Hi! I'm still learning something new every day and here I am:

As for cake mix extender recipe (I found from this website), all I know is that it does increase the cake batter - right? Is it also because of trying to make it taste like "from scratch, not cake mix"?

As for measurement, suppose I'm using one of the recipes in CakeMix Dr Book, do I need to make the cake mix extender first, then follow the rest in the book, like add more eggs, etc? I'm alittle confused.

Do not use a Cake Mix Doctor recipe and then add the extender too, that won't work. The CMD book is really just different ways of doing the same thing. I have used a lot of the recipes in the book, and they are all good, but follow the recipe DO NOT add any addtional "extenders" to them!

The cake mix extender is only for use with a box mix. It won't work on a scratch cake either. Yes, it does make the cakes have a "down home" taste!

Thanks for your reply! For my near-future home cakery, I'm still undeciding which method should I go for - home made or cake mix. It looks like cake made from scratch might be best for me - I prefer natural taste and use fresh ingredients. It means LOTs of researching to find the perfect scratch cake recipes. I've made one and it was TOO dry. I have no problem making scratch frosting and filling (don't we all do?). Again, thanks for your tips.

I agree with boonenati, I much prefer a homemade cake and if you are going to add all those ingredients to a box cake mix, find a good homemade recipe. I have no idea what half the additives are in the box variety.

I am currently testing chocolate cake recipes, finished with white cakes, to find my perfect homemade cake recipes. I find this process fun not only because I get to try and make all these wonderful, and some not so great, cakes but I know in the end I will have recipes that are the best (for my standards) or pretty much close to it.

For me, the taste of the cake and the combinations of fillings, jams, moistening syrups, etc are far more important than the decorations. It is like having a good meal in a restaurant. You remember how that meal tastes for years, but personally, I could not remember how they plated it, the same holds true for a decorated cake.

That's my two cents

The cake mix extender recipe is to give you a little extra batter for a cake. Let's say you want to make a 10" round cake, but don't want alot of left over batter. Take a box of cake mix, mix according to directions, add the ingredients from the cake mix extender and you have enough cake mix to do a 10" round without having to use up another box of cake mix.
I have used this recipe with Cake Mix doctor recipes before, you just have to add a little extra of the flavorings sometimes.
I used the cake mix extender on a low-fat chocolate cake, I added some extra cocoa in so I wouldn't loose out on the chocolate flavor. I wanted to make a 10" square cake without having to use up 2 mixes when I only needed 1 1/2 mixes, so I added the cake mix extender recipe to my original recipe, added some extra cocoa since the cake was chocolate, and I had just enough batter..

I too have used the extenders w/CMD recipes. I do almost every time I make a cake and haven't had any problems. Works for me when I need some extra batter!

I think using the extender with the CMD recipes makes them better actually. I have made them with the extender and without and people choose the extender CMD recipe everytime.

i tried giving people both cakes(one using the extender recipe and one without) some prefer the extender but some doesnt hmmm its confusing...really depends on the client

If you haven't made a lot of cakes from scratch, the extender with a box mix works well. I made some this last weekend. I use DH cake mixes, and I added the extender to the recipe. I used Dannon lowfat vanilla yogurt in mine. The extender definately helped with moisteness and taste. I had lots of compliments from it.