Girl Gourmet is the newest line of 'girl toy' from Jakks Pacific. We tried out the Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker and the kids had a blast, both girl and boy alike. The cupcakes bake in a mere 30 seconds, making this the fastest 'craft' I've ever done with the kids. It comes equipped with a bowl, spatula and special measuring spoon for mixing the included cupcake and icing mixes, cupcake liners with fun prints, sprinkles, a special cupcake baker and the big guy - the cupcake icer. Simply place the baked cupcake on the icer, press down on the arm, and the icing comes out in a perfect swirl on the top of the cake.
Check out the Girl Gourmet website for information, monthly giveaways and more!
The Girl Gourmet Cupcake Maker and refills can be purchased at stores all over the U.S., including WalMart and online at Amazon.com.
20 comments:
Hi Anne, this is a great gift idea, thanks.
forget the gift idea, I would want to use it myself!
he he i will also use it myself ;)
I have thought about getting this for my daughter for Christmas but the reviews online have been mostly negative, saying the cupcakes didn't cook well and that they tasted terrible. Did you taste them? What's your opinion?
thanks!
I didn't try them, but the kids thought they were very good. I already know that a regular cake mix will work the same for the cupcakes and a canned or homemade icing would be fine, as well.
I had issues with the icer - it seemed to gloop all in one spot. I don't think the icing packets were the right consistency for that, too loose, maybe.
Hope that helps!
Anne,
What would the recipe be if I used store bought cake mixes? Also, if I used the store bought icing, do I use it straight out of the can or do I need to do something to change the consistency?
Thanks,
Judy
A little late but, "Santa" brought my daughter this item for Christmas. The cupcakes DO taste awful (she thought they were great, mind you) and the icing consistency was way too runny. I'll bet if we use canned icing it would work much better though. Don't change the consistency of it, if you use canned. If it's any more watery, it runs right out of the tube and all over the place. It's a pretty messy toy.
It does say on the instructions that practice makes perfect, though ;)
What is the recipe for a store bought cake mix?
We got this for Xmas, my daughter loves it. Her cupcake today was like a hockey puck but she didn't care. We also use store bought frosting.
My daughter also received one for Christmas. We used the cupcake mixes quickly, and I also would like the recipe for using a regular store bought cake mix. The mixes for the Cupcake Maker are quite expensive. Do you find that the icing applicator spins too fast, therefore making the icing glop on in one area of the cupcake?Thanks! Patti
I used just a little bit of store bought icing to mix with the bagged mix that came with the set. I used the spacula to put it in a baggy, cut the corner open to the baggy and squeezed the icing in the icer. BEAUTIFUL! wonderful consistancy.
Hi, girls! This may get long and winded, but I want to cover all I can:
You CAN use a regular store-bought cake mix for the cupcakes. When we were without a regular oven for a bit I learned to make a cake in the microwave by cooking a half mix in a 9x9 pan for 10 minutes at HALF power. It was perfect. THAT BEING SAID, all microwaves are different and for anyone who had tough cupcakes from the Girl Gourmet mix, you may want to adjust the cooking time down and see if that helps.
If you are still not satisfied with that, try a regular mix. The only problem there is that you need to make a whole lot of cupcakes or make a smaller cake separately from the cupcakes your child is making. Mix up a store-bought cake as usual and fill the cups to the same level as the Girl Gourmet mix and try it at the same 30 seconds. As I stated before, each microwave is different and you need to experiment.
I did have all of the icing glob in one spot, no matter how fast or slow we pushed the icing plunger. We tried different consistencies and had the same problem no matter what. The kids loved it anyway and would have made 20 cupcakes if we'd had the mix!
It's cute, it's different, kids love it and that's the bottom line for gifts, isn't it?
Thanks for all of your comments - I hope this helps!
Just tried the cupcake maker. My 5 year-old loved making it AND eating it. Looked and smelled a little gross to me, though.
Our icing worked out fine. The consistency was thick like paste. Granted, it didn't swirl perfect like on TV, but it did swirl.
