Lady Katherine is at it once again, testing this season’s most delectable diamond, the official Betty Crocker Bridgerton crème puff kit. Will it be a scandal? Or a victory of the highest order? Take it away, Katie!
One might assume that a humble boxed dessert would inspire little more than passing interest. Such an assumption would be most misguided when the creation in question bears the elegant influence of Bridgerton.
This exclusive kit was acquired from Target at the modest cost of $7. The kit itself arrives thoughtfully assembled, providing the essential mixes, parchment paper, and even a piping bag, as though the baker is a person of leisure attended by unseen kitchen staff. One need only supply butter, eggs, milk, and water. In theory, it was simple enough.
Alas, dear reader, even the most straightforward recipe may betray the inattentive.
My first go was marred by an overindulgence of butter, which was a regrettable misreading on my part. The result was a batter so scandalously runny it would have surely set tongues wagging. It was, in short, a culinary catastrophe. No amount of hope, flour, or desperate stirring could rescue it.
But perseverance, as any devoted viewer of Bridgerton knows, is often rewarded. On my second attempt, armed with proper measurements and a far more discerning eye that was aided by reading glasses, the results were nothing short of triumphant:
The puffs emerged from the oven with a delicate golden-brown hue, though they did require a few extra minutes to achieve the desired color perfection. The pink whipped filling, mixed by hand, proved delightfully airy, if a touch unruly during assembly.
As for the taste? Divine. The pastry itself is tender and pleasantly buttery without veering into excess, provided one is able to avoid earlier mistakes. The filling offers a gentle sweetness that complements rather than overwhelms. The crème puffs are a dessert of quiet indulgence.
A word of caution to those who may try this mix: restraint is key. Overfilling the puffs leads to an unseemly escape of cream, a most inelegant affair. I would also advise allowing the assembled puffs to rest in the refrigerator for several hours, permitting the filling to set properly.
The Bridgerton crème puff kit proves a charming addition to any gathering, particularly where a light yet satisfying dessert would complete the meal. And despite my initial misstep, the final result is well worth the effort.
Recommended…most enthusiastically so!
This post was partially composed using this hilarious Bridgerton translator.
One entire bag of casting mixture allowed us to make 13 letters, but be careful! The instructions suggest you fill the letter mold about ¾ full. However, due to the fast pour of the mixture, we sometimes overfilled. As you can see, the final letters E and Z were quite thick!
Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair…GAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Whoa! What is this snarled, knotted, mess? Sigh. Our children’s dolls come out of the box looking so perfect. But somehow, over the course of a few weeks, their hair slowly begins to revert to a feral state. Eventually, a severe scissor intervention is required. But is a dramatic haircut really necessary? Or is there a magic recipe for working out those knots? We decided to tackle six of the Internet’s most popular methods for getting Rapunzel’s hair a little less, well…Tangled.
To find testing subjects, I went to the local thrift store. There, I found plenty of dolls who were having bad hair days, including Rapunzel. Then it was on to research and supply acquisition. For detangling, we decided to try spray-on detangler, fabric softener, regular hair conditioner, and white vinegar. For curling, we tried drinking straws, 
First, I thoroughly covered the doll’s hair with spray detangler (purchased from the baby care section of Target). Then, I used a plastic comb to work on the knots, brushing from the bottom of her hair and working my way up. My first piece of advice – make sure you hold the doll’s head tightly. Otherwise, it could pop right off! My second piece of advice – don’t use a plastic comb. It doesn’t work. In fact, I broke a tooth off mine and had to dig through the mess of her hair to find it. Phew! Eventually, I laid the doll’s hair flat on the counter and really tore into it with the comb. The knots came out, but so did chunks of her hair!
I had read that dunking the hair in hot water would lock in the curl, so I dunked the doll’s hair. Note! Be careful when you remove the doll from the water, because hot water gets into the straws and can dribble out, giving you a nasty burn. I let the hair air dry with the straw curlers in it. And…the results were great! Smooth, untangled hair with lots of soft curls.
I’ll start by saying that this doll’s hair was SUPER knotted. I didn’t think I was going to get any of the tangles out! I filled a plastic cup halfway with warm water and added a tablespoon of fabric softener (Mrs. Meyer’s Natural). Then I soaked the doll’s head in the mix for a minute or two, swirling her around to make sure her hair was completely soaked. This time I used the flea comb. It was much better than the plastic comb, but her knots were still pretty crazy. So I dunked her head in fabric softener again. It was much easier to comb after that! Finally, the knots were out, and her hair was thoroughly rinsed. Unfortunately, the doll lost a significant portion of her hair during testing, leaving parts of her scalp visible. She also lost an earring. Huh.
I rinsed the doll’s hair under warm water, then added regular hair conditioner (Alba Botanica’s Hawaiian Coconut to be exact). Using a quarter-sized amount, I massaged it evenly through her hair. Then I started combing with the flea comb. It worked well, but pretty soon the conditioner and the loose hair make a kind of paste, which was really gross. I was happy when I finally got to rinse it out. Interestingly, this doll did not experience as much hair loss as the previous 2 dolls. Maybe it was because her hair was much shorter? In the end, her hair turned out puffy and soft. Maybe a little too puffy. It necessitated a binder clip in the back to get the wave under control for her reveal photo.
This doll had greasy hair (ewwww!). I’m thinking a previous owner had put some product in it which left it quite unpleasant to touch. I thought she was the prime candidate for a white vinegar treatment. Hoping to dislodge some of the goop, I let her hair sit in very hot water for a few minutes. Then I used the flea comb to get the knots out.
I decided to not use any product on this doll’s hair. I just dry combed it with the flea comb. It was a bit challenging. If you use this method, I recommend laying the hair flat on the counter and working from bottom to top. Once the tangles were out, I decided to curl it using fatter 
Yes, it worked! Even soaking wet, the hair was curled. It held its curl while drying too!
The curl results from Method #1 and Method #5 got me wondering about the radius of the curlers and the sort of curl it produced. So for my final doll, I decided to do a side-by-side comparison. For the wide curls, I decided to try something firmer than bubble tea straws. This time, I used fat Crayola markers.
She definitely had lots of body to her hair, so we brought out the binder clip once again.
Since her hair was 15″ long, I decided to use markers to curl it (I also read good things about using 
TA-DAH! You know, I think she looks pretty good! Sure, she lost a lot of hair, but there’s still enough left to climb a tower!