Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix is the shortcut to lemon drizzle cake nirvana. But what would Paul Hollywood say?
Mary Berry is best known these days as a judge on The Great British Bake Off.
But here are a couple of Mary Berry facts you may not know:
a) Despite rumours she’s NOT Nicholas Parsons’ sister – confused readers aged under 35 should google “Sale of the Century”
b) Mary Berry written an astounding 70 cookbooks – that’s one for every year of her life (assuming she started at the age of five).
c) Mary Berry sells packet cake mix.
d) Mary Berry sells bottled sauces in Waitrose and National Trust properties across the country.
e) How old is Mary Berry?
People are obsessed with finding this out so it’s a question worth answering here. At the time of writing Mary Berry is 77 and has probably written at least 2 more books since I originally wrote this post in 2011.
Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix
Since it’s kind of at odds with her role as Bake Off judge, I was curious to find out more about Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix.
Mary Berry’s twenty year old bottled sauce empire is co-managed by her daughter Annabel (pictured above in matching tabard outfit). You may be familiar with the tall navy and racing green bottles emblazoned “Mary Berry and Daughter”. Alongside those labelled “Paul Newman”, they hover in my peripheral vision at the supermarket, the culinary equivalent of Marks & Spencer polyester trousers, beloved by many but not something I intend to buy myself yet.
The packet cake mixes are a more recent addition to the range. Amused by the retro styling on the box, I agreed to try one out.
So what might fellow Bake Off presenter Paul Hollywood think, if you had the gaul to pass off Mary Berry’s family baking lemon drizzle traybake as your own handiwork in a Great British Bake Off audition? Would Paul Hollywood spit it out?
Let’s find out.
The Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix box is huge, containing a fold out disposable baking tray. Yes folks, this product is for those of you so ovenly-challenged that you don’t own a baking tin. (Baked and Delicious readers spring to mind).
Also inside you’ll find a white pack of dry ingredients and blue pack of sugary lemon icing mix. The packaging boasts this Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix will yield 15 servings, take 10 minutes to prepare and 20-25 minutes to bake with the mere addition of 2 eggs, water and 140g butter.
Using a hand mixer the Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake mix came together very easily although I was sceptical it would fill the large tray provided. Spreading the batter thinly to the edge I was braced for disappointment. Surprisingly the cake spread and rose perfectly well.
Unfortunately it smelled of very little either before or after baking.
The box announces there are no artificial colours or preservatives but the “delicious lemon topping” mix has a distinctly chemical taste.
Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake packet cake mix – results
The finished product does look just like the one on the box. Unfortunately it is like eating latex mattress laced with Jif lemon juice. Hardly one’s “signature bake”.
And you’ve got to laugh at whoever decided to call the carrot cake version “luxury”. It’s about as luxury as Cup-a-Soup.
So, I do not recommend passing this Mary Berry lemon drizzle cake traybake mix off as your own at next year’s Great British Bake Off auditions. Eyebrows will be raised and you’ll be kicked out. Mel and Sue will take the mick.
To keep things balanced I should point out that Paul Hollywood sells a range of breads in Waitrose. Sadly these are real loaves and not out of sachets otherwise I’d review them too.
With thanks for the review box Mary Berry Lemon Drizzle Cake Traybake mix.
Great honest review Sarah!
I am very disappointed that she has put her name to a box of chemicals. Jane Asher did the same thing, so very, very disappointing.
I think both of these ladies were badly advised.
A wonderful review and what a shame that she has felt the need to have her name endorsing junk like this ~ sorry that sounded a bit strong, but I mean, what does it take to whip up a cake? NOT much and a tray bake is one of the easiest I think……I am surprised that she has gone down this route and how on earth she can pull people to pieces on the Bake Off after seeing this is beyond me!
I don’t like it, can you tell? LOL!
A GREAT post thanks!
Karen
I KNEW she reminded me of someone.
She looks (and sounds, actually) EXACTLY like Nicolas Parsons!
I’m a bit speechless that:
1. She would endorse such a shabby cake
2. They sent it for you to review. With cake in the title of your blog you think they would know how this one would turn out!
One does wonder whether Mary Berry has tried one of these cakes herself?
I love the description of “like it was laced with Jif Lemon Juice” – go Sarah!
You left out the latex mattress bit – very important!!
Like you, I’m sure, I never even look at the cake mix bit of the ‘baking’ aisle…but I did yesterday after reading this review!! I was shocked…saw Mary’s range, right next to Jane Asher’s and then I saw James Martin’s cheery face smiling out from a box of White Chocolate & Raspberry Cupcake mix! I can’t believe that these people spend all their time trying to show others how quick & simple ‘real’ cooking is, promoting the importance of fresh food (look at Mr Martin’s current show on changing hospital food!) and then put their names and reputations on the line like this…a true sell-out! It is really bizarre. It can only be about money, I suppose! Thanks so much for the review, and for drawing attention to it.
