Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Cake Review
First the good stuff. This cake was very easy to make. Just add water and oil to the mix. Stir and pour in cake pan or muffin cups. I made cupcakes and they rose beautifully. I was impressed with the texture of the cupcakes and how well they baked. I also appreciate their dedication to make in allergy-free facility. It is free of peanuts, tree nuts, dairy and eggs. However it does contain soy and wheat. Cherrybrook Kitchen also has a gluten-free cake mix.
Now, the not-so-good stuff: The taste was medicore. It was bland and the chocolate chips didn't taste like chocolate. It was a little dry and I didn't get that can't wait to eat another bite feeling. Our daughter didn't seem to mind them, but for serving at a birthday party it won't cut it. Also, I paid more than $5 for the box and could only find it at one store in my area (I live near a big city, too).
While this cake mix would be good in a pinch, the taste and cost will probably limit me from buying it any time soon.
My Ratings (out of 5 stars)
Allergy Free - 5 stars
Ease of making - 5 stars
Quality of cupcake - 4 stars
Taste - 2 1/2 stars
Cost- 2 stars
Cherrybrook Kitchen Vanilla Frosting (in a jar)
This was the most disturbing allergy-free product I've ever bought. I was so excited to find a dairy-free frosting. But when I opened this product, it had a hard coating on the top of the frosting. The directions said to stir (a common direction for allergy-free products). Optimistically I stirred and all the hard coating clumped up in the frosting that now resembled a thick clumpy icing rather than a spreadable frosting. I tasted it and it was okay for flavor, but I don't even know how I could spread this on a cupcake or cake. It was a disappointment to say the least. I spent more than $3 for this item and will never use it.
Overall, I give this 1 star only because of the attempt to make it allergy-free.
(I did however find a homemade frosting that I will share with you in the next week that is fabulous. And I have two cake recipes to try that I've found on blogs. I'm not giving up hope yet!)
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I just wanted to let you know that on another blog (www.allergydiaries.com) there is a fabulous yellow cake recipe posted on March 31st 2010 that was a huge hit at my twin 2yr olds birthday, for allergic and non allergic people alike. I have also made cupcakes to take with us to parties and non allergic kiddos have said they were delicious! I was extremely happy with this cake recipe and I have baked many many allergy friendly cakes in search of the perfect one. (I have made a Cherrybrook Kitchen cake mix only once and was very disappointed in flavor and texture). A note about the recipe- I have a coconut allergic nephew and substituted the coconut milk with rice milk (my two are also soy allergic) with amazing success- soy milk would likely work great too. The frosting recipe at the end of her post is also fabulous.
ReplyDeletePillsbury icings are dairy free (not sure about nuts). I always stock up when I am in the US since I can't find them in Canada. I think some of their cake mixes are dairy free too - I have a few in my cupboard. Maybe you could try those in a pinch? Here in Canada, there is a line of organic cake mixes (dairy free) that I purchase at my local grocery store and they are super yummy. You would never know that they are dairy/soy free. Best of Luck!
ReplyDeleteI know that your little girls birthday has past but this is the chocolate cake recipe that I've used several times and is a huge hit with our family. I've substited rice milk for the soy and it turned out just fine. I also added Enjoy Life chocolate chips because I have a slight addiction to them:)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chow.com/recipes/10794-basic-vegan-chocolate-cupcake