Gahhhh so late to the party, my original feedback didn't post! Lame rural broadband. Here goes.
What were your initial thoughts on the product? (design, size, quality, documental guidance)
Well, it’s very pink. That was a big drawback for me, because it makes me not want to keep it out on the worktop (I like things to match) and also because it’s a little unnecessary. I get what they’re trying to do, but I don’t like it. DS didn’t care, but some boys, and even some girls, might be put off by that. It’s an ok size, not too bulky and the smooth lines are aesthetically pleasing. Really good quality, I have to admit that I dropped it almost as soon as I took it out of the box, because I’m seriously clumsy but it suffered no damage. The enclosed instructions were clear and simple.
Did you use the recipe book, and if so which recipes were your favourite?
I made a few things from the book, my favourite was the chocolate lava cakes, although I had to reduce the cooking time slightly because the first batch weren’t gooey in the middle. I mostly used the app for recipes, I loved the step by step feature, and the fact you can start a timer on your phone from the app, so if I was out hanging washing in the garden I might not hear the cake factory beeping, I’d hear the timer on my phone in my pocket.
My only complaint is that some of the recipes were a bit over engineered. Amazing banana bread can be made with bananas, flour, eggs, butter and sugar. There is absolutely no need to add buckwheat flour and yoghurt. Again, I understand the thinking, but I’d suggest if the product is meant to be aimed at families, they might want to simplify a lot of the recipes. Tefal, if you're reading this, happy to help you develop your recipe book wink wink, nudge nudge.
Did you face any issues using the product or do you think anything could be improved?
Not really any issues, there was a funny burning smell on first use as others have said, but it dissipated very quickly. I do think there’s a lot of room for improvement in the recipes, both in the booklet and on the app. As I said above, a lot of them were overly complicated, and could so easily be simplified. They are also, because of the many ingredients, expensive to make.
What type of cakes or desserts did you bake in your cake factory?
I tried the giant cookie cake, carrot cake muffins, raspberry cakes, marble sponge and quite a few of my own recipes which, with a bit of tweaking of times/temps worked really well. I even made a quiche in it, which worked really well!
Where did you store the product when you weren’t using it?
Honestly, I left it out on the worktop because I have a lot of worktop space and not much cupboard space. I knew I’d use it much more if it was right there in sight. I’ve since binned off an old blender in a kitchen cupboard (and replaced it with my fancy Ultrablend, thanks Tefal!) and fit it in there. It’s compact so stores away neatly.
Would you recommend the product to family or friends?
Yes and no! There are certain people I would recommend it to, the type who love a kitchen gadget and I’d particularly recommend it to anyone who enjoys baking but feels like they don’t have the time (or they have an ancient and very temperamental oven, like me!)
But it's quite expensive, and although it's a good quality product I don't know many people who would just spend that on a product which is essentially single use.