UPDATE: Wow I got so many comments and e-mails from people thinking I'm some sort of evil cake mix lover! Dudes?! Have you no faith? I love baking from scratch, and I do prefer the flavors and textures of scratch-baked goods. In case you haven't noticed, 90% of the stuff on my blog is FROM SCRATCH! But I grew up on cake mix, so it will always have a place in my heart. I'm never gonna become a cake mix Nazi and rule cake mix out of my life! So chill and have faith that I'm not some cheapazoid floozy who's cheating on her flour and baking powder! ;D
Just a heads up, you're gonna see a LOT of reviews here over the next few weeks. I went through all the baking mixes I've acquired from TJ Maxx, Ross, and Marshall's. I noticed a few of them were creeping up on their expiration date. So I made two of them for wing night, and I'm going to make the other one soon as well. Then last week I was contacted by three separate companies about trying their products in exchange for a review on my blog. The first was POM Wonderful. Ya know, the pomegranate juice guys?? I've been a huge fan of POM for a while now (PS: POM Cherry is the BEST!), so there was no way I'd turn them down! I'm curious to try POM in some baking recipes!The second was Miss Muffet's. They package bakery mixes, and they sent me a mix for Lemon Dream Cupcakes and Caramel Pecan Cake with Maple Glaze. I'm super excited to try them! The third company to contact me was Glass Jar Goodies, and they sent a mix for White Chocolate Razzleberry Cookies (which sound super delicious!). I can't wait to test and review all of these products!
But first let's get back to the cupcake mixes from TJ Maxx. Tuesday, I made Dean Jacob's Cappuccino Cupcake Mix & Latte Frosting Mix ($5.99), as well as Red Velvet Cupcake Mix with Cream Cheese Frosting ($7.99). I couldn't find any sort of brand name on the red velvet cupcake mix. Maybe I didn't look hard enough.
NOTE TO COMPANY: PUT YOUR BRAND NAME ON YOUR PRODUCT SO THAT I CAN FIND MORE IF I'M INTERESTED!Okay, let's do things in some sort of organized manner...
SO WHO WINS??? After careful consideration (and massive taste-testing), here are the results:
Red Velvet
Flavor =5 - The flavor of the red velvet cupcake was OUTSTANDING! It didn't have the harsh chemical aftertaste that most box mixes have. I couldn't stop licking the batter out of the bowl!
Texture =5 - The texture of the red velvet cake was similar to a homemade cake.
Frosting =5 - DELICIOUS! The frosting mix contained only confectioners' sugar and vanilla (I guess powdered vanilla??). I give the credit to the cream cheese and butter that the recipe called for!
Cappuccino
Flavor = 3 - The cappuccino cupcake definitely had a noticeable chemical taste. Like I said, I couldn't stop licking the bowl of red velvet batter, but when I would lick the cappuccino batter I was not pleased.
Texture = 5 - It was exactly like the box mix texture we all know (and some of us love), extremely soft and fluffy.
Frosting = 2 - Gross, gross, gross! And way too sweet! The dried coffee gave it a strong, bitter aftertaste.
RED VELVET IS THE CHAMP! But is it worth $7.99?? Sure, if you REALLY don't feel like getting out your flour and cocoa powder... That's up to YOU!
Recently I was contacted by Carrie from Miss Muffet's about reviewing some of her bakery mixes. Over the weekend I made the Lemon Dream Cupcakes for my family for Easter. It makes 12 cupcakes, and the retail value is $8.25. Everyone loved them! We all agreed that the cupcakes were SUPER moist and slightly lemony. Some thought the frosting was "weird" but good. It's kinda like a whipped topping (kinda like Dream Whip), not really the texture or sweetness you think of when you think frosting. They were supposed to be filled with the mixture, but I was short on time, so I just piled all of it ontop of the cupcakes.
I rolled the little balls of flavorless cookie dough in the cinnamon sugar and baked them just until the edges were set.
The centers were still gooey, but I took them out to ensure chewy cookies. Boy was I mistaken! When they cooled, they turned into flavorless cinnamon sugar hockey pucks. Disgusting! Worst of all, they had the "Captain Crunch" effect... ya know how it cuts the roof of your mouth? Let's put it this way: I wouldn't take them if they were free.
If you have a box of this mix already sitting in your pantry, you might be able to save them by using butter instead of shortening and adding at least 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. But don't get your hopes up.
As usual I recommend Betty Crocker over this "gourmet" mix, hands down.
