The results surprised Ollie — and the taste testers too.
As part of his science fair project, Auckland student Ollie Neal created The Great Cake Debate — a blind taste test comparing Secret Kiwi Kitchen Chocolate Cake Mix against homemade chocolate cake.
The idea was simple: if people sampled both cakes without knowing which was which, would they prefer homemade or boxed mix?
To find out, Ollie baked both cakes and invited participants to taste test them side-by-side before casting their votes.
The final results?
🎂 15 people preferred Secret Kiwi Kitchen
🎂 10 people preferred the homemade cake
Not only did the results surprise Ollie, but his entire project was later selected as one of the best in his year at St Peter’s College and may now progress to interschools.
We absolutely loved the thought, creativity, and scientific approach behind this project. Ollie’s display board looked fantastic, the experiment was carefully designed, and we were genuinely touched that he chose to include Secret Kiwi Kitchen in his research.
At Secret Kiwi Kitchen, we’ve always believed baking mixes should taste as close to homemade as possible while still being easy and approachable for busy families. Our goal has never been to replace homemade baking, but to help make it simpler on those time-crunch days when people still want something warm, delicious, and made with real ingredients.
Seeing a young student independently put that idea to the test made our week.
We also have to say: choosing cake as a science experiment was objectively an excellent decision. 😊
Congratulations again, Ollie. We’ll be cheering you on for interschools and any future scientific discoveries, especially the delicious kind.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Secret Kiwi Kitchen was founded in 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand, by award-winning cookbook author Lauren “Lulu” Taylor, creating premium baking mixes made with simple pantry-style ingredients and designed to taste as close to homemade as possible.