Anchor Butter Feedback Thread - see what Mumsnetters created with Anchor butter PLUS chance for non testers to win £250! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 250 Mumsnetters who have been trying out Anchor butter and the baking kits with their children. Non testers - do check out the feedback from the testers PLUS what's your favourite flavour cake? Chocolate, Victoria Sponge, Carrot, something else? Add your comment to this thread and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £250 voucher to spend in John Lewis (imagine all the baking kit you could get!)

Here's what Anchor says: “We're looking forward to seeing what MNers have created with our rich and creamy block butter. We know it's perfect for all types of tasty bakes, whether it's making the pastry for your homemade chicken pie, or millionaires shortbread for that weekend treat with the kids. At Anchor we've been making block butter for over 125 years, to bring bakers high quality, rich and creamy butter for their bakes."

Plenty of recipe ideas here – including delicious
ginger biscuits or does anyone fancy
Cheese Scones for a snack?

Below are the questions we'd like testers to answer, but please feel free to add your own comments too.

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

5. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

6. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

7. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

8. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

All testers who leaves their feedback on this thread and who complete the survey (emailed to testers) will be entered in to a prize draw, where one lucky Mumsnet tester will win a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck!
MNHQ

Closing date: Friday 8th May at 9am

Tester here ..

Q1 We baked Nutella cupcakes, ( dd2,8 and ds 5 took part, I couldn't pin the other 3 down long enough to help!)

Q2 they both loved cracking the eggs, and licking the spoon!

Q3 I liked to spend some time with them before school, usually we are in a rush, and they stick the TV on but today they got ready fast so we had time to bake

Q4, I don't normally use Anchor, I usually use sainsburys own brand butter for baking, and I could definately tell the difference with Anchor, they taste lighter.

Q5 I always use sainsburys unsalted butter, I am aware that unsalted is great for baking, I used to just use whatever I had in the fridge but cakes taste far better with unsalted butter so I buy it specifically for baking now

Q6 We were all pleased with the results of our morning baking, the kids especially, they took their cupcakes to school in their lunch boxes

Q7 I would def use Anchor butter again for baking, especially for things like birthday cakes as it really does make a difference, I was not aware Anchor had made butter for 125 years, I'm not sure it's important to me but it's nice to know!

Q8, I would absolutely recommend Anchor butter to a friend, especially if they were baking something important.

I also wanted to say thank you for the little baking kit, especially the apron, the kids all love it and argue over who it actually belongs to!

And here's little number 5 testing the cupcakes! [ smile]

Non-tester here. Lemon cake is my favourite flavour. Lemon drizzle cake and lemon and courgette cake are the ones I make most regularly. I also make a lot of blackcurrant flapjacks ( which is just standard flapjack mixture with frozen blackcurrants added), especially for bake sales where they always go quickly as no-one else ever makes them.

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made a Raspberry Cheesecake. I know it isn't baked but we thought it would be good with the nice weather.

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

My daughter enjoys baking and cooking in general, my son likes to get involved. We made a big mess, but it was fun.

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

I enjoy that my children get involved in baking as I think it is a good skill to have.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

I liked Anchor, it tasted different from my usual butter. We used for the base of the cheesecake with the biscuits and they tasted really crunchy and appeared very compact.

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

I always use unsalted butter and I agree it is great for baking.

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

Very. The cheesecake tasted delicious and looked good.

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

Yes, definitely. I liked it and I thin that 125 years is a fair amount of time to trust a company.

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

Yes, I would. I was happy with the results of baking with my children and I thought Anchor is better than my usual butter, it tasted great and it is easy to melt and mix with the other ingredients.

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made a chocolate cake.

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

Watching and sampling!

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

Teaching kids new things.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

I usually use a butter spread but Anchor has a much fuller taste of real butter.

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

I usually use unsalted butter if I have it, if not I use salted but never margarine.

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

Very!

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

I would. No, I didn't know that. But I like it! It's traditional!

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

Yes because the result was great!

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made a Victoria sponge and a chocolate cake

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

Mixing and then licking the bowl

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

Spending time doing something together

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

I usually use Anchor butter

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

I use butter and margarine and use unsalted butter for baking as I think it tastes better

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

Yes

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

I will use Anchor again - I didn't know they were the original block butter company.

