As part of the Craft Writer application process, SCK sent me this Popin’ Cookin’ Happy Kitchen DIY Pizza Kit to review!
Inside were lots of mystery packets of powders and some little pots and moulds. Even the packaging turns into things to display your creations (before you eat them!) The only extra supplies you need are water, scissors, a plate and a microwave.
Whilst the kit only comes with Japanese instructions, Kracie provide English instructions on their website, helpfully removing any guesswork that can happen when trying to translate instructions.
After cutting apart the various pots, you start mixing the powders with water, using the tiny measuring cup provided. First was the sachet for the potato faces, and to my surprise, it smelled like instant mashed potato! Being a DIY candy kit, I was expecting it to be sweet, but this was definitely very savoury! The mixed dough was pressed into the face mould, ready to be microwaved.
The pizza base was mixed next and flattened out using the circle size guide – there’s enough for two.
After mixing all the toppings, which all smelt very strongly of tomato, cheese and sausage, it was time to top the pizzas!
The tomato sauce and cheese was simple, but the sausage topping was a little fiddly as you put it back into the packet and use it like a piping bag.
The two tiny pizzas ready to be cooked.
Before cooking everything, I decided to make the display items. This was a good idea as they took a while to put together – the pizzas would have been cold by the time I’d finished. The pizza box was probably the hardest part of this kit! As it was made from the foil packaging, it seemed like it would tear very easily. Double sided tape worked well for sticking it together and making it a bit more rigid.
Back to the food. After microwaving there were some extra crunchy toppings to add and a drink to mix up – it went really fizzy as the powder dissolved.
The finished kit! I think it all came out rather well considering what you start off with! I did burn the potato slightly as the instructions are for quite low power microwaves and I didn’t reduce the time enough. I was more cautious with the pizzas.
Next came the taste test, something I was a little apprehensive about. What on earth were all these savoury smelling packets of powder and water actually going to taste like? Well, I actually thought it tasted okay! The potatoes were like crunchy instant mash, the drink was the nice grape flavour you get a lot in Japan, and the pizza, whilst rather doughy in texture, was surprisingly pizza like!
I found this a fun, easy kit to make and certainly something different to try. The results might not be to everyone’s tastes, but I think trying the unusual creations are part of the fun with these types of kits.
If you’d like to give it a try yourself you can find the kits at Tofu Cute.
This is the final guest post from Nikki, who is on the shortlist to become SCK’s new craft writer! Let us know if you’d like to see more posts like this.
Nikki lives in the UK and her favourite crafts are needle felting, sewing, paper cutting and embroidery. You can follow her crafty makes on Instagram at @cutecraftsaddict.
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