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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