Yes, James Martin is at it too. I must try one of his and see how it compares!!
Even more mind bogglingly it won 2 gold stars in this year’s taste awards. For that matter so did Burt’s crisps Nandos Peri Peri Sauce flavour – I tried one and it was revolting. I can only wonderr how bad some of the submissions were.
The best of British is rather sad on the box too, let’s reinforce the world’s view that Britian is a culinary joke.
Well, I’m astounded. How can a packet cake mix win an award, never mind one that is so disappointing? I think the box is hilarious.
This review made me giggle…followed quickly by feeling sad that she’s such a massive sell out! Why do famous chefs do this? (Saint) Jamie Oliver springs to mind – I love everything he does and stands for, but his range of sauces and other foodstuffs are horrible. It’s bonkers. I hope Mary is ashamed of putting her name to this cardboard rubbish. Rant over 🙂
I feel a list of celebrity endorsed food products coming on!
By the way, Sarah…I’m guessing that you know that Mary is not REALLY Nicholas Parson’s sister?? Did you get it from Meemalee’s Kitchen? Only she answers your comment by saying she just made it up because she thought Mary looked like him!! It could become the next big internet rumour…very funny though!
Oops no I honestly didn’t. Just googled about it and realised that Mimi made it up. Do you think if we wish hard enough it can be true?!
Really? Really really? Was that box even in date??? That looks like it was produced in the 50s!
And there’s me, happily telling my husband that Mary Berry is Nicholas Parsons sister. “really ” he says, “I didn’t know that” I am just so easily reeled in…..
Aw man, I wish she really was Nicholas Parson’s sister it would make so much sense!
Mary Berry fail! Who’da thought it?!
Cake mixes (and even worse, pancake batter mixes) really grind my gears. If all you have to add to the cake mix is some eggs and butter, then what you’ve bought is basically some flour, sugar and lemon flavouring (artificial, natural or otherwise) at a premium price. It outrages me that anyone who writes recipes and conceivably might be keen on people actually cooking would hawk such stuff. It’s trash and I hate it. Hate it!
I suppose some people who are not experienced bakers might like packets because they don’t have to buy a bag of flour they might not otherwise use. But I doubt the results would inspire them to keep baking!!
It’s like Alex James putting his name to salad cream flavour cheese for ASDA – fairly shocking. I never knew about the N Parsons connection!
I quite fancy trying salad cream flavour cheese….
Flourvonsponge reminded me, we rented a holiday cottage in NZ once that was actually a little old lady’s home – she’d gone away for the holidays. Well, in the kitchen was a stash of baking mixes that had gone out of date about twenty years previously. Including my old speciality the Edmonds self-saucing chocolate pudding! They don’t make it any more and I don’t live there any more, oh how I miss it (I really do, and hardly ever bother to make one from scratch – though I have a host of other from-scratch puddings in my repertoire). Back then though there weren’t any artificial ingredients in the mix.
I hope when she dies her family donate those puddings to the national museum, they’re a real piece of cultural history!
Wow! I wonder if she only made stuff from packets or ever did real baking?!
Very amusing 😀 That’s completely bizzare to include a baking tray!
I’ve always said if you’re going to bother creating something where it’s half done for you, you might as well get the product completely ready-made. I remember using devil’s food mix once before, and it felt completely wrong. I’m a bit of a purist 🙁 I need to get over it, really 😀
This review is so true. My mother-in-law only ever bakes from packet mixes. The results are barely edible and often undercooked (to be fair her 30 year old oven probably needs replacing!). We have recently started going to visit with very little notice in order to avoid her lovingly preparing such “treats” ready for our arrival.
Main melas are almost as bad – they live on “Lean Cuisine” and have been gaining weight ever since I met them 20 years ago!
So surprised. I was using her original recipe over 30 years ago and it is so simple. Easier, probably, than opening the box!! Any evidence to confirm her family connection to Nicholas Parsons. I’d like to use that in a quiz but need to be sure of the fact.
I’m disinclined to buy either packet cake mixes or salad dressings, but on the one hand I think Mary Berry is a saint for revitalising interest in baking and I’ve just bought her baking bible so that I can have a handy source of recipes that work, while on the other hand… Thank you, Sarah, for taking the time to make this cake mix up, and for sharing your results with us. I might have been curious enough to try it….though to be fair I’ve never been tempted by the Jane Asher brand, much as I admire her cake designs.
How sad, and what a crazy world we live in.