Wanna know how old the Easy-Bake Oven is? Try older than any VCR, any microwave, any calculator. Try old enough that your mom may have played with it. Try 35 years old.
In honor of Easy-Bake’s birthday, we decided to bake a cake – and cookies and cream puffs too. We tried four of the biggest-selling mixes to see which one is too wicked to resist. Eight of our buds from the 4th grade at Chicago’s Inter-American Magnet School did the baking and tasting. Read “Our Tasty Test” at right to see how the cookie and cakes crumbled. Then check out the contest below and stir up your own recipe.
Mix up a winner!
If you’re the type of kid who likes to cook up something creative, enter Easy-Bake’s “Baker of the Year” contest. The prizes are stupendous: A $5,000 savings bond and two-year supply of Easy-Bake sets for the winner, and a $1,000 savings bond and one-year supply of Easy-Bake sets for four runners-up.
Here’s how to enter:
1. Entrants must be between 8-11 years old.
2. Create a recipe from one or more of the Easy-Bake brand sets.
3. Name the recipe, list its ingredients and directions on a 3-inch by 5-inch card, and include a photo of the finished product.
4. Include a consent note from your guardian or parent.
5. Mail entries to Easy-Bake “Baker of the Year” Contest, P.O. Box 12462, Atlanta, Ga. 30355. For more info, call 404-681-8321.
OUR TASTY TEST
Tiny Turnovers Bake Set ($6): Alex C. and Alexandra L. said the instructions were way too hard, so they improvised and just made a sugar-cookie blob.That way they didn’t have to use the turnover maker, which looked like a pair of jaws. Their cookie blob was delish but far from beauteous.(two spoons)
M&M’s Cakes Bake Set ($10): Rosie S. and Ana S. plunged in, but Rosie is an old hand at Easy-Bake. Their cakes looked just like the picture and tasted great. The only drawback: Everyone thought the frosting was way too sweet.(two spoons)
Creme Pups Bake Set ($6): Alison F. and Glenna R. cooked the creme pups as long as the directions said, but they were major-league mushy. Despite this, they still tasted “absolutely, positively wonderful,” Glenna said. Everyone else agreed – the creme pups won our taste test 7-1.( four spoons)
Easy-Bake Second Edition Tin ($10): This pink and lavender tin is stuffed with nine choices, and Nano D. and Jesse H. chose to try the chocolate-chip cookies. The cookies were no sweat to mix and bake, but our taste testers agreed that the finished product was just OK. Still, with eight other treats to try in the tin, overall, they thought it was outstanding.(three spoons)
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(spoon) (spoon) (spoon) (spoon) Yum. We not only licked our lips but the spoon, bowl and our fingers too.
(spoon) (spoon) (spoon) This mix made pals with our taste buds.
(spoon) (spoon) Stir-crazy for a new taste? Try this mix after you baked the others.
(spoon) In a word… crummy.