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

Yes because we like the taste

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!
   We created disney frozen cakes with sprinkles

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!
   Getting messy licking the bowl and decorating the cakes

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?
   It was a fun challenge and we enjoyed getting messy together

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.
   I think the cakes definitely tasted more creamy than usual

5. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?
   margarine salted is what I usually use and we were not aware that using unsalted butter is great for baking

6. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?
   yes very pleased with results

7. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?
   yes because it makes the cakes taste better nice and creamy. I was not aware that anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years. Its not important to me

8. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?
   I would on taste but not on price its very expensive

I will upload photos soon

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made fairy cakes with buttercream icing. We had a friend over for tea so used it as an activity. Photos below.

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

DD: 'I like it because sometimes people try to cheekily get the icing' I like the way she has distanced herself from that statement! She was the cheeky one of course!

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

I love watching them get better at things, and it's a great way to actually produce something - an activity with a real beginning, middle and end.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

The buttercream icing did seem a bit creamier than usual.

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

It depends on who I'm cooking for! If it's the school cake sale, I use marg because it's easier to mix and I don't really care about the taste. If for us I use butter - to be honest I never really think about whether it's salted or not, as both taste nice!

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

Yes. The cakes rose very well and the icing was tasty.

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

Yes, although it is more expensive than the usual I would buy. I didn't know it was the first or 125 years old. But yes I do like to use products that have been around for a while - I like to think of my foremothers using them to bake with before me (saddo).

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

It would be unlikely to come up! But if it did, yes I would, especially for butter cream as it does seem to taste a bit nicer.

Thanks for the baking kit - the apron and spoon are great! The bowl is fine - a bit small and flimsy for our use but for one kid I can see it would be ok.

Got to put the kids to bed! Will add photos later on.

1. We made banana and fudge cakes
2. He loved weighing the ingredients, seeing the difference in texture between butter and margarine, and chopping up the fudge (some of which made it into the cake!)
3. Making something a bit different together, and the sensory aspect.
4. Didn't notice a difference in taste with the banana and fudge I'm afraid, but it stayed fresher for longer, wasn't dry the second day.
5. Usually use margarine, and didn't know about the unsalted/salted.
6. Very pleased!
7. We would use it again, didn't know how long the company had been going for, and it's nice to feel like we are carrying on a long history of baking with Anchor.
8. We would recommend Anchor, and would mention the product trial and the lovely little kit we received - maybe a token collect offer for this set might be nice?

Sorry, have tried to upload photos but the software won't configure/work! We can assure you there was lots of yummy mess and fun xxx

1. I let my 6 year old choose a recipe from the Anchor site, and she chose Angel cake. She also wants to try several other recipes though, including cheesecake and lemon drizzle cake. (Photos to follow once I've downloaded them)

2. DD1 (6) said licking the butterflies bowl. DD2 (3) said eating the cake. But they also love measuring the ingredients and mixing. DD2 is also becoming a dab hand at cracking eggs.

3. I love the fact that it's quality time together- we put some music on and have fun. And I love how much they're learning- Maths skills, cooking skills, even learning to take it in turns and share.

4. I can't honestly say that I noticed a difference in taste by using Anchor. I usually buy either supermarket own brand or whatever's on offer.

5. I tend to use butter for baking as I think it does taste better than margarine, but would use either. I always use unsalted though, there's more than enough salt in food without adding more.

6. Yes, the cake was lovely. The kids were slightly disappointed that the pink layer of Angel cake didn't actually come out pink at all- cheap food colouring! The purple layer was really clear though.

7. I wouldn't particularly choose Anchor over another brand, I'll continue to buy what's on offer. I can't say it really matters to me that they were the first block butter makers, although it's an interesting piece of trivia. I will be finding out more about the baking kits for schools initiative though, as a primary teacher I think that anything that gets kid's cooking is a good idea.

8. If it came up in conversation, I would mention the recipes on the website which I find really helpful. And as I said, the schools initiative looks good. I would say that the butter itself is as good as any other, but I wouldn't recommend it particularly.

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made Victoria Sandwich and Malteser Cake.

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

My DC enjoyed us doing the activity together - I am normally quite territorial in the kitchen! In particular, they enjoyed cracking the eggs and mixing.

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

Seeing how much they enjoyed it and how much fun they were having.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

My Victoria Sandwich was a bit heavier but tastier. I have arthritis so I find using butter rather than spread hard to mix.

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

I normally use Stork but when I do use butter, it's always unsalted.

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

Yes, it was delicious.

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

I would use it again - the results were good. The history is interesting but not necessarily important to me.

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

I can't imagine discussing butter!

We eventually got round to doing the product test today- I ended up being induced slightly early 8 days ago and as such we ended up needing to make some goodies which I could instruct on from a distance or help with one handed, so we went with fairy cakes as the children didn't need too much intervention from me.

