Aunt Bessie's Carrot Cake Mix

Aunt Bessie's has a new range of cake mixes in Asda. I couldn't help noticing as it had a whole stand full of them shouting "New" and only "£1 each". Of course nothing tastes as good as home baking but cake mixes can be a good middle option between store bought and home made. With a cake mix you can at least put in some fresh ingredients, such as eggs and butter, and get to enjoy the cake while it's hot, even if you haven't exactly put in the hard graft of cooking from scratch. The only downside to cake mixes is that they can be a bit hit and miss tastewise.

I have to admit I'm a fan of the Betty Crocker range of cake mixes, party because they are just so American, but also because they come in such brilliant flavours; red velvet cake, rainbow chip cake, a bright pink strawberry cake - they're all fantastic. This Aunt Bessie's range of cake mixes seems to have taken a bit of inspiration from Betty Crocker but given it a British twist. The range includes the Moist Carrot Loaf Cake, a Fruity Yorkshire Tea Loaf Cake and a Golden Syrup Cake.

The Aunt Bessie's Carrot Loaf Cake was extremely easy to make, although I have to admit that it was actually my husband who whisked it up and made it. The package comes with a cake mix that just needs two eggs, water and vegetable oil to complete. There is also an icing mix sachet which has to be mixed with softened butter to make a lovely topping for the cake. My husband also made cute carrot decorations out of some leftover coloured icing we had. They certainly jazzed up the look of the cake! The cake turned out a bit flatter than it should have been but this was because we used a loaf tin that was slightly too big. We didn't realise that the mix provided is only enough to make quite a small cake.

The taste was good and certainly very moist, however there was something missing for me. I'm not sure what it was but it just tasted a bit bland, almost as if it need a pinch of salt or some extra cinnamon. I like carrot cakes that have a bit more flavour and spice to them. I'd only recommend this cake mix if you prefer milder tasting carrot cakes. Despite this it was still enjoyed by my family and my husband loved the fact that it didn't have any raisins in it. I'd happily try the other cake mixes in the Aunt Bessie's range.