Going to try my own icing and cake mix for future cupcakes.
I agree the refills for this toy seem expensive, the cupcakes don't taste that good, and the frosting was too runny for the froster to work very well. It seems the essence of this toys is the ability to make your own individual cupcake, using the tools that came with it, that bakes within 30 seconds. So my daughter and I experimented and found a few recipes that worked for us.
Cherry Chip Cupcake
¼ cup Cherry Chip Cake Mix (a little less than ¼ cup works best)
1 tsp Egg Beaters
1 tsp Vegetable Oil
1 Tbsp Water
Chocolate Chip Cupcake
¼ cup Jiffy Chocolate Muffin Mix
1 tsp egg beaters
1 tsp milk
For both recipes mix all ingredients in the bowl with the spatula. Pour into a cupcake liner in the cupcake cup. Microwave for 30 sec. in the Microwave Baker. Both worked well and tasted like a microwaved cupcake from a mix should taste.
The main difference seems to be that the cupcake takes longer to cool off when you take it out of the microwave and if you use all of the ¼ cup mix then the cupcake is too big to fit under the frosting plunger. We also used pre-made frosting, it was easiest to put the frosting in the Frosting Tube by putting the frosting in a sandwich bag, cutting off the tip and then pushing it into the tube.
I've also been searching for recipes to make this toy more cost effective. My daughter and I just experimented with store bought cake mix. We used 3 TBS cake mix and 1 TBS water. She mixed the two ingredients and baked in the microwave for the 30 seconds. The cupcake did stay very hot, so I would leave it to cool longer than the 1 minute that the toy recommends. I wasn't the official "taste tester," but my 7 year old liked our mix better than what came with the cupcake maker. We used a Betty Crocker Super Moist White cake mix - though I would think any mix would work the same.
My 8 year old daughter was so excited to get this and was equally disappointed with it. Not only did it not bake well but the frosting did not swirl instead flew all over her and the plunger broke on the 2nd cupcake. I tried finding it on jakks.com but they were smart and left it off the site. My daughter used her own money to buy this and wants to return it but of course she can't. We will try some other ideas but it we feel it was a waste of her hard earned allowance.
Hi everyone, well Santa got this for my 5 year old daughter and we have been so excited to use it. At this point we are very disappointed in the entire toy. She did not like the taste or smell and we tried different amounts of water for both cupcake mix and frosting. After the 4th try the cosistancy was better but still tasted awful. We talked about making our own cupcakes and just use it for frosting, but she said "no mommy lets just use a knife, ours are prettier." Sorry ladies I think it was a waste of money, and I will be returning the unused 3 boxes of mixes we also have and the used item.....Not worth it at all. I was very sad because we loved our easy bake oven growing up.....
We bought the Cupcake Maker for our 4-1/2 year old daughter for Christmas and she loves it. So do my sons who are 6-1/2 and 2-1/2 years. The process of making the cupcake is straightforward and we all seem to like the taste of the cupcakes. Mixing the icing is a little trickier to get the right consistency. It took me 2 or 3 times to get it right - it usually needs more water. The only drawback with the unit, we find, is the icer. After making about 10 cupcakes, we still have not managed to get it to swirl evenly in a nice circle on top like they show on the commercial but I seem to be the only one who cares. It usually clumps in places, typically the middle of the cupcake.
Other than that, the kids love it. It's not overly involved and they get a quick and tasty treat.
I just posted a review about it at my site and it was a negative review. (If anyone wants to check it out, http://domestic-princess.com) My daughter and i used this today and she got so frustrated :(
We tried it with Angel Food Cake mix that you make with water. For the cupcakes we used 1 tbs water to 3 tbs mix. It makes two cupcakes. We used whipped, canned buttercream frosting.The froster doesn't swirl the frosting very well but my kids don't mind at all.
Used it today to see if it was suitable for my young niece- the cupcakes are HORRIBLE!! Use storebought mix and storebought frosting from the can. It makes a better texture to use the egg beaters as mentioned above.
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