New pastry kits sweeten the deal
Led by the likes of Blue Apron, Sun Basket, Munchery and most recently Good Eggs, meal kit delivery services have evolved into a $1.5 billion industry that experts say is expected to keep growing.
Yet, according to a March 2017 Nielsen Company consumer study, 86 percent of consumers who buy meal kits would like the ability to add dessert to their meal kit order. So, it’s no surprise that similar services with a dessert focus have begun popping up on the market.
“In some ways, it’s a natural progression,” says Jocelyn Bergman, co-founder of a year-old San Francisco dessert kit subscription service named SoBakeable.
Neither Bergman nor cofounder Chloe Cohen have professional culinary backgrounds, but both are avid home bakers. “We were just those people at the potluck who would always bring dessert,” Bergman says.
They spent a year developing recipes and specially formulated mixes that make baking more approachable. The kits include nonperishable, pre-portioned ingredients, along with easy-to-follow recipe cards. Much like a cake mix bought at the supermarket, the only ingredients that bakers provide are butter, milk and eggs.
“It’s like a Betty Crocker cake mix for adults,” jokes Bergman.
The recipes go beyond yellow cake or brownies, though. Options include blackberry cupcakes, lemon shortbread and strawberry eclairs.
There is also a companion baking app with how-to videos for even more guidance. Standard kits, which include ingredients for two different desserts, can be ordered individually for $36.95. Bimonthly subscriptions for 6 months and 12 months are also available for $99 and $190, respectively. SoBakeable also offers more elaborate premium options, such as a Mother’s Day baking kit that starts at $49.95.
The price tag is obviously much higher than Betty Crocker boxes at Safeway, which cost a few bucks, although Bergman says that a fair amount of their orders are gifts.
To see how the SoBakeable kits work, I took one for a test run.
The cardboard box arrives filled with color-coded individually labeled bags with perfectly portioned ingredients to make the dessert.
Concerns immediately arose in my mind regarding the wasteful nature of individual packaging required to contain all the ingredients. But mainly, my early hesitation was about lack of control. As a professionally trained chef and avid home cook, I relish the act of creating dishes from scratch. I also like to choose the quality of the ingredients I use.
Also, cooking mishaps and errors can happen in the kitchen, even with the most careful guidance. For example, if I burn the caramel sauce made from scratch, I can just measure out the ingredients again and try one more time. The SoBakeable packets, on the other hand, are already measured out with no actual measurements given, and the caramel mix comprises an unspecified melange of granulated sugar and powdered milk. So if I scorch the perfectly portioned SoBakeable caramel mix, the $18 dessert is ruined.
That said, after an afternoon in The Chronicle Test Kitchen, I was quite pleased with the results.
The entire experience felt like I was baking from scratch, but I didn’t have to worry about measuring out the dried ingredients, which did save time. I also liked not having to worry about having a bunch of leftover ingredients languishing in my cupboards until the next time I decided to bake, which doesn’t happen often.
Added flourishes — like edible gold rocks to garnish the bars and chocolate curls for the meringues — elevated the sweets to something that felt really special, beyond Betty Crocker. As for yield, the two kits ended up producing nine meringues and eight bars — enough to bring to a party or serve at a dinner party.
The chocolate caramel bars and chocolate mousse meringues looked gorgeous and were totally Instagram-worthy. They tasted good, too — the meringues were light and perfectly crisp, complemented by an airy mousse. The chocolate caramel bars with their crispy vanilla cookie base, rich caramel center and glossy chocolate top layer, were a hit when I shared them with newsroom staffers.
These were desserts I was proud to claim as my own and share with others. While I probably won’t sign up for a full subscription, I am certainly curious to try more individual kits. I already have my eye on the blackberry cupcakes and lemon shortbread for summer parties and potlucks.