I have been hitting lots of cupcake bakeries lately and I sense many of them use doctored cake mixes. I was curious roughly how many of you home bakers and small bakeries utilize cake mixes vs. scratch if you are willing to share?

I doctor mixes. As long as it tastes good, I'm proud of my product!

From what I have read on here and other sites...many of us home bakers use doctored mixes. Speaking for myself...I can't find a scratch butter cake that beats the Cake Dr's...and the folks I bake for rave about it...so I use it!!! I say...if it ain't broke...don't fix it!!! LOL Linda

Every bakery/cakery I have ever spoken to has openly told me that they use cake mixes. The only difference from what we do in our home/small bakeries is that they buy them directly from the distributor in 50 pound bags. It is, most definitely, the norm.

I'm 100% scratch... it's all down to what you (and your customers) like.

Thanks everyone for your honesty!! Keep the responses coming

I used to offer both, but no one ever liked the scratch baked cakes, so therefore, I quit baking them for clients. There are still a couple that I make for family. I agree with the above, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Making what your clients want = good business.

I use boxed mixes. And I actually only add a little more oil and water, I don't really "doctor" them. But people go nuts over how great they are, so I'm kind of afraid of changing them!!

I think Indydebi once said something like "if I baked from scratch, you couldn't afford me" and I wholeheartedly agree! Love Cake Doctor and WASC variations!

Scratch. I don't like the taste of cake mixes. (Yes, I can tell a difference!)

I can tell the difference too..I bake from scratch

I do both.... as long as the cake taste good it doesn't matter.

I use box mixes, sometimes I just add a little more oil and water, and sometimes I do the WASC version.

I do all scratch cakes, fillings and icings.

I do all scratch too, nothing premade or from a mix.

Everything from scratch here too - as others have said on other threads.

Baking is a whole other skill-set, it does make you stand out from the crowd.

I doctor cake mixes, because it tastes good and get rave reviews from my clients. This is one of those topics that works for some and doesn't work for others.

I bake all from scratch. I have been told by many friends that I've ruined them, now they can't eat any cake from a box. They can tell the difference and dislike the chemical taste in the mixes like I do. I can understand why everyone likes the box mixes as that is what most people grew up eating and are used to. I don't bake any of my cakes with butter only oil. I find the butter makes them dry out very quickly. I also always add a teaspoon of vinegar to all my cakes, it keeps them tender and fluffy similar to a box cake. My scratch cakes are not dry!!! I firmly believe with the right recipes scratch always tastes better than box!

There is no "norm". whatever works for you is how you need to do it.

I use doctored cake mixes and also love the Cake Doctor variations. Whatever floats your boat and each to their own. There is no right or wrong.

Mine are about half and half, I doctor mixes sometimes but there are some recipes (like carrot) that have to be scratch for me.

Boy, am I ever naive. I just assumed that anything from a small private bakery and not my chain grocery store was going to be made from scratch.

I am not a baker who sells things. I make my own for me and my family/friends enjoyment. I used to make from a mix, but now I changed to scratch. It was not a matter of taste, but of my theory of gaining weight.

I have a big sweet tooth and I will never change that. But having recently lost 60 lbs. I don't want to gain it back. I have been trying to stay away from "unnatural" things and getting back to "natural". I guess it is being a "foodie" or something like that. My theory is that when you eat things with stuff like high fructose corn syrup or other "ose" things as a sweetener it actually leaves one craving for more instead of satisfying that sweet tooth. And the whole trans fat thing about it not being healthy (or something like that. The bottom line is it is not good for you to consume large quantities. We could define "large" quantities, but I digress.) So instead of eating all that stuff that is in the box mix I switched to making from scratch. This way I can have my cupcake a day or so (not every day, but enough in a week) and eat only one cupcake and get all the good flavors and sweetness I crave and not go looking for more when I am done like I used to do when I ate stuff made by local big baker. And I could eat it and not gain weight.

Well I started this about three months ago and it has worked for me and my DH too. We can satisfy that sweet tooth, feel like the scratch has been itched (so to speak) and haven't had any significant weight gain either. And now my kids like the cupcakes I make from scratch more.

Last week I was in a little town in NJ - Somerville. There is a bakery I happened upon called The Dessert Plate. They advertise that everything is made using real flour, butter, sugar and eggs. At the time I thought it was making an obvious statement, but now I see why she advertises this. I had no idea there was a industry cake mix. I am truly learning a lot now that I have delved into this whole foodie thing.

Thanks for sharing.

Generally speaking, I bake from scratch. I have a couple of seasonal recipes I have not had the time to make from scratch, so I start with a box (My pumpkin cake being chief amongst them).

Most of my cakes are butter cakes and made from scratch and are NOT dry. I use recipes that call for sourcream or buttermilk verseus whole milk and I have found those make the moistest cakes.

My brides constantly tell me how moist my cakes are and even ask me how do I make them so moist so a scratch cake does not have to be dry. If it is you need a new recipe : )

I bake everything except one recipe from scratch. I weigh everything and get consistent results. I have one recipe i've doctored with a cake mix and it's fabulous. Whatever tastes good is the way to go.