Battle of the Cup Cakes!

Way back in 2019 I reviewed Kodiak Cakes' Flapjack in a Cup, the microwaveable breakfast-on-the-go. TLDR version: Weird but I liked it. Probably most things I like can be reviewed that way.

Since then some things have changed. In 2021 Kodiak Cakes was acquired for a big pile o' undisclosed dough by L. Catterton, a private equity firm that also owns very unrelated outfits like Birkenstock, Alliance Animal Health, West Marine, and Boll & Branch. 

Also since 2019 a new old competitor has entered the pancake-on-the-go war: The Artist Formerly Known As Aunt Jemima (TAFKAAJ). Yes, I refer to the Pepsi-owned Pearl Milling Company, which dropped Aunt Jemima in 2020 and now everything is racial harmony and lollipops in America. They've now climbed into the ring with a very similar and similarly priced nukeable pancake in a disposable cup. 

Today we face two important questions: 1) Is Kodiak still good, or has the small family company been ruined by evil capitalist investors? And 2) Who has the better pancake in a cup? 

We'll sample the challenger first. 

The challenger comes up strong--by coming up strong. The little bit of dry ingredients and quarter-cup of water has baked up into this fluffy structure. Includes a delicious pancake scent to help wake up the kiddies. 

Tough sponge shown here, as is common with microwave baking generally. It easily clumps off the spoon. But the taste is very good, totally pancakeish, and this blueberry variety contains little blueberry bits that rehydrated nicely during the 70-second nuke. It is rather dry, though, and like normal pancakes cries out for some kind of syrup. The cup helpfully recommends using some Pearl Milling Co. fake maple syrup, but that defeats the whole "pancake to go" concept, especially if you drop a clump off your spoon as I did. You'd wind up with a sticky mess all over the inside of your Corolla. 

And now the reigning champ: 

Oooh, not nearly as much rising on the Kodiak flapjack. Could be a result of the higher protein that Kodiak advertises in its products. Might this be a problem?

No, the champ looks good coming out of the cup. Still, the proof of the pudding, etc. How does it taste?

Result: For road pancakes (and I don't mean crushed squirrels), the Kodiak is superior. This product has little maple nubs in it that take the place of syrup, so you get a moist and flavorful bite. Nutritionally (and does anyone really care if he's eating pancakes?) the Kodiak is higher in calories, but does have more than double the protein, which may make you feel less logy than pancakes normally do. (Just for the record, I did not eat both of these products on the same day. I have enough trouble staying awake during work.)

The winner and still champion of the mobile pancake is... Kodiak!