Renshaw’s Limited Edition Great British Icing Pack review

Look at what we rustled up in The Madhouse Kitchen yesterday ! I wasn't sure how it would turn out - especially after having a bit of a disaster with the original cake base, as I told you here - but I was really pleased with the finished result. If you're having a Jubilee street party, this would be absolutely ideal and it's actually really simple, thanks to the Limited Edition Great British Icing Pack that Renshaw's kindly sent us through to have a play with.

The kit contains two packs of blue and one pack each of red and white ready-to-roll icing, so it's absolutely ideal for creating Union Jacks. (I should point out, I used a tube of liquid ready-to-squeeze white icing that I had in the cupboard rather than trying to cut out very thin pieces of white icing from the Rensaw's pack, purely as a time-saver because the kids were desperate to go to the park !)

This Union Jack design is what the box shows in the main picture, but you could also use it for topping cupcakes or biscuits in any other designs your imagination can come up with. It certainly shouldn't be reserved for Jubilee cakes !

As I was short on time after the earlier failed attempt, I cheated and used a bag of instant sponge cake mix. I always keep a couple of bags of this in the cupboard because it only costs about 20p and is perfect for when the kids want to knock up a quick batch of cupcakes.

Ten minutes later, I had the soft, fluffy sponge cake I needed - hurrah !

Now, I should have known that today was turning out to be a bad day for getting adventurous in the kitchen and just gone for simplicity but no, I decided to slice it in two and fill it with jam, which was almost another disaster because it started breaking up as I spread the jam. Breathe deeply ! Luckily, the great thing about ready to roll icing is that it hides a multitude of sins so you'd never know by looking at the top photo !!

The icing is soft and easy to roll out but I do have a few tips, learned through experience. I always sprinkle icing sugar on my rolling surface and rolling pin to stop the icing from sticking as I roll it out. The problem when using dark blue and red icing is that you can see the white icing sugar all over it - eeeek ! I saved the day by dabbing the icing sugar with a piece of slightly damp kitchen roll - not too wet though or the icing will start to melt ! I was worried the icing would be too sickly sweet so I rolled it out very thinly - don't overdo it though or it will crack and split when you transfer it to your cake. And don't throw the odds and ends of leftover icing away - they taste lovely as sweets apparently !

star rating : 4.5/5

 Renshaw’s Great British Icing Pack is available now from Asda, Morrisons, Lakeland and Hobbycraft priced at £2.99 (includes 4 x 200g packs – one red, one white and two blue).

For further baking inspiration and a full range of Great British themed recipes visit www.mybakes.co.uk.

 

Other reviews you may be interested in :

  

Stork Easy To Mix Baking Liquid review 

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter review & Lemon/Orange Biscuits recipe 

Bart's Diamond Jubilee Sponge