KitchenAid Design Series Blossom Stand Mixer Review
Expensive but incredible
Verdict
The KitchenAid Design Series Blossom Stand Mixer is a premium update of the brand’s standard medium-sized stand mixer, with an attractive pale green finish and a textured, albeit stain-prone, copper bowl. The attachments are made from hefty and solid stainless steel and handily include a pastry beater and scraper beyond the usual accessories. The mixing is powerful here, which means fast results but also occasional spillages – particularly as no splashguard is provided. With a higher price than other KitchenAid stand mixers, this appliance seems best for those who are already fans or keen on the particular aesthetic.
Pros
- Powerful
- Verstatile
- Solid, dishwashable accessories
Cons
- Expensive
- No splashguard
- Bowl can stain
Availability
- UKRRP: £748
Key Features
- TypeThis is a traditional stand mixer.
Introduction
The Design Series Blossom Stand Mixer is KitchenAid’s newest – and also most expensive– medium-range (4.3L-4.8L) mixer. Featuring a matte finish and a hammered copper bowl, it’s a more luxurious version of the iconic Artisan 4.8L Stand Mixer.
The attachments here are made of solid stainless steel and include a pastry beater, specifically designed for easily combining butter and flour. While the absence of a splashguard means some care needs to be taken when starting the mixer, this appliance will deliver well-combined doughs and batters and fluffy egg whites in a matter of minutes.
Design and Features
- The premium finish is subtle yet attractive
- The bowl isn’t dishwashable and stains with use
- The hefty, dishwashable attachments cover all mixing needs
Decked in what KitchenAid calls thyme green, the main body of the Blossom Stand Mixer is a subtle pale green – a tone likely to suit most kitchens. The finish is matte here, meaning less dust and fewer fingerprints to wipe up, and the usually shiny metallic KitchenAid band is here rendered in a slightly lighter matte green. To emphasise the blossom theme here, the matte hub cover on top of the mixer has “petaled” edges.
What’s immediately noticeable about this mixer is the dimpled, two-handled bowl, with a layer of copper on the outside (the inside is still stainless steel). The colour of the copper harmonises beautifully with the subtle green of the main body. However, this finish on the bowl also means that it’s more difficult to clean and can appear unsightly.
The bowl needs to be washed and dried by hand, and abrasive or rough materials or detergents should be avoided on the outside. KitchenAid says variation in colour with use is to be expected, and the bowl can be polished with a copper cleaner, or the unique patina that develops over time could simply be celebrated.
While this is a nice idea in theory, like with anything being just a little worn, having only a few stains on the bowl after the initial weeks of use will look untidy rather than well-loved. Meanwhile, home remedies using vinegar or lemon juice and salt can also help polish copper.
The four attachments – flat beater, wire whisk, dough hook and pastry beater – are made of solid stainless steel and can be washed on the top rack of a dishwasher. Compared with the prone-to-chipping ceramic-coated aluminium beater and dough hook and the non-dishwashable aluminium whisk of some KitchenAid stand mixer models, the heft of this appliance’s attachments suitably matches its substantial die-cast body. Additionally, a silicone scraper is provided for removing remnants of mixes from the attachments and the bowl.
Helpfully, particular uses of the attachments and speed ranges are all suggested in the manual. The flat beater is an all-rounder, meant for cake, cookie and pastry mixes and mashing – what the manual calls “normal to heavy mixing”, with recommended speeds of 1-6. Meanwhile, the pastry beater has horizontal bars that are specifically helpful for cutting butter into flour, although the attachment’s uses are similar: pie mixes, mashing fruit and veg and shredding meat. The recommended speed range is narrower here at 2-4.
With the dough hook – for mixing and kneading yeast-based doughs – only speed level 2 should be used to avoid damage to the mixer, whereas the wire whisk is meant for whipping air into cream or egg-based mixtures at higher speeds (4-10).
Above the speed control lever, only speeds 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 are written out, but the lever can be set in the intermediate stages for finer adjustments of speed.
Performance
- No splashguard can mean spillages
- Cutting butter into flour took less than 5mins, while butter with sugar fluffed up in just 2mins
- Egg whites were stiff in minutes
I started my tests by making a sweet yeast-based dough. Having fitted the mixer with the dough hook and placed 600g of flour, sugar and yeast mix in the bowl, I slowly poured in a warmed milk mixture while letting the mixer incorporate it.
The manual warns not to use speed 1 for yeast doughs, but speed 2 initially proved a little too aggressive, resulting in splashes of flour. Unfortunately, there is no splashguard to keep the mess contained. Speed 2 proved great, however, for mixing the remaining floury edges into the dough and for the subsequent kneading, taking less than 10mins all in all.
To make a marble cake batter, I fitted the mixer with the flat beater to first combine butter and caster sugar. The butter fluffed up in two minutes, although even speed 4 resulted in some scattering of residue, forcing me back down to speed 3 and again making me wish for a splashguard or the handy soft start feature some Kenwood stand mixers have.
The rest of the cake batter was combined pretty efficiently, although there was a bit of cocoa powder left at the very bottom of the bowl – perhaps a result of me being conservative with speed to avoid splashing – that I ended up mixing in by hand.
Next, I made shortcrust pastry. I used the pastry beater to cut cold butter into flour, starting with speed 1 to avoid spillage and only increasing to speed 2 after a minute. By about the 5min mark, the flour and butter were entirely combined into a sand-like texture. Once I started adding water by the spoonful and the dough started coming together, the mixer did get a little shaky, but everything was well combined.
Six egg whites that had stood at room temperature for 15mins were foamy at speed 8 in 30secs, only taking a few minutes to start to stiffen as I added sugar by the spoonful. Once the sugar was added, I continued mixing for a couple of minutes, resulting in a firm meringue fit for a pie topping.
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Should you buy it?
If you want a solid, durable stand mixer for frequent use and don’t mind having a copper bowl that takes on a patina over time unless regularly polished, this is a top choice.
If you’re a beginner or an occasional baker without much countertop space, a cheaper rival or a hand mixer may be more suitable in this case.
Final Thoughts
The KitchenAid Design Series Blossom Stand Mixer is an attractive and powerful appliance with hefty attachments that feel durable.
As an upgraded KitchenAid experience, it may not be as affordable or beginner-friendly with extra features or recipe cards as rivals such as the Kenwood kMix KMX75 or Smeg SMF02, but it represents the best of KitchenAid’s artistry.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every mixer we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main mixer for the review period
We mix meringues to check for fluffy consistency, make cake mixture and knead dough.
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FAQs
The accessories can but the bowl must be hand-washed.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
