For those who are legal; do you only bake from scratch? Or do you use boxed as well?
If boxed; do you buy in bulk from the manufacturer (Betty Crocker, Duncan Hines, etc) or raid Walmart?
Also, how do you select vendors for your boxes, boards, etc?
Thanks!
I do scratch and boxed. I use Duncan Hines when using a box mix. I mainly use the box mix for cake balls, no sence in making a scratch cake to demolish it and add flavoring, just my thinking. Box mixes are great for saving $ too. My specialty cakes are 95% from scratch, the other are deoctored cake mixes.
Are you assuming all "legal" baking is done from scratch? Haven't you ever seen the commercial cake mixes sold by Sysco and GFS? Sam's used to carry them years ago but I haven't seen them in some time. Personally, I think these commercial mixes taste like crap, but they are out there and my friends at GFS and Sysco tell me they are sold to a lot of bakeries and restaurants!
i went from home to shop.. i use both,, i prefer duncan hines to anything.. because it is less to use a box than for me to do scratch, less items on hand to have to store etc.. i do scratch if it is a cheesecake or a rum cake or hummingbird cake or carrot cake,, i don't get asked for many scratched recipes.. i think you can't beat using a mix,, it is tested extensively to be accurate 99% it is always fresh, and i love the taste.. i tried contacting the ducan hines for buying direct, and they directed me to a distribution company not to far from me,, but i would have to buy a pallet,, and im sorry i just don't have the funds or room for that much.. so i do raid walmart,, i actually call them up and tell them how many cases of what flavors i need and they order them in for me.. really nice about it.. same with other stuff like pwder sugar and shortening too.. as far as ohter bakeries they don't make all their cakes from scratch either,, it is simply adding an extra something here and there to make it different,, bakemark and dawnfoods are the biggest dist, around here, and dawn will not mess with the little shops.. bakemark does,, they both offer the same things pretty much, 50lb bags of mixes.. my vendor gets miffed at me because i refuse to use his brownie mixes or cake mixes or icings or shortening .. they cost me more than walmart and they don't taste good, i have tasted them a lot.. and i use to use dawn products when i worked in a bakery and i did not care for them either.. cakes and icings i mean.. they have great other products. what works for you stick with it.. your customers will appreciate it.. as far as boxes and boards it cost wayyyyyy to much to get at your local cake shop!!!! so i by passed them and i get all mine from bakemark ,, like boards,boxes,vanillas,butter emulsions, fruit fillings,cream horn shells,empty.. and because i use to work at sams bakery i get colored icing from them, because bakemark sells their in 16 pounds buckets and i want the 8lb from sams.. so i by theirs, and i like their 1/2 sheet boxes for cupcakes, and fullsheet boxes.. i get better deals from them than i do my bkm vendor, so i use several avenues to save all i can.. royalfrosting
We developed a contact person at our local walmart and we buy the cake mixes in bulk. When I show up they have it already to go. If you can do this you could only pay about 89 cents a box or so. Sometimes they are under such pressure to make the sales for the end of the month they will call us up and offer them for 49 cents a box. I hope this helps you.
Royal Frosting, where are you located? Your name caught my eye! I am in the Columbus, OH area and my bakery name is Royal Icings! Great minds think alike! 
My specialty cakes are also from scratch, but I always will use the DH with extender, that cake let's me do what ever I want with it!
I bake it, cool it, throw it in the freezer while I make my icing and it's good to go!
Everyone loves the DH butter, it's like a lighter pound cake..even I like it and I hate cake! lol
Majorly confused....what is an extender for DH?
Assuming DH is Duncan Hines? 
Yea, what is an extender and what is Bakemark? Is there a web site?
For people who sell cakes using box mixes, do you tell your clients that you are using a cake mix, what do you say if they ask...
I've never been asked but I think my family & friends assume it's scratch, which sometimes it is, but a lot of other times I do use a mix, I'm always afraid someone will ask me & I'm not too sure what I will say 
I tell them that I start with a box mix and add my own secret ingredients - that's why they taste so good! (I add dream whip, an extra egg, little less water and I sift the cake mix)
~Chelle
For the stuff that I do on my own, I use doctored Betty Crocker (I personally prefer it over DH). I also get my boxes and boards at the shop that I work at. We also use DH there. You may check with one of your cake suppliers in the area and see if they would sell boxes and boards to you in bulk. We have a few customers that we do this with and cut them a small deal on them.
royalfrosting here, or julie rosfeld, if you go to the days of sharing in columbus im always there.. i tell customers if they ask ,which they rarely do.. i tell them both,, because i do use both,, there is nothing wrong with a mix,, it is very consistant unlike me,, ahhahaha and it tested all the time by the company for this.. i dr. some of them too, when you do production meaning more than 15 to 20 cakes or more a week, you can't alway do scratch,, and when i do scratch cakes, i have problems with how much batter i can actaully put in my mixer at one time,, and how much to make for my pans that im using,, i know for sure i can put 5 mixes of dh in my mixer,, i don't have a large mixer only a 10quart,, because im still new and poor starting out in my shop.. hahahahaha we will be one year olds next month in march.. Bake Mark is located in Fairfield Ohio they are just like a dawn foods company.. i don't know if they have a website,, but i can get you a customer number if anyone wants it..and if you order a minimum of 300. there is no delivery cost here,, i know that sounds high, but you can get a few of you to order with you.. or if you live close enough you can pick it up yourself.. i live here in west alexandria...2 hours from columbus.. day of sharing in the last sunday in april and september,, here we have lots of cake artists that meet and do demos all day and have a catered lunch... from 10 to 5 on suday.. and sometimes we teach classes there too, i did this last year.. it was fun!!!
Hey Julie! It's Cammie in Brookville! SUCH A SMALL WORLD! I'm glad you logged on to CakeCentral! Folks, this lady is SO talented and can teach us SO much, and she's only 15 minutes from me!
Question, did you have a cakclub meeting last time we spoke? I figured you canceled since the weather was so treacherous that day! I'll be in FL during next months meeting (bummer)....I'll make it someday!
I'm so glad you're here!
ahahahaha hey cammie!!! we did not because of the weather, then we moved it to the next tuesday and then again we were hit with the snow,, so we wil make it next month.. and of course you wil be gone..hahahahahahahahahah someday.. but for sure lets at least plan for Day of Sharing in columbus last sunday in april.. yeah!!!!!!
I bake from scratch.
My clients buy cakes from me because they know I went to a culinary school..(it helps me advertise too!). I know many are now using the boxed ones but honestly... I didn't spend lots of money to go to school to bake boxed cakes. 
)
boxes and boards... I google the best and cheapest company.)
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