Coeliacs and people who follow a gluten-free diet often have to miss out on the good stuff, like Christmas desserts and festive baked goods. In recent years, supermarkets and big brands have worked on building up their gluten free repertoire, including puddings, Christmas cake and even mince pies.
Eating gluten-free food is never anyone’s first pick, especially when it tends to be extra crumbly, weirdly bouncy and usually structurally unstable. So, how do supermarket gluten-free Christmas desserts hold up? I enlisted the help of a few coeliacs from around the office, and we tested out 5 different gluten-free Christmas desserts from Coles and Woolworths.
After trying all of the supermarket puddings and supermarket Christmas cakes, these GF goodies were last on my list. And there was one dessert that stood out above the rest.
I’ll be honest, early: our senior food editor, Sarah Murphy, said it was her “favourite out of all of the festive fruit things we tasted, even the gluten-filled ones!”
Testing gluten-free Christmas cakes and puddings from Coles and Woolworths
We completed a blind taste test of all the desserts, ranking them out of ten, based on taste and texture, with a tiny mention toward structural integrity (IFYKYK). We tasted five different desserts: three puddings and two Christmas cakes.
Our taste-testing panel was made up of two coeliacs, our senior food editor, the BHG editor and me, to keep the ranking as unbiased as possible.
Meet the taste-testers
Sammy Preston, Head of Shopping, loves to help readers make informed purchasing decisions, especially when it comes to gluten-free products that actually taste good.
Kylie Imeson, Editor of Country Style, has a passion for compiling stories about beautiful homes, farm-fresh produce and country towns. As a coeliac, it’s important to her that tasty GF foods are widely available to Australians across the country.
Megan Osborne, Editor of Better Homes and Gardens, loves nothing better than to help taste-test Christmas goodies, even if they’re for a specific dietary requirement.
Sarah Murphy, Senior Food Editor, has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to gluten-free goods, often doing GF baking for her gluten-free family members. And, she never misses out on a taste-test in the office!
Rachel Iorfino, Senior Content Producer, loves trying out affordable, easy to access desserts, and will always ask the question ‘is it worth buying?’ when it comes to supermarket products.
The best supermarket GF Christmas dessert
The best gluten-free supermarket Christmas dessert was moist, rich, full of flavour and definitely structurally sound. All other puddings and cakes were still tasty, but lacked in great texture and structure, with some dryness involved. Here’s our definitive ranking, from BEST to WORST:
- Coles I’m Free From Gluten Free Christmas Fruit Cake Slices – 8/10
- Coles I’m Free From Gluten Free Christmas Pudding – 7/10
- Woolworths Free From Gluten Iced Fruit Cake Slices – 5/10
- Woolworths Free From Gluten Christmas Chocolate Sponge Pudding – 5/10
- Woolworths Free From Gluten Christmas Fruit Pudding – 4/10
While Coles reigned supreme in both fruit cake and Christmas pud, unfortunately, Woolworths fell a little short. The Woolies GF Christmas cake was identical to the Woolworths Iced Christmas Cake, with star marzipan on top, but it lacked moisture and flavour. The choc sponge carried its weight in flavour, with a delicious runny chocolate sauce, but the grainy texture of the pudding was off-putting.
The real star of the show? The Coles I’m Free From Gluten Christmas Fruit Cake Slices, which were described as ‘better than the real deal’ by senior food editor Sarah Murphy.
Winner: Coles Gluten-Free Christmas Cake with 8/10
Coles I’m Free From Gluten Free Christmas Fruit Cake
Best for: a GF dessert that doesn’t taste like it
For a Christmas cake that Megan said she liked, even though she’s “not a fruitcake fan”, the Coles gluten free iced fruit cake slices were the perfect mix of moist and rich. Kylie Imeson commented that it was “sweet, tasty and packed with fruit”, making it the perfect option to serve to gluten-free guests and coeliac holiday visitors.
We would even go as far as to say that this gluten-free Christmas cake is better than the gluten-filled Christmas cakes we taste-tested a few days earlier.
It’s currently sold out online, but we recommend you head straight to your nearest Coles and stock up for when guests come over for Christmas.
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