To expect a refund from tesco????

[Baffledandbewildered]

I bought a Mary Berry Christmas cake mix from tesco earlier in the week when it was cooked according to the instructions it cake out burnt... Yuck. So as my son wanted this cake for his grandad we went and bought another mix started all over again and same thing burnt.... Bloody hell. I have tested my oven and even cooked another mary Berry cake mix and no problems. This mix is not cheap and each mix cost me £10 !! I know madness plus a pack of butter and 4 eggs each time. So am I being unreasonable to expect a refund ????

I got the Delia one from Waitrose. It came out really well.

It's probably been said, but why didn't you just check the second cake more often and reduce the temperature and/or the cooking time. it isn't rocket science.

YABVU

I buggered up a Victoria sponge cake mix. It ca be done.

Oh fanny lol that's the bloody reason I bought a mix so it couldn't go wrong !!! What a bloody joke . On a positive note I like m and s cakes so may buy one of those and pretend it's home made ( sneaky) I know but my son is in bed and if I buy it in the morning he will be none the wiser! And at least we won't poison grandad

To make you feel better, I believe my fil manage to spoil ready made custard. Not the powdered stuff; the completely already made stuff.

I have a suspicion he keeps his reputation of not being capable of doing anything in the kitchen with great care.

I can't believe you did it twice. Didn't you think to turn oven temp down from that stated / check it earlier with the second one? Ovens are not all the same hence it is a good idea to modify recipes as you make them. If you followed the instructions the first time and it burnt you can't plough on regardless with the second.

I don't think Tesco should refund you to be honest (especially not for second mix) but it might be worth asking given instruction not to open oven during first 3.5 hours.

My cheapo Betty Crocker cakes always come out nicely.

Ghoul neither can I beleive I did it twice but I did reduce the temperature and as I said before the oven has been checked by an engineer between cakes! They were here for it's yearly service and had all sorts of monitoring equipment and it's spot on temperature wise. I also cooked another big cake mix with my son before this one and it was perfect not a bit burnt. It was the don't open for 3 1/2 hours bit that buggered me , I wasn't sure what would happen if I did open the oven ,obviously daft thought but there you go. That's the bit that I am irritated about

Mr looms so do mine, we love Betty not so keen on Mary now!! All though I can make her chocolate roulade so she's not all bad!

YABU. You can't get a refund for leaving a cake in the oven too long. If it burnt the first time surely it's obvious to reduce baking time the second time.

Kayzr it wasn't left in too long ! it said do not open oven for 3 1/2 hours and it was burnt by then second time around I reduced the temperature . All the other cakes we have cooked as per instructions have been fine just these ones!

what temperature did it say?

Soup it said 140 and second time around I had it down to 115 so who knows what went wrong

It wasn't something silly like the instructions were for a conventional oven and you were using a fan oven was it?

There is no way a covered fruit cake should burn at 115 c - wrong oven setting?

You say other cakes have been fine - were they sponge type cakes which are cooked for a shorter time in a hot oven ? There could well be something wrong with your oven at lower settings.

No the oven was serviced between cakes!! But Seems there may be a problem somewhere as tesco have given me a full refund and are running tests!! So hurray for them and I am off to buy a ready made cake that I will ice and pretend it's homemade! Lol

Good on you - I'm sure no one will realise. I guess if there is a problem with the instructions at least Tesco can look into it now before lots of people spend £10+ on a cake mix and then waste 3.5 hours burning it.

Hi - I bought the cake mix and think its great. The instructions tell you not to open the oven door until 3.5 hours have passed, which I didn't - so then at 3.5 hours I quickly pulled out the cake, tested it and found it was done. My oven cooks very quickly even though I had it on the correct temperature. Its not Mary Berry or Tesco's fault that oven temps are all slightly different. If you watch the cake, it shouldn't burn. Also, don't forget to double line it, and add the circle/s to the top to stop it burning. This cake mix, great idea and saves wasting dried fruit etc, which I've found in previous years get thrown rather than cooked with. I'll be buying one again next year for the convenience of it.

Do you, by any chanc,e work for the company? Welcome to MN, edelweiss321.

Not at all, I just liked the whole thing - the packaging, the ingredients, the instruction booklet. There's a wonderful smell through the house, I only cooked it earlier today. However, I'm glad I checked it at the 3.5 hour stage. I am actually going to use all these ingredients up - which is great, instead of having ingredients left over for months after. I like the idea of an xmas cake in a bag!! Its worked well for me anyway:)

You spent £10 on cake mix for the packaging and instruction booklet?!

£10 is a lot less than I would have had to pay had I bought all the ingredients separately, and as I said, I would have wasted loads after. I also saved time not having to weigh everything out - it was a great experience, and I think I'll do it again next year!! I don't like buying ready made christmas cakes, as they always seem to taste shop bought.

Sorry Edel but eggs, flour, sugar, dried fruit would never come to £10. Especially as most people have at least the first three in their pantry messy cupboards.

This thread has at least reminded me I need to get on and make my Xmas cake...not from a mix!