You never know who you're going to meet just hanging out in The Bahamas... Now let me be absolutely clear here, I did not actually meet Bob Katz, the president of My Grandma's Coffee Cakes of New England, but I did speak with him over the telephone, after a conversation he had with my husband. That conversation led to me speaking with Mr. Katz, and him promising to FedEx me some of his products. Not knowing what to expect imagine my shock and surprise when two huge boxes were delivered to my office, shipped from Boston, Massachusetts, packed with a variety of My Grandma's of New England Coffee Cakes for me to try -- Granny Smith Apple Coffee Cake, Patriot Coffee Cake, Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake, Cinnamon Coffee Cake without nuts, Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake and Ted Williams Chocolate Cake. There were so many varieties (and I realized that it was just a sampling of their products) that I closed that box right back up, shoved it to the side and did my best to forget about them. After all, the last time I had touched a coffee cake was probably back in the 1980s when they were quite popular.To be honest, I let those cakes sit for a few days, because it was just a bit overwhelming to open that box to see the amount of cake that Mr. Katz had shipped -- five large (one 10-inch, 3.1 pound cake serves 20-26 people), four small (one eight-inch 1.75 pound cake serves 10-14 people) and three boxes of individually wrapped mini cakes (each box had nine mini cakes). So imagine how overwhelming that was to see that many cakes (and my head spun when I thought about the calories). But Mr. Katz had spoken so highly of his product that started a sensation in 1990 with Grandma Esther Cluck's authentic old world family recipe, that started in a 250-square foot bakery, to a company that today bakes many varieties by hand six days a week. They also offer Banana Walnut Cake, Golden Raspberry, Cappucino, Lemon Poppy, Cape Cod Cranberry and Chocolate Chip Walnut coffee cake flavors, for a total of 12 flavors to suit every taste bud.It's a cake that Mr. Katz is proud to boast has been served at the Plaza Hotel in New York City's Tea Room, The Vatican, Major League All-Star Game, The Ryder Cup and the U.S. Tennis Open. His cake has also been featured on Oprah's O List, Food Network's "Roker on the Road", NBC's "The TODAY Show" and was an addition to the 2011 News and Documentary Emmy Gift Bags. So of course I had to give them a try.As Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake is a classic flavor, that was the first one that I opted to dig into. It was moist and delicious and not overly flavored with cinnamon. Even my husband who is a take it or leave it kind of sweets guy gave it a thumbs up.Perusing the flavors we both decided that the Granny Smith Apple Cake had to be taste-tested next. It was like an epiphany, with a layer of apples in the middle and on top of the cake... I can say it was absolutely divine. It was rich, buttery and the perfect accompaniment to a soothing latte. It was swoon-worthy and had me going back for seconds and thirds. I even heated up the Granny Smith Apple Cake up with a scoop of our respective favorite ice cream flavors on the side and it was like I had died and gone to heaven. After three slices of the apple cake, I realized that I had to share the goodness around (or suffer the fate of looking like the Goodyear Blimp times two), so share I did. A few days later I asked some of the people to share their thoughts with me to share with you.
"The Cinnamon Coffee Cake was in one word 'yum', it was great. I could eat a whole cake with a few glasses of milk."
-- Trevor Adderley Jr., 15
The Cinnamon Walnut Mini Coffee Cake was delightful and the taste of the toasted nuts really did it for me. The cake was filled with flavor. I also had the Granny Smith Apple Coffee Cake -- now this cake was the cake of cakes. It was everything you would look for in a cake. It was sweet, but not too sweet, moist, with an awesome flavor. The best part was the thin sliced apples on the top that were soft, yet still had a little crunch to them. Overall, it was a taste of nostalgia. It took me to a dream of sitting on the porch of a cottage sipping tea at brunch and reminiscing with a view of only fields of grass ahead.
-- Latoya Petti, 30
"Love the flavor of the Cinnamon Walnut. It's not too sweet, just enough punch."
-- Cassie Benoit, 29
"I tasted the pumpkin and cinnamon coffee cakes from My Grandma's of New England and thought they were very tasty. What I liked most was the moist texture of the cake coupled with the burst of flavor from the swirl of the cinnamon that was surprisingly not too sweet. The pumpkin was moist as well, but I think could have had a stronger spice flavor... maybe more cinnamon and pumpkin spice in the swirl would have added to it."
-- Tonya Adderley, 41
"The Cinnamon Walnut Cake Without Nuts was very moist with a nice flavor, but I thought there was too much sugar on top though."
-- Fellesia Davis, 19
"I had the Pumpkin Spice Coffee Cake and that was delightful. It was really good."
-- Chelsea Tynes, 13
"Had the Cinnamon Walnut ... ooh that's good."
-- Ed Berg, 28
By the way, Mr. Katz informed me that My Grandma's Coffee Cakes of New England will FedEx their delicious kosher offerings right to your doorstep. You can visit their site or email him at rkatz@mygrandma.com or call at 617-365-9902. Actually I was explaining all of this to my mother as we shopped at Super Value on Cable Beach, I looked to my left, and surprise, surprise, right there in the frozen food case (where they stock specialty frozen items and the like) were a couple of flavors from My Grandma's Coffee Cakes of New England (and I hadn't even noticed them before then). The store had about five of the 12 flavors, and they were all small cakes as opposed to the large, so just in case you're in for a delicious treat you do have options -- you can order directly from Mr. Katz. They will bake a cake fresh for you for the next day and send it out comfortably dressed for the journey. Or you can trot down to Super Value and purchase one out of the frozen food case, thaw and enjoy. The cake slices best with a sharp knife when it's been chilled. The shelf life for My Grandma's Coffee Cakes of New England is 12 months in the freezer or 12 days un-refrigerated. All cakes come in a reusable freezer bag. They also offer lower fat versions and all their cakes can be made in lower fat version, except for the Ted Williams All-Star Chocolate. All cakes can also be baked without walnuts.

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