At the end of April, I received a unique subscription box, different from the typical beauty product sampling box or array of fitness supplements and healthy snacks. Batterbox, a monthly baking box, sends you all of the ingredients, recipes and instructions to create beautiful, unique desserts. This month specifically focused on cupcakes, “April showers bring May flowers” cupcakes to be exact.

Started by two best friends who enjoyed baking but knew it could get expensive, Batterbox was formed, and each month the creators choose a theme and send out a subscription box with all of the items needed to create a baked good from start to finish. Boxes start at $29.99 per month, and you can choose to get a monthly renewing subscription, or 3, 6, or 12-month long subscription (which cuts the monthly cost down).

So, here we go!

First thoughts: The packaging is simple, but nice and straightforward. The pre-measured ingredients are definitely helpful (get to avoid measuring each ingredient), however the powdered sugar got a bit messy during the shipping process. Besides for that, I was ready to begin!

Upon seeing the yellow chocolate candy melts and umbrella candy trays, I knew this was definitely going to be a time-consuming venture and I needed to get started on this first. Personally, it took me about two evenings from start to finish of this entire baking box, and I would recommend/put in the instructions that the chocolate melts can take some time to set. I had to do the chocolate melt molds three times in order to make a dozen umbrellas for a dozen cupcakes (approximately 30 minutes setting time per tray came out to an hour and a half of waiting).

Once I had the chocolate umbrellas taken care of (second day of baking), I began my cupcake batter! I followed the instructions to a tee with my handheld mixer, and the batter looked and tasted great so far. My only question was that the recipe called for baking powder, yet the directions and box didn’t contain any, so I think my cupcakes came out a bit flatter/denser than usual. I separated a cup of batter to the side, added the blue dye and poured that base into the bottom of the cupcake liners. Then, I mixed the sprinkles into the classic batter and poured that on top. During the baking process, the batters mixed together a bit and created a swirled/multi-colored design.

While my cupcakes cooled, it was icing time! Using a handheld mixer, I beat together the ingredients to form a semi-fluffy cream-colored frosting, and added it to the piping bag. I piped it on top of each cupcake, and it flattened down over time, so I then used leftover frosting and blue dye to add some swirls to make it look more like clouds/the sky. Once all of the cupcakes set, it was umbrella time!

I lined up the frosted cupcakes and arranged the yellow candy chocolate umbrellas on each, and let them settle before taste testing. As mentioned previously, the cake was a bit dense, but it had pretty good flavor, and looked great when cut into (from the swirl of the classic and blue-dyed batter). The icing had settled a bit so it was no longer fluffy, but tasted good from the almond flavoring. All in all, I would say it was a pretty successful baking venture!

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for beginner bakers as it takes some coordination, timing and planning to fully execute it, however it’s perfect for an intermediate or advanced baker looking for something new or a subscription box catered to their interest. It was really fun and exciting from start to finish, and I was really proud with the final product, especially after the time and effort I put into it. 

What do you think about Batterbox? Sign up now to receive the June box! Best of all, you can save $10 off your first box if you use promo code SAVE10.