Why does everyone here seen to use box mixes. What is the reason. I make from scratch but stating to think maybe I should try a box. Help please tell me your reasons. Thanks.

I use box mixes for the convenience and well, it's what I started with and everyone likes it, so I don't want to change what already works. I do enhance it sometimes, though.

But, I think you're gonna find that alot of the members here are 50/50 on scratch vs. mixes. Go with what you like!

I never use a straight boxed mix, I always doctor it up. However I use the mixes becasue they give me a very consistantly good result. Scratch cakes are a little harder to make the same every time. Also if you make a scratch cake right you end up using pretty costy ingredients i.e. cake flour, cocoa, etc. I find that using a box mix as a base turns out to be cheaper and easier, with the best results.

I, however do use scratch cakes for some recipes that I find mixes to be unsatisfactory on such as carrot cake and spice cake. I also make scratch cakes for special dietary needs such as diabetic and vegan.

I use box mixes because it is so convenient in relation to time. I always get compliments on them as well and I have a don't ask don't tell policy - I just smile and say thank you. I work a 10 hr a day regular job plus I have a little one at home that has horseback riding lessons (twice a week) and dance lessons and - oh you don't want to here my schedule..... Sorry for ranting. I love to make cakes but it's the decorating that I get my thrills from.....

Not everyone but a good majority. I bake mostly from scratch. Boxes are great because it takes all the guess work out . You are almost always going to have a moist cake and a cake that rises to the occassion. You don't need scales for one thing and you can put them together in a flash. They seem to stay fresher longer at room temp. Now, with all the add-ins everyone is putting in their cakes they turn out pretty good. One of the things I hate about them is the lack of control of fresh ingeredients and all the use of hydrogenated oils and there has to be a lot of preservatives in them that accounts for their shelf life.

As for me...I don't seem to have a knack with scratch cakes. They are coarse and/or dense. I get good results consistently with cakes made from a boxed mix. I've never made one straight from the box, though. I always doctor it in some way or other. Experimentation with many, many different recipes, both scratch and mix, have taught me what works best for ME. You should do the same and come up with what works best for YOU. You might be surprised at the outcome.

Currently, I use the mixes because it is usually cheaper ( 10 for $10) than making the cakes from scratch. However if I make a cake for my family it is usually from scratch, this way no dairy. I like both the mixes and scratch cakes. I always thought the scratch cakes had more flavor until I found this site and all the recipes for the enhanced mixes.

Yes I was intrigued to know if it is only mixes that has that extra moistness. I have never made a box mix and my cakes are good but I thin it is the preservatives etc etc that gives it that extra softness. I must try one with my family and see what they say. Thanks again every one.

it's cheaper and customers like the flavor and now days you can do a lot with a cake mix. but I think it;s a personal chice

I keep hearing everybody talking about "Doctored up" box mixes. Could y'all please give me some examples of your "doctored up" recipes?

Thank you
Connie

Euophoriabakery,

WOW!!!! y'all are some real pro's around here. I would never have been able to come up with all those substitutes.

Thank you so much for the recipe, I really appreciate it!

Thank you
Connie

I use cake mixes because of the ease. Around my area most people rave about the buttercream icing compared to Wal-Mart or the bakery at the grocery store. So, they don't get as picky to the cake.

As per Alton Brown of Good Eats in Food Network, boxed cake mix taste better than scratch, because there is an ingredient that only cake mix manufacturers can add in the mix. But don't get me wrong, I also do scratches if it's called for... To me mix is very convenient and saves time.
I do more box than scratch...Special occasions such as a cake tasting contest, I do scratch.. depends what it's for.

My philosopy on the subject is from Alton Brown on Good Eats (Food Network), Episode:"The Icing Man Cometh":

"As much as I hate to admit it, it is darn tough to bake a cake from scratch that is better than a cake made from mix. That's because these designer concoctions contain high-tech ingredients (Polyglycerol Esters) that average cooks, like you and I, can't get our oven mitts on."

That and:

"Cake's nothing but a delivery system for icing, frosting, you know, the stuff that'll make the big teary eyes of a five-year-old roll back in his head. I'm sorry, it doesn't matter how good your cake is, [plain cake] just doesn't cut it. Oh sure, you'd like to think you're immune to the stuff, but you might as well face it, we're all addicted to frosting."

(PrettyCake, I posted before I read yours! Great minds must think alike. BTW, much as I like the show, I've heard the Good Eats BC was awful Have you ever tried it? )

I use cake mixes mainly for cupcakes because of the ease. I have several scratch recipes that I use for cakes. A lot depends on time and my circumstances. I work a full-time job and my dessert business is a side job (for now). I make most of my desserts from scratch just because I like the process of mixing and baking, as well as the end result! DH and family have never complained!
Basically, its your preference, what you like and your customers/family like. There are a lot of good extender recipes on this site because everyone seems to be a great baker as well as cake decorator!!
Leslie

There are several ways to doctor up a cake. Add sourcream, use buttermilk or whole milk in place of water, at cocoa powder to chocolate mixes for a more intense flavor, add a teaspoon of any kind of flavoring...

Euphoria, I am going to try adding the ingrediants you listed for my box cakes. Thanks a lot this is very helpful.

convenience....and after making all of that icing, I don't want to make a cake from scratch too....IMHO.

