Posted on July 7th, 2008 by Carolyn
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you already know that I rarely buy a box mix of anything. That started a long time ago when I learned a lot about food additives. So I prefer to use fresh products whenever possible. But I’ve been known to be lured into trying a few boxed things. My friend Cherrie (who doesn’t bake) started buying some of Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa mixes and gave them superlative accolades.
So I chose a chocolate cupcake mix with a peanut butter frosting, thinking that our granddaughter Taylor would be particularly interested (she takes after her grandpa, since they both love all things peanut butter), and would like to make them. Uh, no. She was more interested in playing and taking care of her baby cousin Vaughan, so I whipped them up myself. It wasn’t much different than a regular cake mix. But oh, the taste. Oh my goodness. How in the heck can she/they make a box mix taste so darned wonderful? Will I buy one of these again? Oh yea!
We had the family over for another outdoor barbecue dinner for 9. We ate leftovers of our 4th of July meal, and added about 2 pounds of some wonderful grilled Italian sausage to the menu. And rounded out the dinner with these fabulous cupcakes. So if you ever have a time when there simply isn’t time, or you’d rather spend it creating something else, these cupcakes are highly recommended.
July 8th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Saw reference to Ina’s prepackaged mixes and had to read your review. I am a huge fan of most things Ina, but was afraid that the “packaging” people would find a way to mess things up quality wise. Thank God they didn’t and your end result was fabulous. I’ve always been leery of anything in a box and usually made most everything from scratch. However, this now gives me reason to rethink my methodology when it comes to anything wearing the “Ina” name. Thanks for sharing……….”Doc”
July 8th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I do like Ina’s cooking. Certainly she’s a mega-millionaire now with her food network show and her product line. These cupcakes were really sensational. There’s one left here in my kitchen, which will probably get eaten by me today. So yes, I’d highly recommend the Barefoot Contessa box mixes!