In The Mix - Sweetpea Pantry's Playful Pizza Dough Mix

Name: Playful Pizza Dough Mix

Company: Sweetpea Pantry

This kit was generously sent to me to write about for you!

This kit is a first for me (there’s been a few of those recently) it is the first kit I have made for this blog and ever, that isn’t dessert and I’m really excited about it! I vaguely remember making my own pizza at a friend’s house when I was younger but the dough was made by their mother and I just threw some cheese on top and was given it back when it was cooked. This time I am doing everything but gathering the ingredients for the base myself (with the help of this handy kit of course!).

I love Sweetpea Pantry’s look, over the website, packaging and even the lovely delivery box which had a cute address label covered in clouds and birds. When I found their website I was immediately taken by Sweetpea, their website is simple, not covered in bells and whistles but it gets its lovely message across. All of their products are “100% natural, 100% honest, 100% fun” as the front page says and their Great Taste Award backs up their claims. It doesn’t stop there though, Sweetpea Pantry have won many awards including Most Loved Kids Food from Foodpreneur and they were also World Food Innovation Awards finalists. So plenty of other people love their kits but will we?

The design of the box is lovely, everything is covered is sweet (pea?) drawings of birds and though the back of the box has a lot of information on it, it is laid out in a way that is easy to read and pick out the important things such as the fact that this particular kit is vegetarian, non GM, contains wholegrains and is “made with love in the UK”. I love the fact that the healthy ingredients are pasted on the front of the box like film stars: “Starring CHIA & FLAX”.

All you need for the dough is water and oil and then whatever topping you want, we went for nice and simple cheese and tomato but you could add ham, pineapple, peppers, meatballs, whatever you want!

Part 1) Pre-Heat the oven, mix the oil and water then add the pizza dough mix: Mixing water and oil? As hard as it sounds but when it bubbles together, that’s fine. Pop in the dry mix and get stuck in! The instructions say “using hands if needed”, its needed! Get your hands in and make sure it is properly combined!

Part 2) Turn onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes then pop into an oiled bowl, cover and put in a warm place for an hour: Make sure there is plenty of flour on your surface so the pizza doesn’t stick to it and put a good (but light) covering  of oil all over the inside of your bowl. I put my bowl in the airing cupboard covered with clingfilm for its hour but any warm place and complete covering is prefect.

Part 3) Punch the dough and break into three pieces. Flatten and roll it into pizza base shapes. Top and bake!: Tip the dough onto a floured surface and flatten with a rolling pin, I had to use my hands for most of it and then the rolling pin to finish as the dough is quite stiff. Then top with delicious toppings and pop it in the oven! The baking time on the box was just fine to make our pizzas nice and crisp and melted the cheese perfectly.

The final instruction on the box is “Devour!” and we did, they were delicious!

These pizzas were so great, I’m not a fan of wholemeal bread so when this kit came and I realized it was a wholegrain base, I wasn’t sure what it would be like but I really needn’t have worried, it was great, both my brother and I loved our pizzas AND there is enough dough left over for one more! I recommend this kit for kids parties, I would break the dough into even smaller pieces and have all the kids make mini pizzas for their lunch, they could use the toppings to make faces or pictures!

Website: Sweetpeapantry.co.uk

Facebook: /sweetpeapantrybaking

Twitter: @Sweetpeapantry

In The Mix - Baked In's Chocolate Mug Brownie Mix

Name: Chocolate Mug Brownie Mix

Company: Baked In

Bought In: Whirligig Toy Shop

After having done the gluten free version of these gorgeous mug brownies and really liking them I had to see how the non-gluten-free ones compare. The recipe is exactly the same (to the word… I checked), the kit comes with enough for four delicious mug cakes and all u need is butter and milk or water (this means you can make this recipe dairy free if need be.)

Part 1) Put the butter into a mug and melt in the microwave: My brother wanted to make sure we had the right amount with measuring spoons but its just a small heaped tsp. The instructions say 10 to 20 secs but in my 800W microwave it was more like 25. You may want to have your butter out for a bit before using it for this recipe.

Part 2) Add milk or water: The choice means that this kit can be turned into a dairy free alternative BUT the box says it may contain TRACES of milk so its up to you if you are lactose intolerant.