My son loves all aspects of baking and enjoyed weighing the ingredients, melting the butter and spooning the filling into cases but my daughter races through to get to the stage where she can lick the bowl- she does quite like getting messy though!

I enjoy baking myself and like to watch the children do it with as much independence as they can- there are so many aspects for learning and as other posters have said it is a great indoor activity that doesn't involve screens or televisions.

I used to buy Anchor but stopped for reasons I now can't remember but did like the taste of this and would definitely consider going back to it.

We tend to use whatever we have in the house for baking so often end up using marg- I found the cake to be slightly more 'dense' with proper butter but very tasty. I tend to use unsalted butter for certain recipes such as banana bread and chocolate mousse.

I was pleased with the results and am looking forward to trying a few more adventurous recipes once I get to grips with being a Mum of three! I knew Anchor had been around for many years but didn't realise it was quite so long or that they were the original block butter company but it does show they must be doing it right!

Yes I would recommend Anchor if it came up in conversation- the taste was excellent.

Thank you for allowing us to be involved in the trial.

Orange and almond cake, made with butter :)

We made an apple upside-down cake.

The DC loved the kit and the responsibility of washing it up ready for use and taking charge of the different steps in making the cake. Their favourite bit was cracking the eggs and laughing hysterically as I tried to fish all the bits of shell out of the bowl!

I enjoyed seeing them do something together and watching DS talk DD through what she needed to do.

The results were delicious :o I usually use supermarket value unsalted butter and didn't notice any difference, sorry.

I would buy Anchor if I was paying for increased animal welfare standards and a living wage for dairy farmers.

I would recommend Anchor if it came up in conversation, more for the spreadable version though.

What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

DD(6) and I made cupcakes with butter icing

2. What was your child's favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!

DD enjoyed weighing the ingredients and filling up the cupcake cases. Best bit of all was to lick the bowl!

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?

I really enjoy watching my dd having fun. She's not really into sweet treat so seeing her tuck into what we have made is always worth it.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.

I normally use supermarket own brand (depending on where I am shopping) didn't really notice any difference.

6. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?

I always use butter as I think it tastes better. I have tried unsalted but prefer salted.

7. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?

yes, they were perfect.

8. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?

I would if it was on offer. I can't really taste the difference so wouldn't pay more for it.

9. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?

Probably not as I can't taste the difference and costs more too.

Below are the questions we'd like testers to answer, but please feel free to add your own comments too.

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!
   Mars lady's lemon drizzle cake

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!
   Eating the finished cake

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?
   Just spending time together

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.
   Maybe very slightly more moist and lighter but. Have a new oven and food mixer so this was first time using both of those items for baking

5. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?
   I always use butter for baking and always unsalted.

6. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?
   Yes

7. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?
   If it was on offer The history is important yes

8. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?
   Yes I think I would like I said cake was a bit lighter than normal

No photos my iphone playing up and won't upload but I will try again tomorrow

1. We made cupcakes with butter icing.

2. Daughter enjoyed cracking the eggs and licking the bowl.

3. I enjoyed discussing what to bake and spending time together.

4. I felt my cakes tasted better with Anchor- lighter, creamier and tastier.

5. I normally use Stork margarine. I was aware of unsalted butter and used unsalted Anchor today.

6. I was very pleased with the results but it took longer to cream the Anchor and sugar and also with the icing sugar than it normally does.

7. I would use Anchor again but only for special occasions as it was much more expensive than my normal brand. I wasn't aware that it was the oldest block butter. That is nice to know but would not affect my choice.

8. I would recommend Anchor as I felt it gave a superior taste and creaminess to my cakes.

Sorry no photos but this is my third attempt at posting and I've crashed my laptop twice trying to load a photo!

We made cheese stars. DS favourite part was cutting out the shapes. My favourite part was rubbing the butter into the flour. I normally use cheaper spreads for baking. We were really pleased with the results and will be using Anchor butter again. Will also be telling friends and family about it. I make pastry a lot and this tasted so much better than usual.

1. As it was DS's birthday we used the butter to make a chocolate birthday cake, myself and DS made the sponge cake and DH did the creative bit, an anti gravity malteaser cake!

2. The favourite bit for both DS is easy, eating it!

3. My favourite part was spending quality time together.

4. The cake definitely tasted richer with the butter, I do often use a buttery spread straight from the fridge as its easier and I don't have to warm up the butter or remember to take it out of the fridge before baking.

