So, I saw one of those "cooking" kits at Wal Mart. You know the ones...that you see people making on YouTube. The Japanese "mini" foods. I randomly decided I wanted to find out how well these actually worked. And I took some pictures. Not always the best, but, there you go.
Here's the package. I just opened it up and put everything on my lap desk. Maybe not the best place to do this, but I figured I could contain the mess.
I went ahead and opened up the inside package and cut out on the lines like it said, but I didn't keep the pictures I took. I didn't think it added anything. It's just that you can use the inner packaging as a kind of "display" for the finished product, I guess. I was going to put them on a little plate I have with a little doily I made, but I thought better of it. They weren't going to last that long, anyway.
I also gathered up some water (not shown) to do the mixing with. The directions say to WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY which is ALWAYS a good idea so I went ahead and did that as well.
I was a little concerned about the directions, but this box had English directions, so it turned out to be no problem after all.
I went ahead and opened up the inside package and cut out on the lines like it said, but I didn't keep the pictures I took. I didn't think it added anything. It's just that you can use the inner packaging as a kind of "display" for the finished product, I guess. I was going to put them on a little plate I have with a little doily I made, but I thought better of it. They weren't going to last that long, anyway.
I also gathered up some water (not shown) to do the mixing with. The directions say to WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY which is ALWAYS a good idea so I went ahead and did that as well.
I was a little concerned about the directions, but this box had English directions, so it turned out to be no problem after all.
I got excited about the mixing, so I forgot to take a picture of the vanilla "dough" that I mixed. I did take a picture of mixing the chocolate "dough" with the pink spoon the kit provided. As other reviewers have mentioned, the chocolate really does smell REALLY chocolatey. Wash off the spoon and mixing bowl between the chocolate and vanilla if you're really concerned about getting them contaminated. I did this, but upon reflection, I don't think I would be that concerned about it if you're just going to eat this right away anyway.
It was not difficult to mix and the directions were very clear, I thought. One YouTuber I saw was confused as to how much of the mix to use. I thought it was pretty clear you use ALL the powder from the "dough" packets.
I did use just a drop or two more of water than I thought I should have for the chocolate, and it turned out better. If you are unsure as to whether you have filled up your measuring spots (if you do the kit you'll see what I mean) enough, err on the side of too much, but not TOO TOO much water. Like I said, I did just maybe a drop or two more. If I ever do a kit like this again, I will probably add just a tiny bit more water at this stage. If the "dough" is too dry, it won't form well and it will be hard to do the next part.
You know, I probably could have stopped here with the "dough" part of this, made the icing and just decorated these balls of....whatever this is....but I felt like I wanted to continue with the spirit of the thing, so I did not shirk my responsibility to finish the next step!
Ok, so you only have the one tray to form the "donuts" with, so if you have to struggle a lot to get the donuts out, you might ruin the "donut" form. The plastic is not that delicate, though. I did the chocolate ones first, and I'm glad I did. They were the more moist ones and were easy to get out. I would recommend REALLY REALLY pressing this "dough" into the forms firmly. I know I took more time that I thought I would on this step.
The vanilla "dough" was just a tad more dry and I did wind up ruining the "donut" form. I was quite rough with it, though. With normal usage, it should hold up just fine. I knew these were my last ones so I didn't much care about how the form turned out afterward, as long as the "donuts" came out.
One of the vanilla ones kind of broke, it was the one that looks like a traditional donut, but as I was going to be brave and scarf these down right away, I didn't much mind. I just shoved it together and soldiered on.
They didn't feel "doughy" obviously, I know technically they are some kind of candy, others have described them as "gummies" but to me they didn't really feel gummy, either.
Just soft and kind of squishy.
The vanilla "dough" was just a tad more dry and I did wind up ruining the "donut" form. I was quite rough with it, though. With normal usage, it should hold up just fine. I knew these were my last ones so I didn't much care about how the form turned out afterward, as long as the "donuts" came out.
One of the vanilla ones kind of broke, it was the one that looks like a traditional donut, but as I was going to be brave and scarf these down right away, I didn't much mind. I just shoved it together and soldiered on.
They didn't feel "doughy" obviously, I know technically they are some kind of candy, others have described them as "gummies" but to me they didn't really feel gummy, either.
Just soft and kind of squishy.
Next came the embellishing. They give you icing to make up, vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. They call the chocolate the "chocolate pen" because you put it in a tiny piping bag (provided) and "draw" on your "donuts." This stuff basically did taste like icing. The strawberry was not too strong of a strawberry flavor, but it was definitely strawberry and not just concentrated sugar. Although, to be fair, everything in this kit was basically sugar. If you want to get the same effect on your body without the stress of trying to make these things, just eat a quarter cup of sugar. Or cake icing. They also give you some sprinkles, which include these cute tiny candy hearts, and another packet called "crumbs" which are basically crushed up bits of some kind of sweet dried donut or cookie dough or something. These tasted pretty good and I only used a little bit so I just ate the rest of the crumb packet just straight up.
Don't judge me.
Don't judge me.
Here they are!
So, what's the verdict?
Meh.
The texture was weird. The flavor was not too bad, and the chocolate did actually taste like chocolate. Like I said above, they're obviously not made from "dough" and not baked, but they're not actually a gummy candy, although the texture kind of approaches a gummy texture. Maybe if they sit longer, they go more gummy? I pretty much scarfed these down right after I took the picture.
The kit was easy to follow, and everything turned out OK with fairly minimal effort. Not something I intend to do in the future.
But, if someone was to ask me my impression of this kit, and whether they should try it, my opinion would be generally favorable. I would say go for it, especially if you want to do it with your kids. I gave this same kit to both my girls (ages 16 and 27) and they both liked it. The 16 year old was kind of meh, but the 27 year old was excited. Probably because she's tired of being an adult and having to have a job and things. I can relate.
So final impression: Nice kit, easy to do, doesn't taste horrible, but personally, I'm probably not going to do another one.
But, if someone was to ask me my impression of this kit, and whether they should try it, my opinion would be generally favorable. I would say go for it, especially if you want to do it with your kids. I gave this same kit to both my girls (ages 16 and 27) and they both liked it. The 16 year old was kind of meh, but the 27 year old was excited. Probably because she's tired of being an adult and having to have a job and things. I can relate.
So final impression: Nice kit, easy to do, doesn't taste horrible, but personally, I'm probably not going to do another one.
As an aside, you can't really tell that much, but the background on the photos is a cute damask pattern from DigitalCurio on Etsy. She makes beautiful digital paper, embellishments, ephemera, etc. You should go over to her shop and look around. She's always having sales! I have a ton of her stuff purchased and downloaded. It is really beautiful. Here's the link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/DigitalCurio
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