Westerville resident Daiane Bobka started Rio Delights in May, shopping her exotic, home-baked offerings around at farmers’ markets, as well as at Celebrate Local, an Easton Town Center store.  Rio Delights baked goods are all-natural, gluten-free and, in many cases, lactose-free and vegan.

Those options are not new in Brazilian cuisine, which emphasizes a wide range of natural flavors.

Gluten-free products are continuing to gain popularity in central Ohio, and Bobka, who has lived with Brazilian cooking all her life, saw an inviting opening in the market. She hopes to eventually open her own storefront to answer central Ohioans’ desire for healthful and special dietary foods.

“Some people need to eat differently, and some people just want to try something new or healthy,” Bobka says. “No matter what, we have delicious foods for every type of person.”

Bobka’s specialties include cocadas, muffin-shaped coconut sweets; biscoitos de polhilvos, miniature cookies; corn bread; sesame seed sticks; and cheese and potato bread. She also offers up an assortment of bonbons, with varieties including Brigadeiro (chocolate chip), Coconut Kiss, Samba (walnut), Caipirinha (lime), Copacabana Café (chocolate with coffee) and Bossa Nova (chocolate with walnuts).

For now, Rio Delights is a one-woman business operating from a home kitchen, but Bobka plans to keep looking for cafes and restaurants to sell her products so she can have a presence in as many more places.

Though Rio Delights’ No. 1 offering is baked goods, Bobka has an impressive library of Brazilian recipes, including a passionfruit mousse that can be enjoyed even by those whose diets forbid gluten and eggs.

More information on Rio Delights, including ordering, can be found at www.riodelights.com.

Tyler Davis is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@pubgroupltd.com.

RECIPE:

Passion Fruit Mousse
INGREDIENTS:

·   1 cup sweetened condensed milk

·   1 cup cream

·   1 cup passion fruit juice

·   Pulp of 2 medium passion fruits

·   1 cup water

·   ½ cup sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Pass passion fruits through a sieve until you fill one cup with juice. Blend together condensed milk, cream and passion fruit juice until the ingredients are mixed. Place mixture in a bowl.

Reduce pulp, water and sugar on a stove for about 20 minutes until formed into a syrup.