Bird Review – Happy Kitchen : Cupcake Kit

As like I announced last week, I will be reviewing Happy Kitchen’s Cupcake DYI set. I bought this set a few months ago since cupcakes are something I tend to like making with clay. I haven’t had time to make it until now because I’ve been busy with school work and my internships. Unfortunately, since I’m unfamiliar with my new microwave, I had a bit of an issue when “baking” and the cupcakes didn’t turn out as nicely as I would have hoped.

So, I have decide that I will give more of a general overview of the kit and explain my first impression, the smells and tastes rather than how I actually made it. If there is a large demand for it, I will create another post explaining the progress. I want to note that even through I had a bit of an issue with the kit, I still had fun making it.

First impressions/content of kit:

If you’ve ever seen a Happy Kitchen or Popin’ Cookin’ kit, the contents of the box will not surprise you. There is a tray for you to mix and pour the powders, a spoon for mixing, four packets of powders, two packets of decorations and two piping bags. This is also one of the few kits that require a microwave.

Smell: 

• Vanilla Cake – There is a very faint smell of vanilla but I generally think it smells more “sweet” than anything
• Chocolate Cake – When mixing the powders with the water you can smell a hint of dark chocolate, this is more noticeable after you bake it in the microwave
• Strawberry Frosting – This smelled like a very generic strawberry. If you have ever had strawberry Pocky, this is what it smells like
• Vanilla Frosting – The vanilla frosting did not have much of a smell.

Taste:

• Vanilla Cake – I felt the cake did not have much of a taste and was rather bland.
• Chocolate Cake – It had more of a flavour than the vanilla with a hint of chocolate.
• Vanilla Frosting – It tasted very much like the vanilla cake but had a bit more flavour and was sweeter.
• Strawberry frosting – This had a very strong taste of strawberry and tasted like Strawberry Pocky. I liked this tasted the best
• Big Dots Decoration – I don’t recall these in the other kits I have done so I decided to taste each one. There three flavours : coffee (brown), banana (yellow) and strawberry (pink). I thought the coffee one tasted pretty good.
• Sprinkles – These sprinkles can be found in other kits and are just “sweet.”

Overall thoughts/tips: 

When you are mixing the cake batter, make sure that you fill the water cup to the brim or you will not make enough batter. When you are going to bake the cake, check the wattage, I don’t think mine was correct. They recommend 500w for 40 seconds or 600w for 30. I went over a few seconds and the chocolate one overflowed. Lastly, it might be a good idea to quickly wipe “tin” with a bit of oil so cake does not stick.

Overall, I did have fun making the kit. I am just disappointed that the cupcakes did not retain their shape very well. The decorating bit at the end helped make up for it. Maybe in the future I will revisit this kit and try making it again.

Ps. For tomorrow’s blog, I will show you pictures of my pesky helper, James!