Spotlight: A consumer panel rates Signature Desserts

Indulgence: Pleasure is important in this busy world. As more consumers expect a higher level of indulgence every day, they expect high quality (more restaurant-like). Simple white or chocolate cakes do not stand out when placed next to a chocolate silk torte. It is the familiar with a touch of the exotic that meets consumers’ demands.

The experience

Duncan Hines Signature Desserts are available in three varieties: Boston Cream Pie, Chocolate Silk Torte and Orange Dreamsicle. Prices are $3.59-3.99. While Boston Cream Pie and Chocolate Silk Torte are chocolate-based specialties, the Orange Dreamsicle is based on mom’s or grandma’s recipes from the 1930s, and so brings back feelings of comfort food. This is the product we tested.

Orange has had a big resurgence in a wide range of products from clothing and household appliance colors to the active agent in cleaners. The package for Signature Desserts is a red box with a script across the top and the product flavor burst, which details what is in the baking kit and implies its premium quality. The beauty shot of a slice of cake looks like a real bakery image. The Orange Dreamsicle struck many of the testers as very interesting due to the wavy orange flavor in the cake and the thought of a creamy contrast.

Flavor (aroma and by mouth), texture (light and moist) and appearance are critical to the perception of quality in a cake. Time is a factor that can completely transform the product and its usage occasions. This cake is made in six steps, which are clearly described and easy to follow but multi-faceted. This takes a little bit of time and a few utensils to get to the final product.

The orange cake was light and very moist due to the syrup (sugar -- not corn syrup -- and gelatin) that was added. The aroma of orange that came from the warm syrup was real and pleasant and excited the cook. What was truly exciting was that once the cake was assembled following the directions, it actually looked like the cake on the box! Some of our tasters have been making foods from mixes for almost 50 years and this was a first.

The flavor was polarizing. For those who like creamy orange flavors, this cake was spot-on with the flavor. It was perceived as either bakery or really homemade. For those chocoholics who think chocolate is not sweet, they found the flavor to be too fruity and sweet but still pleasant. It was indulgent. It was just like the cakes your mom or a baking friend made, so it was comforting and memorable. It was convenient in that the cook did not have to buy the frosting separately. And the frosting – orange mousse – was light in texture and not too sweet (like most chocolate and vanilla container frostings).

Does the product deliver?

Duncan Hines is about trust and premium cake mixes. The mix must be moist and light and not cloyingly sweet as many mixes have become today. The consumer could definitely trust she would end up with a premium cake from this mix. (A consumer can make it even more premium if she adds the easy finishing touches suggested on the side panel.) This product delivers. It delights!

How to make it bigger

We were impressed as we considered the idea behind this innovation. Find a bunch of ingredients that can be delivered in a box and make an innovative difference (like the sugar syrup, it really changes the texture and flavor of the cake).

This is a convenient product for people who like to cook but don’t have enough time. The resulting cake is fresh, moist and flavorfully unique. Just familiar enough -- a dreamsicle for those who remember the cakes made this way in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s -- yet different enough that it is unique on the grocery shelf.

However, in today’s households, family sizes vary widely. Large families can easily eat this cake in one sitting, smaller families will take longer. A way to make this idea bigger would be to think of a way to have the luxury appearance but not have to eat the whole cake in one occasion.

Can this idea be the same if the kit goes even further and moves to where premixed cookies are? A cake that would just need squeezing out and cooking might be faster for the consumer. But will it spoil the fun?

The use of fresh flavors and great colors made this special. And the right level of ingredients allowed for the delivery of a special cake that no one has ever encountered. No baking fear here.

Rating: The product does deliver on the promises.

Market Potential: Good for the category. We don’t expect to see this category itself growing by leaps, but with products like this we know that adaptations in other parts of the market will occur. Indulgent cakes do not often come from cake mixes. This is an example of a kit that can show others in other categories how to bring kits to another level. A true example of innovation.