SoBakeable is a monthly dessert baking subscription box. Every month, they'll send you pre-measured ingredients, recipes, decorations, and the tools needed to bake two decadent desserts. All you need to provide is milk, butter, and eggs!
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
This is a review of the Surprise Me, $36.95 every other month, box.
About SoBakeable
The Subscription Box: SoBakeable
The Cost: A bi-monthly subscription (one box shipped every other month) is $36.95, with shipping costs included.
ACTIVE DEAL: Save 15% off your first box!
CODE: MSA15
The Products: Everything you need (except dairy) to make a spectacular DIY dessert from scratch. You can choose a "Chocolate Lover's" subscription, which centers around recipes involving chocolate, caramel, toffee, and vanilla, or a "Surprise Me" subscription, which will feature a sweet variety of different flavors, from fruity and tart, to rich and decadent.
Ships to: U.S.
SoBakeable February 2018 Review
This month's box included one recipe for Fancy Thumbprint Cookies and another for Hydrangea Cupcakes. I made the thumbprint cookies first, because: chocolate.
Fancy Thumbprint Cookies
Prep + Bake Time: 40 minutes
Actual Time: 50 minutes
Everything sent by SoBakeable is pre-portioned and clearly labeled. A separate card is included for each recipe and lists step-by-step instructions and any equipment that may be needed along with color photos. Their recipes are designed “for the beginner to the advanced baker," with elevated ingredients and styling that anyone can execute thanks to detailed direction!
SoBakeable also has an app available that helps demonstrate certain steps used in their recipes, which is an awesome way to help support beginners who may be unfamiliar with certain techniques.
The sugar, softened butter, egg, and chocolate cookie mix mixed up nice 'n easy to form a malleable cookie dough. I then took heaping teaspoons of dough and rolled them into 1-inch spheres, destined to be slightly squished!
The backside of a teaspoon pressed gently, provided the perfect, uniform shape for thumbprint indents. There was just enough dough to roll two dozen cookies.
I then popped those babies in the oven for about 12 minutes, waiting just until they were dry enough to crack slightly, but certainly not over-bake!
As they cooled on racks, the real fun began: decorating. Gold-coated chocolate nuggets, shimmering gold sprinkles, and dried raspberries topped a fudgy, chocolate filling, all nestled sweetly atop the cookies' petite indentation.
They took a little longer to decorate than the recipe card indicated, but they turned out stunning! Lookin' like the fanciest chocolate cake donuts I ever did see!
Slightly crunchy on the outside and decadently fudgy on the inside, these cookies were a delight. (And looked much more time-intensive than they actually were!)
Now, for the equally fanciful second dessert:
Hydrangea Cupcakes
Prep + Bake Time: 1 hour and 18 minutes
Actual Time: 1 hour and 18 minutes
This recipe called for some advanced technique! A piping bag and an accompanying tip were included in the box, along with directions to head to their app for a video tutorial on piping flower petals.
Decorative pearls and high-quality cupcake liners were also included. (I really appreciated the cupcake liners. Some of the most memorable baked goods I've ever had came wrapped in dark, intricately folded liners like those!)
I used an electric mixer to combine the softened butter, sugar, egg, and increasing spoonfuls of cupcake mix. Small increments of milk were also added bit by bit to bring the batter to smooth perfection!
Once combined, I heaped spoonfuls of batter into each liner and baked them at 375° for 17 minutes. I waited until the tops of each cupcake were slightly golden and my cake tester came out clean. The box came with nine liners, but there was just enough batter for eight cupcakes! I guess an extra liner was included in case of mishaps. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
And now, to pipe! As the cupcakes cooled, I whipped up the icing by beating the frosting mix and 1 tablespoon of milk together. Half of the icing was scooped out and separated, and the remaining icing was colored with the pink powder coloring that came with the box.
To achieve a multi-colored piped petal effect, as directed, I filled the piping bag with alternating scoops of the two colored icings (white and light pink, even though the directions said it'd be blue coloring, for some reason!)
SoBakeable's detailed instructions really came in handy when it came time to pipe the icing. All it took was "holding the piping bag directly over the cupcake, squeezing the bag gently for 2 seconds, and then releasing" as I pulled upward—and voila!
The petite, decorative pearls were sprinkled as a finishing touch, and god, they looked beautiful! The cupcake itself tasted too buttery for my liking. I don't think it was a baking error, but they almost reminded me of cornbread. The icing was delicious, however, and my favorite part of the dessert!
Verdict: These two desserts were much more decorative than I'd usually attempt in casual baking, which is the main reason I love SoBakeable! It consistently introduces average bakers like me to new methods and flavors. The cookies were hands down the star of the show, both in taste and appearance. I wish the cupcakes had a lighter, more vanilla-y taste, as their heavy butter flavor was a little off-putting when paired with the powdered sugar icing. I loved the supplies and decorations that were provided with the box.
I personally love the precision and measuring that goes into baking, so a little bit of its intrinsic value feels lost when the process mainly consists of emptying bags of powder into a mixing bowl. If you're looking for convenience or event-centric desserts, however, this box is a super fun option!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? After some digging on SoBakeable's site, I saw that this was their "Fancy Celebration" kit, which you can buy as a one-off if desired for $32.95 + $6.99 for shipping, which adds up to $39.94. (A bit more expensive than the "Surprise Me" subscription, which is $36.95 total, but does not guarantee you'll receive this specific box.)
Coupon – Use code MSA15 to save 15% off your first box!
Value Breakdown: At $36.95 for this box, you're paying about $0.78 per thumbprint cookie and $2.31 per hydrangea cupcake, which is not quite worth their value to me, but may seem worthwhile when factoring in convenience, baking equipment, and decorations needed. The bi-monthly box itself still feels the slightest bit steep in cost. Its value is comparable to similar boxes, however, like Foodstirs, which is $18.99 + $5.99 shipping for a single dessert kit, rather than two.
Check out all of our SoBakeable reviews and the Sweets Subscription Box Directory!
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Which of these SoBakeable desserts looks the most scrumptious to you?
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