This season with a  bundle of new toys hitting the market, you will no doubt be checking out the best ones to purchase and put under your tree (or however you celebrate) this holiday season.

When I first was approached by the rep for the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery, I have to tell you I was excited. I had seen this on a commercial and it WAS on my list of potential purchases. Charlotte and I love both crafts and baking and this seemed liked a perfect rendition of them both as one.

Plus, as a massive fan of Ace of Cakes and reading that he said “ I told them that you are not putting my face until I play with it and it has to be quality and good and exciting for the kids… You have to understand your craft, and little kids are going to understand that you have to get Craft right before Art” I felt like it was a product that would certainly live up to its advertising.

Right?

After it arrived, we took 20 minutes to get it unscrewed, untaped, and the batteries put in. Then we were ready to go. Charlotte was sitting there pretty patient the whole time just waiting.

Any kid will wait long enough if cake is involved, right?

This is what the company says about it:

From the Manufacturer

Want to create fondant cakes like Duff Goldman from Ace of Cakes? With the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery you will spend hours in the kitchen making and eating your own mini fondant cakes. Its fast, easy and tastes great…Simply make your choice of Lemon, Confetti, Chocolate or Vanilla Mini cakes in your microwave, then decorate it with the fondant frosting for a yummy treat.

Product Description

A special limited edition box autographed by Duff Goldman of Ace of Cakes. Duff Goldman, of Charm City Cakes and Ace of Cakes, has teamed up with Girl Gourmet to create the Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery. The Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery will let your kids whip up a delicious 2-tiered mini fondant cake just like Duff himself. No hot oven necessary! cakes are baked in the microwave in 30 seconds. It will take no time for kids to be on their way to creating edible art. The package insert showcases some of the famous cakes featured on the hit Food Network show Ace of CakesThe Girl Gourmet Cake Bakery ingredients are gluten and wheat-free, trans-fat free, and are produced in a nut-free facility in the U.S.

This is a picture of the “cake” you will make w/ it that they advertise:
girlgourmetcakefactory
This is how it went in my house:
1) Charlotte Excited.
cakebakerygirl
cakebakery
  • After all pieces were out and assembled, we mixed our cake and put in microwave.
  • There really isn’t a lot of batter in the little mixes.
  • You have to literally spatula that out to get EVERY drop.
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  • Roll out and create your Fondant.
  • This did not go so well.
  • It was too dry, so we added a tiny amount of water as directed, then it got too sticky. It stuck really badly to the sheet and the roller.
  • Finding the perfect balance was pretty much like Rocket Science.
  • We gave up on the roller it came with and used our hands.
  • That didn’t go much better.
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fondontcakefactory

cakefondant

  • The cake came out of the microwave and we had to figure out how to get the Fondant on the cake.
  • I was starting to realize that it was going to look NOTHING like the picture on the box.
  • As you can see the little cake  wasn’t even even on all sides. I used every bit of cake batter they provided.
  • Its just so minuscule that it doesn’t bake into much more then a spongy, misshapen mess.
cakebatter
  • I got the cake covered with the fondant-sorta.
  • Then let Charlotte “decorate”.
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  • Taste test by Charlotte.
  • Yes, frosting is good.
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  • Adding sprinkles.
addingsprinkles

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  • Finished product
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  • Comparison on how we did.
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Before you say, but Trisha, Charlotte is just under 5 years old and the box says “8 and up”, please note that I did the majority of the baking and fondanting, etc.

I am 31.

In fact, if you bought this for a child of 8, I imagine you will still be sitting side by side because they will need your help. The truth is that the people who bake cakes for a living are using quality products and have training and expertise.

They are artists.

My opinion is that all kids find crafts and baking fun. I had an easy bake oven when I was younger and I would sit and watch that light bulb bake my little fakey cake all day long.

And it was the best damn tasting cake EVER.

Charlotte did enjoy herself, as all kids would when knee deep in icing and sprinkles, but I did not. The product was weak and did not live up to the hype of the commercials or the packaging. It was not easy at ALL.

If you are looking to encourage your child to bake, you are best off buying some Betty Crocker Cake mix, a can of spray icing and doing it the old fashioned way.

And that’s just the way the cookie, er, cake, crumbles.

~Trisha