Better Batter & Food Nostalgia

I had a moment last night. Well, a couple of moments really. One happened just after I'd finished filling my donut pan with some Better Batter chocolate cake batter. Almost as if out of instinct, I began to lick the spatula covered with the remaining drops of batter; something I haven't done for a long time. You see, raw gluten free batter mixes are often decent but don't quite hit the spot in the same way that those glutenous batters from my childhood did.

Better Batter is different. It literally tastes exactly like the chocolate cake batter that I used to eat way too much of. The consistency is smooth (not grainy like other gluten free mixes) and the chocolate taste is subtle enough to not be overly rich but it completely satisfies a sweet tooth.

There I stood in the communal kitchen, scraping the sides of the mixing bowl with my pointer finger until I'd finished off the whole thing. Good thing I'm not too paranoid about salmonella. I had a thought about how this action was so simple, yet so meaningful to me for some reason. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I thought I'd never eat (good) chocolate cake ever again when I first went gluten free. Maybe it's just a nostalgia thing. Either way, it was a reminder that, at first look, food is such a small part of life but in truth, it is linked with so many memories-mostly happy ones. I mean, who isn't happy while eating? Licking a spoon covered in chocolate cake batter was one of those small joys that I got when I was kid, so standing in my college dorm kitchen, 19 years old, licking that spoon as I did in my childhood was a slightly nostalgic, if not emotional moment.

The second moment of the night happened after the cake donuts had cooled and I'd "frosted" (with melted peanut butter) them. I took the biggest one off the cooling pan, put in on a plate, grabbed a fork, and sat down. Without doing anything but simply eating, I dug in, savoring every bite of this cake that tasted exactly like what I remember regular, not gluten-free cake tasting like. It was around 10:30 on a Friday night and I was sitting by myself in silence, eating some chocolate cake with a giant smile on my face. So simple, yet so calming and fulfilling at the same time.

I could've happily eaten every last cake donut, but I'd probably get a tummy ache, so I decided to leave the remaining ones out on a tray in the kitchen for my neighbors to enjoy-and enjoy they did! They were gone by noon the next day and I had several people going out of their way to tell me that they were delicious! That makes me feel good. Even if I didn't make them from scratch.

Thank you, Better Batter, for not only making me look like an awesome baker to my neighbors, but for bringing me back to those simple food memories of my childhood that I had long forgotten about.

*Stay tuned for a Better Batter pancake review coming up!