Why Freeze Dried Sweets Are Perfect for a Family Bake-Off

A family bake-off is a great excuse to get everyone into the kitchen and see who can create the most impressive dessert. Whether you’re making cupcakes, brownies, cookies or a full celebration cake, freeze dried sweets can add an unexpected finishing touch to your creations.

With different shapes, colours and crunchy textures available, they can be used as decorations, toppings or even as the inspiration behind the entire bake.

Add Crunch to Your Creations

One of the easiest ways to use freeze dried candy in a family bake-off is as a finishing decoration.

Once your cupcakes or cakes have cooled, add icing before placing whole or broken pieces of freeze dried confectionery across the top. You can also gently crush the sweets and sprinkle the smaller pieces over your bake.

The freeze drying process removes moisture from confectionery, transforming many traditionally soft or chewy sweets into light, crisp pieces. Some varieties also expand noticeably, making them particularly eye-catching when used as decorations.

Everyone can choose different sweets for their bake, making it easier to create completely different designs from the same basic recipe.

Give Everyone a Mystery Sweet

If you want to make the competition more interesting, give each baker a mystery variety from a freeze dried gift set.

Their challenge is to create a dessert that uses their assigned sweet somewhere in the final presentation.

One person might crumble theirs over brownies, while another could use whole pieces to decorate cupcakes. Someone else might create an elaborate cake covered in crunchy confectionery.

Set a time limit and then bring all the finished creations together for judging.

You could award points for presentation, creativity and use of the mystery sweet before announcing the overall winner.

Create Your Own Family Judging Panel

The best part of any bake-off is obviously the judging – mainly because it involves trying everything.

Give each person a scorecard and rate every creation before adding up the results. You could even include a separate award for the best use of freeze dried sweets.

It’s an easy activity for a weekend, birthday gathering or school holiday afternoon and gives everyone something to enjoy once the baking is finished.

Just remember one important rule.

If you’re judging the competition and somehow give your own creation ten out of ten in every category, the rest of the family is probably going to have questions.