Have Your Cake and Eat It

UPDATE (7/16/09): Starbucks has decided to discontinue its recently introduced gluten-free orange cake. According to a tweet posted Wednesday on its Twitter feed, the company is doing so because it "heard [from customers] that it was too much of a treat, and not a nutritious snack." KIND Fruit + Nut bars will replace the cakes as a gluten-free offering.

Starbucks will debut a gluten-free cake at its U.S. stores on May 5. The Orange Valencia Cake with Almonds will be sold for $2.25 each. The new product is in response to customer requests for gluten-free food items submitted on the My Starbucks Idea website. According to the company:

The Orange Valencia Cake is a delicious moist citrus cake bursting with Valencia oranges and topped with crunchy almonds. Not only is it gluten-free, it is also prepared with 7 simple ingredients: Whole Eggs, Valencia Orange Pulp, Almonds, Sugar, Orange Peel, Gluten Free Baking Powder, and Orange Oil. Plus it delivers 30% of your daily value of vitamin C.

Keep on the look out for it in the pastry case with a sign that says “gluten-free.” A single cake will be displayed unwrapped so you can see it clearly, but don’t worry. They all come individually packaged to prevent cross contamination. And with the ingredient list right on the package, it’s easy to see exactly what you are eating.

Kudos to Starbucks for responding to their customers. Hopefully this will be the first of many gluten-free food options available there.