5. I did use unsalted butter, and was very pleased with the taste.

6. Very pleased, it made a tasty cake with plenty of flavour.

7. Yes I would use Anchor butter again as it tasted much better then normal. I know Anchor has been around a long time, but didn't realise quite how long, its good to know products have a long history.

8. Yes I would recommend Anchor butter to family and friends for baking, it gives a lovely taste to the cake and buttercream icing should always be made with real butter!

1. We made no bake chocolate cake from the anchor website as they love chocolate and I thought smashing up the biscuits would be fun for both to join in with (age 3 and 6).

1. They loved the biscuit smashing and the mixing, and eating th finished product!

1. It was nice actually that we managed to do it with both boys involved without any fighting over who did what and they both loved doing it, maybe a lesson for me that they're old enough for me to brave cooking with both of them more often

1. It was nice butter and melted well I normally buy cheaper butter.

1. I tend to use salted butter in baking, I know recipes often say unsalted though. I use salted as I'm more likely to have it in the fridge

1. It looked good, and tasted good, but the mixture was a bit dry so it all crumbled apart when I tried to cut it. I know we had a little too much cocoa because of an over enthusiastic 3 year old, but I wonder if the recipe needed more butter and/or syrup

1. I would use anchor again as it's good butter, but probably only if it was on offer to reduce the price difference. I wasn't a aware it was so old

1. Yes I would recommend it.

1. We made apple and raspberry crumble and mini tartes aux pommes

1. DD's favourite bit is mixing butter and flour for crumble and getting her hands very messy (her answer)

1. Have to confess mother-in-law baked with DD. Fave bit for me is that I can't bake but DD managed with French MIL who speaks no English. Was a v touching bonding moment.

1. Not an expert. Don't bake enough to taste difference.

1. Usually use unsalted butter. Loved Anchor. Do spend in the higher price bracket but still think would need to be on special offer as priced higher than our usual organic .

1. simple. Yes.

1. Didn't know. In fact my mum was equally surprised. Thought anchor was salted so have avoided in past.

1. Yes

Must have missed something as don't have an answer to 5. And struggling to add photos. First timer!

Got my 5 & 6 confused. And here are the results of Apple and Raspberry Crumble and mini tartes aux pommes

So sorry mumsnet for the mea late reply. Finally got the kit!

1. What bakes did you and your DC create? Please post a photo or two on the thread of the finished result or of the baking session!

We made some coconut and vanilla cupcakes! Yummy!
Ill post a photo up tomorrow as the photos are on my phone and Im on the PC at the moment.

2. What was your child’s favourite aspect of the baking process? Getting messy, licking the bowl at the end or anything in between!
   Kids were really happy with using a new red bowl as opposed to mummy's boring stainless steels one! They both fought over the mixing stage. They loved helping me put the ingredients into the bowl whenever they could.
   They enjoyed licking the mixture and tasting the separate ingredients before they went in. They made a mahoosive mess with the flour. It was literally all over the kitchen!

3. What was your favourite aspect of baking with your DC?
   Its a great way to spend time together and I really enjoy trying to make it fun for them as much as possible and hopefully teach them a thing or two in the process.

4. If you don't normally use Anchor, do you think that your bakes taste different when using Anchor butter compared to your normal butter? Please explain.
   I don't usually use Anchor for baking. I always use Stork which I find gives a better lighter texture to cakes.

5. Do you normally use butter or margarine for baking? Do you usually use unsalted or salted butter for baking? How aware were you that using unsalted butter is great for baking?
   I usually always use Stork for baking cakes and pretty much anything else unless it was paramount that i use butter in a recipe e.g buttercream.
   Lots of my recipes do state unsalted butter but tbh i always ignore that and use Stork

6. Were you pleased with the results of your baking?
   Yes! Kids gobbled them up before i could even suggest decorating with buttercream!

7. Would you use Anchor butter again for your baking? Why? Were you aware Anchor was the original block butter company having made butter for over 125 years? Is this important to you?
   I don't think I would use Anchor for baking primarily due to the cost. Most recipes require a fair amount of butter and it would end up being too expensive. The alternative for me is much much cheaper and yields superior results.
   I waste aware that Anchor was the original block butter company or that it has been around for 125 years. Its not really something that would take my interest of a brand.

8. If it came up in conversation, would you recommend Anchor butter to friends and family? Why?
   I use Anchor for spreading purposes e.g for toast, crumpets etc as I do like the taste but as for using it in baking, Im afraid that would just be too costly.

oops answer for 9 would be that i would recommend for spreading but not baking!

Coconut and vanilla cupcakes sans buttercream.