Barefoot Contessa debuts new at-home mixes

Breakfast and dessert mixes

Food Network star, Ina Garten, introduced a new batch of breakfast and dessert mixes to her empire on Sunday in San Francisco at the Fancy Food Show, a trade show where specialty food products make their debuts.

Garten's Barefoot Contessa line now includes mixes for Sour Cream Streusel Muffin, Outrageous Brownie Cookie, Old-Fashioned Banana Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting, and Red Velvet Layer Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting. That makes about 30 Barefoot Contessa products, sold for about $10 to $15 each at independent, high-end food shops as well as chains like Sur La Table and Crate & Barrel.

"The mixes collect all of the ingredients for you. They're for people who are nervous about baking"—that's just about anyone—Garten said. The mixes are meant to save time but taste homemade, like they came from the Garten's no-shortcuts kitchen.

Asked to pick a favorite from the new mixes, the always-composed Garten demurred. "It's like choosing between my children," she said. (Though, when asked about a favorite cookbook that she authored, Garten picked her latest, "How Easy is That?" and said that she has recently been on a lemon chicken kick, using a recipe from the book.)

Garten's small, tidy booth at the food show was low key compared to the one featuring fellow Food Network star, Duff Goldman, who has a reality show called "Ace of Cakes." Goldman was on hand to launch his line of cake mixes and decorating tools, and dozens of people crowded his booth at times for a photo-op session and to watch cake-making demonstrations.

While seated behind a table that held samples of her new products, Garten greeted fans, posed for photos, and even talked a little business. A Macy's representative stopped by to say how well her line was selling at the company's department stores.

The Barefoot Contessa line is part of Stonewall Kitchen, the Maine-based company that sells specialty food products like crackers, jams, and pancake mixes.