Taste Testings: Consumer Product Reviews

The new line of Shakers from Dr. Oetker have revolutionized the baking experience, with a simple, mess-free way to make fresh muffins, pancakes and cupcakes. Preparation is as simple as adding milk or water to the Shaker mix, shaking it in the bottle, and pouring into a skillet or muffin tray. Shakers have no trans fat, are a good source of fibre and contain prebiotics. The mixes are available for cupcakes in chocolate and vanilla; muffins in chocolate chip, blueberry and banana bran; and pancakes in buttermilk and chocolate chip. Here’s what our panel had to say:

Female, 30-something, teacher
Chocolate chip muffins. “First off, I love the concept. No measuring cups, no mixing, no major clean up. Just add milk and shake, just as it says on the package. Even on a weekend morning, when you have a bit more time, this is great. And the package is perfectly shaped for shaking. Even my son, who’s three, helped out. The muffins smelled great and were light and fluffy. I prefer muffins that are a little denser, but you can’t beat how convenient these are. And my son loved them, too.”

Male, 20-something, student
Chocolate chip pancakes. “Awesome. We took them camping and it was too easy. We added water and they were still great. It’s too bad one package doesn’t make more.”

Female, 50-something, esthetician
Chocolate cupcakes. “No mess! I made these for my grandkids when they slept over. They did most of the work and I supervised. I didn’t even feel guilty that the cupcakes weren’t made from scratch – it was too much fun watching them ‘bake,’ (and also knowing there was very little mess to clean up afterward). The cupcakes didn’t taste quite like the fancy ones you’d buy at a bakery, but they hit the spot. The picture on the package shows a cupcake with icing. I felt a little cheated that the package didn’t come with it. I’d buy this.”

Male, 40-something, editor
Chocolate chip muffins “So easy, even my four-year-old son can make ’em! No mess, no fuss, and delicious to boot with only 190 calories per muffin. Each Shaker package makes six fluffy muffins after adding your choice of water or milk. I chose milk, because that’s what I’ve been adding to cake mixes for over 30 years, and it was moist and yummy.”

Female, 30-something, teacher
Buttermilk pancakes. “I loved, loved, loved these! They were so easy to make. And they tasted great! They were light and fluffy and cooked right through. My son, who’s never liked pancakes, ate one too. Now if only they made them with whole grains…”

Male, 40-something, writer
Vanilla cupcakes. “Wonderfully delicious and simple to make. But, the labelling is misleading. It shows a vanilla iced cupcake with sprinkles on the packaging, but nowhere inside is there icing or sprinkles. Shame on Dr.Oetker for its misleading packaging. It does state: “Suggested Serving” near the photo, but it still feels misleading. Why not simply add a line to the packaging that says that icing and sprinkles (toppings) are NOT included. Because of the attempt to obfuscate, I would not purchase this product again. All I got was a plain cupcake without icing. A cupcake without icing – isn’t that just a muffin? How boring. My kids were disappointed.”

Female, 30-something, business analyst
Banana bran muffins. “These were the easiest muffins to make ever! The only clean up was the muffin tray – amazing! They were also very tasty. I made them for my kids and their friends, and they devoured them immediately. The bottle was about the same price as any other muffin mix I’d buy, but much more convenient. I’d buy these again.”

Female, 40-something, sales
Chocolate chip and buttermilk pancakes. “I read the instructions and, because it seemed so simple, somehow thought my 10-year-old would be a good helper in making the chocolate chip pancakes. She must not have given it a hard enough shaking, because when we poured the mix into the pan there was a lot of dry powder left in the bottle. I tried to add more milk, but it only turned into a sticky goo. The kids still ate the few resulting pancakes, but they were pretty thin. We had better luck with the buttermilk pancakes. After a vigorous shaking the mix was fine, but the pancakes still turned out thin – more like crepes. They weren’t bad, and certainly I like the “no mess” concept. I’m not sure if I’ll give up my regular pancake mix, which produces thick, fluffy pancakes.”