SoBakeable Subscription Box Review + Coupon – December 2016

SoBakeable is a monthly dessert baking subscription box.

Every month, they send you the pre-measured ingredients, recipes, decorations, and tools you need to bake two desserts from scratch.

All you need to provide is milk, butter, and eggs.

Everything sent by SoBakeable is pre-portioned and clearly labeled.

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.)

The Subscription Box: SoBakeable

The Cost: A 3-month subscription costs $99, which breaks down to $33 per box (additional savings are available for longer subscription commitments). Individual boxes are available for $29.95 + $6.99 shipping.

The Products: Everything you need (except dairy) to make a spectacular dessert from scratch.

Ships to: U.S.

Check out all of our SoBakeable Reviews and find other delicious boxes in the Food Subscription Box Directory!

Keep track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription box list or wishlist!

My last review of SoBakeable was back in September, and since then they’ve expanded each box to include two desserts instead of one! This month’s box included kits for a Gingerbread Wreath and Champagne Cupcakes. (Perfect for Christmas and New Years!)

I decided to make the Gingerbread Wreath first.

SoBakeable includes a separate card for each recipe that lists step-by step instructions and color photos.

SoBakeable recipes are designed “for the beginner to the advanced baker.” Full disclosure: I bake professionally, so I’m definitely in the advanced category. To help get a beginner’s take on this recipe, I enlisted the help of my husband to make the Gingerbread Wreath.

(SoBakeable also has an app available that helps demonstrate the techniques used in their recipes. I think this is a great way to help support beginners who may be unfamiliar with things like piping.)

Unfortunately, right off the bat, we hit a snag with the recipe. The recipe read:

“Use an electric mixer to beat 1/3 cup of softened butter & sugar for 3 min. on medium- high until lighter in color & creamy. Add 1 egg yolk & mix until combined.

Add the sugar & beat on medium speed until fluffy, approx. 3 min. Add 3 eggs one at a time, beating on medium speed between each addition to combine.”

Only one packet of sugar was included for this recipe, so the fact that the recipe mentioned two was a big red flag. Looking at the ingredient list, we noticed that the recipe only called for 1 egg yolk (not 3 eggs), so we took a guess that the second paragraph calling for 3 eggs was a misprint. Luckily, this was the right move, and our cookie dough turned out just right. I’m concerned, though, that not all subscribers will catch this mistake, and I’m certain that anyone who adds 3 eggs + a yolk will end up with dough that’s unworkable.

SoBakeable included two star cutters for this recipe, and we rolled out the dough and cut out large and small star shapes.

After baking at 325, we let the stars cool while we made icing to decorate the cookies. (We made the icing by combining water with the provided icing mix.)

We transferred the icing to a small squeeze bottle and set out sanding sugar and small sugar pearls, the decorations provided for the cookies.

My husband and I took turns decorating the cookies, and we had a lot of fun coming up with different shapes!

There were a lot of cookies to decorate, though, so we got increasingly “creative” with our designs. Initially, there were a lot of pretty snowflake-like drawings, but by the end, we’d also created some smiley faces and a Pac-man ghost.

When I first saw this project, I kind of hoped that the completed wreath would be secure enough to hang up, but the instructions just explained how to arrange the cookies on a plate into a wreath shape. (They’re not actually adhered to one another.)

We began by arranging the largest stars into a circle.

We then layered the smaller cookies on top.

This turned out pretty cute, and my husband and I had a lot of fun decorating the cookies. I thought the cookies were just okay, but then I’m not really a huge fan of gingerbread cookies. My husband liked them, though!

(Here’s a fun tip for anyone who shares my view on gingerbread: I always substitute in speculoos dough when I want to make decorated gingerbread cookies. For me, it’s equally festive, much tastier, and it looks more or less the same as gingerbread.)

This month’s second recipe is Champagne Cupcakes.

The instructions were clear and easy to follow.

I began by making the cupcake batter.

While the cupcakes baked at 375, I whipped up the frosting.

I let the cupcakes cool, and then I transferred the frosting into a piping bag. (SoBakeable included a pre-cut piping bag, so no tip was required.) As per the instructions, I covered each of the cupcakes with little puffs of frosting.

There weren’t detailed instructions for this part, so I decided to pipe a single layer of puffs over the top of each cupcake, and then build the puffs up in the middle to form a peak.

I’ve actually never frosted cupcakes this way before, and I think it’s really cute!

SoBakeable provided gold sugar and white balls for decorating.

These cupcakes were really cute, and they were tasty, too! The cake was very tender, and I liked the texture of the gold sugar on top of the cupcakes. The only issue for me is that the champagne flavor in both the cake and frosting came from champagne flavoring, and it didn’t really taste like champagne. (The flavor was a little lemony, and it reminded me a bit of ginger ale.) That’s a small issue, though, and it certainly didn’t prevent me from enjoying them!

Verdict: I think SoBakeable consistently does a wonderful job coming up with cute and creative recipes, and I’m really pleased to see that they’ve expanded the subscription to now include two recipes in every box. (And the price hasn’t even gone up! Score!) I really enjoyed this box from SoBakeable, and I had a lot of fun with both of this month’s projects. A three-month subscription breaks down to $33 per box. Now that each box includes two projects, I think that’s great!

Have you tried SoBakeable?