Premium cake mix from the House of the Rising Bun

Still some years ago, cake mixes were made for people who had not time to cook and / or no knowledge and / or no imagination AND were definitly not foodies.

This  definitly evolving with the apparition of premium cakes mix, targeting foodies who want to prepare something great, if possible new, but keeping the challenging part of cooking and DIY. The idea of these mixes is to facilitating cooking, not by providing aroma and other stabilizer, but by enabling to have all the high quality ingredients in the same pack.

This is exactly the case with the House of the Rising Bun, a seducing UK company... ( http://www.houseoftherisingbun.co.uk/)

 

Panzani Dessert Dumpling

Imagine that your favorite car's brand is launching a new model. How innovative would you rate that? Now imagine that your favorite car's brand is launching a SUV model. How innovative would you rate that?

Well,we got a bit the second feeling when we saw that Panzani is stepping in the dessert range with sweet sumplings (banana filling and chocolate sauce, or strawberry filling with vanilla sauce). The idea is quite simple : using an existing format, and  bringing it into a new category.Consumers know the format, and like the sweet : who would not try?

We are really curious to see how this works out!

(picture : foodly.fr)

Science Spark : Packaging design influences taste expectation

Imagine you want to buy a dessert, but are affraid of something too sweet. You are in the shop, in the right hand a cake with a rounded shape box, in the left hand a similar cake, with a normal rectangular box. Which one do you take?

The second one, according to Prof Charles Spence and his team, working at the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. In their recent study "Predictive packaging design: Tasting shapes, typefaces, names, and sounds", they wanted to assess how rounded vs. angular shapes, typefaces, and names, and high vs. low pitched sounds, can be combined in order to convey information about the taste (sweetness and sourness) of a product.

They highlighted the following:

• People tend to match tastes crossmodally to other sensory features.
• Rounded shapes, typefaces, and names, and low-pitched sounds enhance sweetness expectation.
• Angular shapes, typefaces, and names, and high-pitched sounds enhance sourness expectation.
• The different sensory features associated to a product’s packaging influence taste expectations.

Predictive packaging design: Tasting shapes, typefaces, names, and sounds, Velasco et al, Food Quality and Preferences, Volume 34, June 2014, Pages 88–95

A cake in a marmelade glass

You have heard about the cup cake, the mug cake, the fork cake (http://umamispark.blogspot.de/2014/01/the-fork-cake.html), but have you hear about the Cake in a marmelade glass?

Kuchen im Glass (litteraly "Cake in Glass") (http://www.kuchen-im-glas.com/), which seems to be a kind of spin of Yoomig, offers several of them. You can buy the cake alone, like the banana - nuts one, or as a set with icing, topings and accessories.

Japanese Bread spread to grill

As we have seen in this product in Japan, we had no idea what it was, but we loved the design. And back in Europe, it turned out we loved the product...
Spread it on a bread, put the bread under the grill for some minutes, and by some wonder mixing Maillard reaction and secret japanese formulation, you ll get a kind of French Toast (Pain Perdu) with different flavor. Left to right, we find Honey and lemon, Sugar (they are at least honest on the major ingredient), Melon, French Toast and Caramel Toast.

It sold by Kewpie, and you can find more here : http://www.kewpie.co.jp/

Mini Spark : Beurre & Sel cookies

Beurre & Sel cookies, in February 2013 in NY. Sadly the shop has closed in between.

The Fork Cake

After the cupcake, after the popcake, after the mugcake, here is a new variation : the forkcake. Those are sold in Cuisine Habits, a shop located in the Tokyo station.