1992:

COOKERY PONIES

The Cookery Ponies were one of the new UK and European sets for 1991/2, and they were part of the playset theme for the year, for they were often pictured with the My Little Pony Kitchen playset, also introduced that year.None of the ponies in the set were actually sold with the Kitchen, however (though in some stores other ponies were!). Instead each came on card with a comb, a ribbon and a pretty pink apron which was the same for all four ponies.

VANILLA TREAT JUMPS OUT OF THE CLOUD
(UK My Little Pony Comic)

The set were first introduced in the UK Pony comic when it was revealed that they lived in a big, food scented yellow cloud (!?) which they had drifted over towards Ponyland with the intention of moving in. The first pony from the set to be introduced was Vanilla Treat, who cunningly jumped out of the cloud (giving the ponies below, Raspberry Jam and Strawberry Surprise, the fright of their lives!!)

COOKERY PONY APRON (sold with all four ponies)

Advertising images for this set suggested that Sweet Delight was going to be a pegasus pony, with two gingerbread men as her symbol. For some unknown reason, this idea was scrapped by the time of production, and she was sold as an earth pony with an entirely different symbol instead. In spite of this confusion, the pony drawn on the front of Cookery Pony cards was Sweet Delight - in the correct design - and the correct pony was also pictured on the back of the Cookery Pony cards!

COOKERY PONIES with the UNSOLD PROTOTYPE PEGASUS
(UK insert, 1992)

COOKERY PONIES (as shown on Backcard, with correct Sweet Delight Pony)

The two images are very similar and were clearly taken in the same set, but there are subtle differences. Nice and Spicy's comb is a different colour (neither of which are technically correct >.>) and Cherry Sweet's mane ribbon is lower down her mane. She and Vanilla Treat also have aprons at different angles, indicating that the images look like they are the same, but really weren't!

They were promoted through a competition in the My Little Pony comic, and on sale in 1992. This competition also used the image with the prototype of Sweet Delight that was never actually sold! They continued to be sold beyond that point, and they are not excessively rare second hand, implying that they were a popular set. They retailed at about £5.99 each.

The Cookery Pony names were fairly stable and are consistent between almost all material relating to them - the one exception being the My Little Pony comic advertisment for the My Little Pony Kitchen set. In this advert, Nice 'n' Spicy is featured but is called throughout by the name Cupcake. It is not know whether this was a pre-production name for her that was later changed.