REVIEW: Kellogg’s Mermaid, Unicorn, and Birthday Cake Waffles
Frozen waffles are one of those items I buy randomly, enjoy immensely, and then immediately forget about until the next time I see them on sale. While I could easily get sucked into a long winded diatribe about the simple joys of Eggo Mini Waffles, that’s not why we’re here. Nope, we’re here to look at three new frozen waffle varieties from Kellogg’s — Birthday Cake, Mermaid, and Unicorn.
For some reason I assumed it was an expansion to the already popular Eggo line, but they are stand alone Kellogg’s branded items. My theory is that they did this to try and appeal to the tween crowd who are like so totally over Eggo.
The pastel boxes help set them apart and announce that these aren’t your little sibling’s waffles. There is also the possibility they are trying to appeal to the lazy Instagramers who want the aesthetics of cute food with the flick of a toaster lever. Either way, I am neither of those and was cautiously optimistic as I walked with my arms full of frozen waffles to the self-checkout.
Mermaid
The Mermaid is a blue raspberry-flavored waffle.
The first thing that struck me was the strong blue raspberry smell. This worried me because if the smell was this intense, how overpowering is the taste going to be?
Blue raspberry as a flavor is always extremely hit or miss. Either it’s an overly sweet sugar assault or tastes more like raspberry with a hint of blue sugar. I also noticed it was a thicker waffle, more of the Belgium variety versus your standard frozen waffle.
After toasting, I went in for the first bite and found myself pleasantly surprised! Despite the strong smell, the blue raspberry wasn’t overpowering. A few more bites in and it reminded me of when you’d get those sno-cones with the chunky ice. All the flavor syrup would sink to the bottom, leaving just a hint of it at the top. That’s how subtle the blue raspberry came through.
It was a nice break from the expected and I could see it being a hit with kids.
Fun Mermaid Fact: Throughout history sailors often mistook manatees for mermaids.
Purchased Price: $2.96
Size: 11.6 oz/6 waffles
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutritional Facts: (1 Waffle) 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 7 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.
Unicorn
The Unicorn is a cotton candy flavored waffle.
While I’m not a HUGE pink person, the pink hue of this waffle was incredibly appealing. Like, take down to the paint shop to have it matched for a bathroom trim cute.
Then I noticed what appeared to be blueberries embedded in. This immediately confused me. I looked the box over to see if blueberries were even an ingredient (they weren’t) and eventually concluded they must be “pieces” of cotton candy.
Much like the Mermaid, the smell out the box was strong. Also like the Mermaid, eating it resulted in a much more subtle flavor. However, where they diverge from one another is the little pockets of not-blueberries. With the Mermaid, I got an even flavor in every bite, but with the Unicorn it was incredibly inconsistent. The pieces with little to no sugar pockets tasted like generic waffles, but then I’d hit a vein of the blue-colored sugar pockets and get that cotton candy flavor.
Personally, I prefer when I get a more even distribution of flavor so this wasn’t a hit for me.
Fun Unicorn Fact: The Unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
Purchased Price: $2.96
Size: 11.6 oz/6 waffles
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutritional Facts: (1 Waffle) 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.
Birthday Cake
The Birthday Cake is a yellow cake flavored waffle with sprinkles
Just like the other two, the smell opening the box was very strong. However, as a big believer that there is no such thing as too much birthday cake, I was happy to inhale a deep breath of it.
Of the three, I found it to be the most visually pleasing. The rainbow sprinkles embedded in that unnaturally yellow color takes me back to homemade cupcakes in elementary school. Also, like the other two, the flavor is fairly subtle. I guess I was expecting it to be more like cake batter turned into waffles, but instead it was a waffle flavored to taste like cake.
To its credit, it had that unmistakable cake flavor. The rainbow sprinkles added a little sweetness, but overall just seemed pretty. Of the three, it was the most enjoyable. Unlike the other two flavors, I feel there is a lot more that these can be used for outside simply heating and eating.
Maybe if they get put into the deep freeze, I can add a little whipped cream and turn them into a panic birthday cake next time I forget someone’s birthday.
Fun Birthday Fact: About 15 million people are celebrating their birthday today!
Purchased Price: $2.96
Size: 11.6 oz/6 waffles
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutritional Facts: (1 Waffle) 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 25 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.
A few final thoughts on these products. If you always put butter and/or syrup on their waffles, I’d tread very carefully.
While I’d personally recommend them plain and toasted, I realize that makes me probably sound like a sociopath. Trying all three with just butter it didn’t necessarily take away from the flavors, but it certainly didn’t enhance them. If you’re the kind of person that needs some moisture on their waffles, this is the way to go.
However, adding syrup was a disaster. It immediately overpowered all of them and made for a very bizarre flavor profile with the Mermaid and Unicorn. The Birthday Cake was the only slightly passable one with the syrup, but even then it still was weird. Otherwise, they are more than enjoyable enough plain and toasted. I’d love to see some other unique flavors.
Maybe a Kraken-flavored one? Green and just salty?