I've also heard that box mixes stay moist longer.

I like to use cake mixes with some doctoring. I find that scratch cakes can be tempermental (for me at least) while box cakes are made to be pretty much fool proof.

And here I had been feeling bad admitting that I use box mixes...I too do it for convenience, and like said earlier...takes out the guess work! I have tried some from scratch cakes before, but never had much success. Always a little worried trying a new cake on a customer...what if it isn't any good, and the cake they had before was a mix, etc.

I love the comments about what Alton Brown said about box mixes vs. scratch cake. My boyfriend worships that man, so he'll get a kick out of it! Who's to argue with the mad scientist of cooking!

Convenience, price, taste, reliability, storage space, & nobody notices the difference. As long as the cake is fresh and you have delicious icing...customers are happy. Why go to the extra bother if they don't even notice?

This is something that has puzzled me for some time as well.

Here are my thoughts and what I personally do.

I am really not sure it works out any cheaper ( perhaps in some cases) but I would have thought that once you add eggs, milk, butter then the cost sort of equals out.

I also don't understand the doctoring thing.... why do you add the ingredients if the box is so good in the first place.

By the time you buy the box, add the normal ingredients then add the doctored ingredients, have you not spent as much time and money as a scratch cake.

The other reason I believe many people use box cakes is that they have not found a reliable scratch recipe that measures up. This is something I struggled with for the longest time and therefore used box for a long time.

I didn't like to use box (even though I did) because when people would ask did I make it I felt guilty, people also often asked for the recipe and I would feel embarrassed to say I used a box and the preservative thing used to bother me.

I have spent lots of time researching recipes and I have wonderful recipes so our range is limited at this time but they are all (except one) scratch cakes. We only offer a white chocolate mud, dark chocolate mud, caramel chocolate mud cake and banana cake... they are tried true recipes that never fail.

The only one I have not been able to find is a super butter cake....I use boxed for this and I am certainly searching for a good scratch one for this.

I hope this sheds some light on the other side of the topic.

I think its great to use either..... its a matter of preference and what works for some does not work for others and vice versa.

k

I'm with all you guys about the box mix - I use either white or Betty Crocker's French Vanilla and always get rave reviews! I also have 2 small children and work full time, so cake decorating is really just a hobby. I just wouldn't have time to try to mix all the ingredients from scratch when I can make up a mix (or 2 at a time!) in 2 mins and 30 seconds! I don't even doctor them up (although I tried using pudding last night and somehow it didn't turn out right - I'll keep trying!) but they're always moist and fresh. Besides, I'd rather spend my time on the fun part - decorating! That's what people are paying for when they order a cake - I've never once had anyone ask if I make cakes from scratch or request that I make one from scratch.

I haven't tried that Alton Brown's buttercream but it sure looked complicated and time consuming - wasn't that the cooked frosting? And then his idea for leveling a cake with yard sticks and all that - which just wouldn't make sense for so many different reasons. But I don't care- I love Alton anyway! I can never follow all his scientific/chemistry stuff, but I love a good goofball! Haha. He cracks me up, so I'll watch him even if I don't like what food he's talking about.

Sorry if I'm straying off the topic...

If I do fondant covered cakes, I make pound cakes from scratch. They always turn out really tasty and sturdy. My gramma was a baker so maybe I've got some of her gift passed down to me. I've done it so much I dont need the recipe, I just throw stuff in and in the oven it goes. As for boxed cakes, I use the cake extender recipe from this site. It works great and the cakes all have tasted fabulous.

I'm a box mix girl myself. Mostly for convienence but ranking right up there with cost too. There is no possible way I could make them less expensive from scratch. I use coupons and get my mixes for anywhere from .19c -.66c most every time I need them. A buck at most. Not one single person has ever had a complaint ( man, I hope I didn't just jinx myself ) and I'd dare say nobody could tell the difference unless it was a specialty flavor. I know I couldn't anyway.

I've recently been doctoring some mixes up just to see if I like them and can tell the difference and so far, I don't notice it. Maybe I just haven't found "the" one yet. So cost wise, it may not be the best choice for me.

KimAZ

Hey Kim AZ -

Have you tried using Dream Whip in your mix yet? So far, that's the only doctoring that I actually liked. It wasn't even a taste issue - the texture was just a lot finer, so I thought it had a more professional appearance. I tried adding the pudding in the mix last night and somehow I didn't notice much of a taste difference and didn't like the texture - but I'm going to try again because I also overbaked it so perhaps the texture problem is my own doing!

i use to always bake my cakes from scratch because that was how my mom did. then i begin to notice that people that are not use to scratch cakes (my children calls them the cake mix generation) thinks that the cake is dry compared to the cake mix. so i started using cake mix. if someone ask me if i use cake mix i'll tell them. otherwise, i don't volunteer the information. think of it the way my daughter does ( i scratched the box as i was taking out the mix- therefore, it's a scratch cake).

I'm with you, pyxxydust. I keep coming back to Dream Whip (plus an extra egg...two extra egg whites if it's a white cake) in a boxed mix. I used the same words you did the first time I tried it - "fine texture." I love the way it looks when it's sliced.

Great idea about the extra egg - I hadn't thought of that! I've noticed people do that whenever they add anything to a mix - maybe that will solve the mystery of my pudding situation last night! Thanks!