Saturday, 14 November 2015

In The Mix - Mix it up!

In The Mix – mix it up!

Those who have been keeping up with my posts recently will have noted my new series ‘In The Mix’, the first of which (Betty Crocker’s Chocolate Fudge Brownies) which you can find here: http://time-for-tea-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/in-mix-betty-crocker-chocolate-brownie.html was posted November 6th and I have since done more mix pack reviews. It all began when my brother, who is a student and wanted to learn how to make cakes but in the quickest, easiest way possible bought the Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Brownie Mix box packet. As an avid baker I saw this as an opportunity both to bond with my favourite (and only) brother AND making and eating cake!

Since my first one, I have fallen in love with these mix kits, they make baking easy and assessable to everyone no matter what age or status. I would full recommend some of the Greens and Wrights kits to lone bakers or bakers making party food, the Betty Crocker and themed kits to families and parents wanting to give their children an easy way in to baking, there are themes such as  Minions, Star Wars, Frozen, Pepper Pig and Shaun the Sheep. Even if you are feeling a little extravagant and preparing for that posh dinner party, the Thorntons chocolate baking kits are for you. So I thought I would have a look at the top supermarket websites and see where you can get your kits. I did all of my research online and though I know a lot of the kits I found are available in stores, not all of them will be.

Iceland – 3
I have to say, sad as it is, I was really excited when my local (rather small) Iceland made space for a baking section because it’s the closest supermarket to my house and what’s better than all the baking supplies you need, on demand, just a couple of minutes away?! However when I looked on their website I was disappointed by what I found. They do have some baking kits, including two amazing looking Thorntons chocolate packs but apart from that there was just one Victoria Bakery pack makes three which, while they all look delicious, isn’t the list of options I had hoped for. Iceland is also the only supermarket I looked at that doesn’t stock Betty Crocker kits, well, not according to their website anyway.

Sainsbury’s – 21
Sainsbury’s was a little better, I have seen a larger collection in store and even bought the Despicable Me Minions cupcake kit I made in there. So I was quite happy to discover all the other kits they do as well including some lovely plain traditional kits from their Sainsbury’s Own range and Wrights some tasty different options from Helens and Greens and the ever popular Betty Crocker, who I absolutely love because its perfect for anyone, no matter what age or what reason they have chosen to bake, party or fun… or just hunger!

Waitrose – 25
Although there isn’t a Waitrose close enough to me to use as a weekly supermarket (plus it’s a little expensive) I have used them in the past and fully appreciate the great choice they offer, their website told me the same with great options from Greens, and not one, not two but three types of Waitrose own, Waitrose Love Life, Waitrose Essentials and Waitrose Gluten Free. These icude some lovely Christmas packs including one that comes in a sweet little glass seal-top jar. They also sell the Betty Crocker cake and cookie sets.

Morrisons – 42
I have seen the huge baking section in my, rather large, local store and was impressed with all the Betty Crocker and kids themed baking its they have. I thought Waitrose’s 25 different cake and biscuit packs was impressive but it only gets better with Morrisons 42 include themed kits like (deep breath) Frozen, Spiderman, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, Despicable Me, Disney Princesses, Pepper Pig, Shaun the Sheep and Hello Kitty. They also sell branded kits from Maltesers for a lovely chocolate cake and M&M’s for choclate (or M&M) chip cookies. I really love the look of the Dr Oetker mug cake mixes as I have never made a mug cake before but have always wanted to try! (I sense another blog post or three!). Of course Morrisons also sell the Betty Crocker kits that seem to be the staple for supermarket cake kits.

Tesco – 44
It just keeps getting better, with Tescos incredible 44 cake and biscuit mix kits they too have thir own kits from the Tesco’s Own line, all simple traditional recipes, the ever present Betty Crocker mix packs, some themed ones from Symingtons such as the Minions pack I have used and a few by Victoria Foods and Greens that look so good.

Ocado – 70
Ocado seem to have snuck in in recent years and taken internet shopping by storm and looking at their website its not hard to see why, they sell EVERYTHING. As well as the fantastic choice they have for everything (and I mean everything) else they had 70, yes SEVENTY (I counted) cake and biscuit mix packs available on their website. If nothing else there are some fantastic company names in there, such as Devilishly Delicious and Hale and Hearty. Wrights, who seem to be not far behind on the popularity run and Betty Crocker (the obvious fore-runner) are in there too but it was this last one that surprised me. If you read the Waitrose section above you will see they do three different types of packs; essential, gluten free and Love life, Ocado stocks all of these.

Asda – 84
Whilst Ocado’s score of 70 mix packs is really impressive there is one place that takes the cake (pun intended) Asda, a magical name in easy baking for everyone. The spectacular 84 (I counted each and every one) their range naturally starts with their own brand ‘Chosen by you’ with some classic and some gorgeous Christmas specials (its nice to know that if this brand lives up to its name there are plenty of bakers and wannabe bakers out there, who shop at Asda anyway.) there is, you guessed it Betty Crocker packs in there and some Greens mixes, as seen in Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s as well as those gorgeous looking Mug Cake kits from Dr Oetker and the chocolatey Thorntons kits. A round of applause is truly in order for the amazing Asda and their inadvertent aiding of the amateur baking world.


So there really is no excuse not to give baking a go because nowadays its even easier to just give it a go with these super simple kits that are almost everywhere! Enjoy your baking and please feel free to send me pictures and comments at my Twitter: @TimeForTeaBlog1

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