would soon discover this box contained something quite the opposite … rather something deliciously extraordinary!

Euforia Confections is a bakery located in Tucson, Arizona where I guess you could say East meets West. By that I mean, the founder of the bakery, Kartika Castonguay, was born in beautiful Indonesia (I was fortunate to visit both Bali & Java, years ago and fell in love with the land and especially its people). Kartika opened the bakery with the desire to recreate cakes that she and her mother once made together back home in Indonesia. Euforia specializes in gourmet, exotic, cakes, all of which are created by hand and contain just a few simple, all natural ingredients. They also happen to be gluten-free!

Triple Delight Cake – 3 yum layers!

For the purpose of this review, I was sent the “mini” Triple Delight Cake ($14.95) which originated from the Dutch Colonial era in Indonesia and is known there as “Lapis Surabaya or Spiku”. In keeping with the traditional recipe, the cake is prepared in three layers, chocolate in the middle, flanked by vanilla. Similar in consistency to a pound cake, the cake is buttery, moist, and contains the perfect, subtle, blending of flavors … vanilla, caramel, butter. Very rich tasting, but without being overly sweet … decadent, yet light and airy. Euforia’s cakes would make a wonderful addition to any special occasion (holiday, high-tea, birthday, wedding) dessert table.

Thousand-layer Cake (Roulade)

“Here at Euforia, we believe that simple, natural ingredients can be transformed into amazing desserts.  We don’t use preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, or artificial flavors and colors in our foods and never will. Euforia cakes are created from traditional family recipes, so we are using nearly the same ingredients in our bakery that are used in kitchens throughout Indonesia.  Our Thousand Layer Spice Cake contains eggs, butter, sugar, milk, fragrant spices, and salt – That’s all there is to it.  The Vanilla and Lemon Variations contain vanilla and lemon and citric acid instead of spices.  The Triple Delight Cake is made of eggs, butter, sugar, gluten-free flour blend (white rice, brown rice, tapioca, almond, potato), milk, cocoa powder, vanilla, salt, and coffee.”

Sliced …

Saving some for next week!

I received an artfully-created, delicious tasting dessert from Euforia which sells on their website for $14.95 (the mini, not petite, size). I was able to slice the “mini” cake into 15 slices (if you count the slices in my photo you will only count 12, I couldn’t resist and ate 3 slices before I picked up the camera! ). I also individually wrapped the leftover slices and put in the freezer for treats throughout the week. The slices taste delicious right out of the freezer, yes even frozen they are yum … though I’m sure Kartika would recommend thawing!

I’m am so excited to share this review of Euforia Confections with you and hope you will soon discover their delightful cakes too!

Visit Euforia’s website & Facebook page to view the cake varieties offered (in addition to the Triple Delight Cake, see Euforia’s Thousand Layer Cake, which comes in a whole cake size and roulade, pictured above). Treat yourself. Treat a family member! The cakes would make a wonderful gift to the celiac or gluten-intolerant loved one in your family. Bring along to a holiday event!

I am looking forward to more delicious delights coming from Kartika and Euforia!