Brand new to the market we have a Duncan Hines “peeps” line of box mixes. They just released a cake mix, a frosting, and a cupcake kit. I’m a sucker for peeps, they’re one of my favorite seasonal treats, so I knew I had to pick these mixes up as soon as they hit stores near me. As I waited to find them I had to consider the fact that peeps are not a flavor. While they do have flavored peeps, really it’s just a marshmallow with maybe a hint of vanilla flavor. So what is a peep box mix going to involve? Well, you might remember the holiday mixes that were elf on the shelf brand, that’s essentially what the peeps label is. A brand slapped onto a Duncan Hines cake mix. Peeps is a trademark in this situation, not a flavor or really even a product. It’s cute packaging and nothing more.
I picked up the full line. The yellow cake mix, the frosting, and the cupcake kit. I’m not sure why both a cake mix and a cupcake kit were necessary when the cake mix can be made into 24 cupcakes. The cupcake kit however only makes 12 cupcakes, it does come with frosting and peep chick shaped sprinkles though which were cute. I want to point out first that the cupcake kit is $4.48. The cake mix was $1.38 and the peep frosting was $1.92 totaling $3.30 for more product than the cupcake kit.
These aren’t really different products but I decided we’re making them side by side to see how they compare considering they are essentially the same product with a different price. Starting by mixing up the batters, the cupcake mix is significantly more yellow in color than the cake mix. Both require egg, oil, and water. The cake mix requires double the amount of ingredients to the cupcake kit which makes sense considering it’s going to make double the amount of product. Tasting the batters side by side I really didn’t notice a difference. It was a different color but the same consistency and same flavor.
The cupcake kit claims to make 12 cupcakes and says to “divide evenly into pan” which doesn’t tell us how much batter to put in each cup. I always use a 3 tablespoon sized scoop and it works perfectly so I chose to do this here. I originally got 10 cupcakes but I stretched it a bit and got 11 cupcakes scooped out. I used the opportunity to fill the last cupcake spot with the cake mix batter so we had a perfect side by side comparison. The cupcakes then go into the oven for “15-17 minutes” but of course I didn’t trust the box mix time and at 13 minutes I found the cupcakes were perfectly cooked and neither over or underfilled so I feel like making 12 cupcakes would make these all a bit underfilled but still possible.
The cake mix has a few size options, 8 inch rounds, 9 inch rounds, a 9×13 pan, and 24 cupcakes. I went with two 8 inch round pans and filled them with the batter which ended up about halfway up the pan which was perfect. For this size pan, the box mix claims it should bake for 24-28 minutes. This is your weekly reminder that you cannot trust box mix bake times. At 20 minutes, the cake came out perfectly cooked. If I had listened to their bake time it would be overcooked, dried out, and possibly darker in color, not yet burnt. It doesn’t hurt to check on your baked goods a couple times during the baking process. You could set multiple small timers and check on your dessert a few times and you’ll know exactly when your dessert is finished. Anyways. The cake looked great, definitely yellow cake, and it wasn’t too domed at the top, it was fairly flat and even.
After everything cooled it was time to frost the desserts. For the cupcake kit, it includes a white vanilla frosting. It tasted like store bought frosting, a little less sweet, and had a weird almost dusty flavor to it. I put it in a piping bag to try to achieve the same look as they had on the box and piped a very thin amount on the top of the cupcakes and ran out of frosting after 9 cupcakes. I personally felt this was too little frosting on each cupcake and now that I know it didn’t even cover 12 cupcakes I was pretty disappointed. Are you meant to scrape it on top of the cupcakes like butter on toast and use as little as possible? This mix is quickly going downhill. Next I used the included peep chick shaped sprinkles which are very cute. I sprinkled them on just like the photo and used less than half the package of sprinkles. The ratio in this cupcake kit is so bad I don’t know how they even decided this was an acceptable product. It makes 11 cupcakes, only 9 can have frosting, but you can fully cover 9 cupcakes in as many sprinkles as your heart desires.
The cake box mix picture showed frosting between the layers and covering the cake. I used the yellow peeps frosting tub that was sold separately but clearly intended to be paired with this mix. It was similar in flavor to the frosting in the kit but much sweeter and I preferred it. After piping some frosting in between the layers and scraping the rest onto the cake I found that again, I didn’t have enough frosting. I couldn’t achieve the look of the boxes picture with only one tub of frosting. I would need about 1/3 of an additional tub to be able to cover the cake completely so that cake doesn’t show through the frosting. I am once again disappointed in the ratios. I ended up using the extra peep sprinkles on top of the cake. I originally thought these sprinkles were exclusive to the cupcake kit but in fact, Walmart sells peep shaped sprinkles right next to the peep cake mix so you won’t miss out.
Before I tell you about the flavor notes, I want to reiterate that there is nothing special about this box mix. It says peeps but makes it clear that this is a yellow cake mix with vanilla frosting on both boxes. If you want marshmallow flavor you’ll have to look elsewhere. The only peeps vibe you might get is if you use colored sugar sprinkles on the cake and cupcakes to match the exterior of a peep.
Alright, the cupcakes tasted like yellow cake with vanilla frosting. Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. It’s overly moist like a box mix and tastes like sugar and preservatives. It’s a classic flavor you know and probably love. It’s not bad by any means but it’s not peeps. The cake was better. The frosting was sweeter and was more proportionate on the cake than the cupcakes were. I also really liked the crunch of the sprinkles. I tasted the two cupcakes with the different batters side by side and couldn’t place any flavor or consistency difference. The cupcake kit is still more yellow but aside from that, this is the same product sold in two different packages. The cake mix and peep frosting are cheaper and slightly better.
When you’re at the store and you get excited, like me, that a peeps box mix sounds new and exciting and you can’t wait to try it, I hope you keep this in mind. This is the same plain yellow cake mix with different packaging. I bought this so you don’t have to. Don’t be fooled by cute Easter themed packaging. Spend your money on a regular cake mix and fun sprinkles instead.
Out of curiosity, I looked up the prices for a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix and vanilla frosting and the results are a bit upsetting. Plain yellow cake mix is $1.48 and plain vanilla frosting is $2.12. Peeps yellow cake mix is $1.38 and the peeps yellow frosting is $1.92. It turns out, you aren’t even paying more for the peeps name slapped on this product. You are in fact paying thirty cents less. The cupcake kit feels more like a cash grab at $4.48 with significantly less product in it. So my final determination is to buy the peeps yellow cake mix if you want to. It’s just yellow cake mix with a very slight discount, nothing more and nothing less.
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