It's hard to believe that The Great British Bake off has been in our lives since the summer of 2010! Like the majority of people I've been a fan since the start and the love for Bake Off is still going strong!
There's been a huge rise in subscription boxes in the last few years, and so when it was announced at the end of 2020 the Bake Off Box was happening it was fair to say I was super excited! However, with so many subscription box services out there you really have to pick and choose and weigh up which ones are worth it.
With it being Bake off I thought I would at least try the first box, completely swayed by the fact you receive a gorgeous duck egg cake stand in the first box! The first bake is the signature chocolate cake you see in the opening credits, yes the one with the one missing raspberry on the edge!
So what comes in the box?
Each box comes with:
- A piece of bake ware - First box included a cake stand made from bamboo
- A postcard with those famous illustrations of the bake by Tom Hovey
- A recipe card with full instructions and step by step photos
- A card with the fresh ingredients you will need to buy as extra
- All of the dry ingredients for the bake
The good and bad:
Firstly the packaging was beautiful, just look at the colour! Everything was ECO friendly, recyclable and there is a nice touch where they include where all the ingredients come from. The recipe card also includes the full ingredients list and measurements. I love this as it means you're able to make the cake again in the future, which isn't always the case with some kits. The cake stand is beautiful and of good quality although I'm not sure you could put a heavy, tiered or big cake on it.
Included is all the dry ingredients which are basic household items, meaning there are still numerous extras you have to buy, the most expensive ingredients at that! I'm a little on the fence about this one. Mostly because its understandable having to buy ingredients like cream fresh, but if other subscription boxes such as Hello Fresh and Gousto manage to send fresh ingredients, it makes me wonder why the Bake Off Box can't? For this bake you have to buy cream, raspberries and there's a few other extras needed. Making the cake a tad pricey to make when you've already spent £20 on the box. I guess this will differ month to month depending on what that months bake is. Compared to other baking kits I've seen I can't decide whether the price is worth it. Or whether the recipes could simply be found in the various Bake Off Books, but then I guess it's not as fun as receiving the box each month!
How much does it cost?
There are 3 subscription options: A monthly rolling subscription costing £19.99, this is the one I chose. Or you can buy 3 month or 6 month subscriptions. There's no discounts for subscribing for multiple months at a time and all prices include delivery. I like that you aren't completely tied into the subscription if you choose the monthly rolling, you can cancel and rejoin. Choosing the bakes you'd like to do as they tend to post on social media what the next box will be. It's hard to judge value for money without knowing how much the bake ware would cost on its own but I'm glad the box price includes delivery. Always a bonus!
The Bake Itself
Now I've waffled on too long, its time to bake! It was great fun to make and I think any skill level could make it, even as an activity to do with the kids. There's a great feeling of nostalgia, I was definitely humming the Great British Bake Off theme a few times!
The cake itself is quite dense but moist. I found that it had a good balance of being chocolatey but it's not too rich that its sickly! The instruction leaflet is very good, easy to follow with great photos to help.
I went for a smooth chocolate ganache finish rather than the textured finish they suggested. All I will say here is that I left my ganache a lot longer than the instructions stated, around an hour to let it thicken up. I was a little worried putting the ganache on that it would look messy and run all over the place! However I persevered and kept adding and smoothing the sides of the cake. I'm so happy with how it turned out! I love how the raspberries set it off, simple but so pretty!
And there you have it!!
I enjoyed this and have decided to try the next few boxes to see what they are like. The next box being Mini Banana and Walnut Loaf Cakes, something I've never made before. If you're interested in this subscription find below the link to the Bake Off Box website.
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