Part 3) Mix “thoroughly” and microwave: Really do make sure you mix thoroughly so the ingredients combine properly and you get a great fluffy cake. I mixed one more than another and it rose more so definitely do that!

Part 4) Sprinkle the marshmallows on top and allow your cake to cool: I recommend popping the marshmallows on top straight away so they melt into the top, mmmm! The lovely instructions say this about leaving your cake to cool before eating it “Sorry, we know this is tough but trust us on this on – it will be HOT”. They are right, it is HOT to start with but don’t let it cool completely, it is lovely when it’s warm and melty!

The last point on the instructions says to enjoy straight from the mug possibly, to make it more awesome, with vanilla ice cream! I didn’t have any ice cream but that sounds good, try that! I have to say, delicious as their gluten-free counterparts were, these mug cakes are fantastic and I definitely recommend them to anyone who loves chocolate and cake!

Website: Bakedin.co.uk

Facebook: /BakedinCakes

Twitter: @BakedinCakes

In The Mix - Sweet Deceits' Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Name: Chocolate Fudge Brownies

Company: Sweet Deceits

Bought: Online

There are two things about this kit that are different from any I’ve tried so far: One is that it’s a ‘healthy option’ kit, its packaging is covered if phrases like “deceivingly good for you” and “guilt free indulgence” and it even has a section on the back describing  all it’s ingredients and how they are good for you. So I am excited and a little wary of how it will stand up to the taste test. Secondly, it’s the first one I have ordered online. I decided to go online to see if I could find any other baking kit companies that I was missing out on. It turns out there are LOADS but the lovely people at Sweet Deceits gave me a 20% off code so that I could review one of their gorgeous healthy kits for you! I was a little worried about ordering something like this online but I really didn’t need to be, apart from a little denting in the contents that had no impact on the baking at all, it arrived in one piece and there were no problems whatsoever.

Part 1) Melt the coconut oil over a pan of boiling water or in the microwave: I decided to go with the microwave but the first hurdle was removing the slab of solid coconut oil from its vacuum packaging. The box had been out on a shelf for a while and it had slightly melted so I got covered in coconut oil and half of it stuck to the plastic. I would recommend putting the coconut oil in the fridge for a bit before opening it, to make sure you get it all out as one piece. The only other thing was that in the instructions it says it should take 40 seconds but it was more like 60 by the time it was fully melted.

Part 2) Mix the dry ingredients, eggs and melted coconut oil together until combined and pour into the baking tray provided: This is the weird part, mixing the ingredients is gritty and a little…icky but once its combined its just like any other brownie mix, pour it into the baking tray that COMES WITH THE KIT (Sorry, that bit made me really happy, I’ve never seen that before.) and smooth the top so the mix is level.

Part 3) Bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 mins: Most of the time with these kits, the timing is a little off. I often find myself having to put them back into the oven after the time is up but not with this one! The 25 mins was perfect and the first skewer test I did came out clean.

The instructions say to wait until the brownies are cool to eat but of course I couldn’t wait! Now, I have to admit something to you. I was wary of this recipe, with its weird ingredients from the start. Three of the four ingredients have coconut in the title. Maybe its because I automatically expect unhealthy things like brownies to be full of unhealthy ingredients and these ingredients sound like a diet salad rather than a dessert. The real shame and the thing I have to admit to you is that I didn’t like the finished product. Though it looks like a really good, chewy brownie and smells lovely the taste, for me, just doesn’t work, they certainly don’t taste like any brownies I’ve had before. I made these for a party with some friends and some of them agreed with me but not all of them! Some people really liked these unusual brownies, which leads me to believe they are simply an acquired taste. Ten points to Sweet Deceits just for the tin included in the kit though. Very often these kits will ask for a baking container you just don’t have, while its fine to use one that is as close as you can get, its nice to have one specially made for this mix! (though, even after I lightly greased the tin as per the instructions, the brownie still stick to it!)

Over all this is a fantastic alternative kit, cutting out dairy, gluten and sugar and I love the tin included in the kit. I would certainly recommend this to parents of children with allergies or intolerances.

Twitter: @TweetDeceits  (I love this twitter name!)

Facebook: /SweetDeceits

Website: SweetDeceits.com