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8O Does anyone make homemade cakes? Why or Why not?

Poll Results: homemade or mix?

 
  • 6% (20)
    Am a professional cook and use Homemade 100% from scratch all the time
  • 2% (6)
    Am a professional and Mostly use a mix not doctored
  • 4% (13)
    Am a professional and Mostly use a doctored mix
  • 5% (16)
    Am a professional and Use homemade and mix both a fair amount
  • 25% (72)
    Am a home cook and make Homemade 100% from scratch all the time
  • 17% (50)
    Am a home cook and Mostly use a mix not doctored
  • 38% (109)
    Am a home cook and Mostly use a doctored mix
286 Total Votes  
post #1 of 124
6/24/07 at 1:18am
Thread Starter 
Hi,
It seems that I am always reading about cake mixes and doctoring cake mixes. I am an avid home cook and decorator, but always make cakes from scratch. I guess I am just wondering why people prefer cake mix cakes, especially when they take the effort to alter them. I guess I naively thought that most professionals and people who were really into cakes made them from scratch. To me, there is no comparison in taste between a homemade cake and a box mix. So, I guess I am just curious to see what people do and why (not trying to be rude, just to understand, because maybe I am missing something?) So, do you use home made or box, or both, and why??? Is it price? taste? something else?
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post #2 of 124
6/24/07 at 1:55am
Uh-oh! You're about to wake the big angry beast of the debate between scratch and cake-mix users! People will always do what's best for them, what their skills can cope with and what they feel more comfortable doing. It's a personal choice, no right or wrong, and so long as the customer is satisfied then that's all that matters. But FYI I'm a total scratch baker too, as that's what I prefer to offer to customers because I have the ability to make great scratch cakes, but again, just because that's right for me does not make it right for someone else! thumbs_up.gif
AKA: bonjovibabe
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AKA: bonjovibabe
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post #3 of 124
6/24/07 at 2:22am
Hey ya,

I am a home cook and do both. Make packet and sometimes do scratch. Can't do packet mix or ready made cookies for the life of me.

Anyhoo thought I'd add the home and makes scratch and box.

Cheers

Leigh
Opinions are like a***holes. Everyone has one, so if you stick it out there it's going to get kicked.
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Opinions are like a***holes. Everyone has one, so if you stick it out there it's going to get kicked.
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post #4 of 124
6/24/07 at 2:24am
Im a scratch baker too.thts wht makes my cakes taste different from the other bakeries. U can surely make out the difference. Its a little extra effort but i think its worth it. I did fail tht first few times but now ive got the hang of it.....

Its gonna b a very interesting debate... cant wait to read more posts!
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post #5 of 124
6/24/07 at 2:39am
I also have done both, but honestly maybe some people can tell. But I have yet to have someone ask me if it was from a box. they all assume it was from scratch, even when it wasn't. I guess sometimes, it just depends on your clients. If they are use to eating plan cake out of a box and you fix up your box even a little, they assume it was scratch. But opions will be fun to see.
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post #6 of 124
6/24/07 at 3:03am
I can tell a box from a scratch. I to am a scratch person!!! This is an endless discussion on this forum. Look around, my kids are scratch eaters and not box eaters! I did a test on them and did not tell them. Threw it away. Beautifully moist and incredibly soft unlike a scratch but with that specific taste.!
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post #7 of 124
6/24/07 at 3:19am
Scratch here too.
I have tried box/ready mix, but, I never had much success.
I like to start from scratch as I often experiment with different flavours/ingredients. Mind you I've thrown quite a few in the bin! icon_lol.gif
I love to read the recipes here, especially the ones which add "pudding", they sound yummy. Living in the UK I'm not really sure which sort of "pudding" mix I could add? icon_confused.gif
I would love to try the "frostings" too, but, there is no way I'd use white vegetable fat and we don't have "crisco"...so it's all butter for me icon_wink.gif
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post #8 of 124
6/24/07 at 5:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lyn4uk

Scratch here too.
I have tried box/ready mix, but, I never had much success.
I like to start from scratch as I often experiment with different flavours/ingredients. Mind you I've thrown quite a few in the bin! icon_lol.gif
I love to read the recipes here, especially the ones which add "pudding", they sound yummy. Living in the UK I'm not really sure which sort of "pudding" mix I could add? icon_confused.gif
I would love to try the "frostings" too, but, there is no way I'd use white vegetable fat and we don't have "crisco"...so it's all butter for me icon_wink.gif



'Pudding' is akin to Angel Delight (or the generic equivalent) in the UK, hope that helps!
AKA: bonjovibabe
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AKA: bonjovibabe
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post #9 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:13am
Thanks for your help.
I just happen to have some Angel Delight in the cupboard.
I'll try it later. thumbs_up.gif..after we've eaten the raspberry & white chocolate cheesecake I've just baked icon_lol.gif
I wonder why I'm putting weight on icon_surprised.gif
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post #10 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:29am
I alway ue scratch cakes. The box cakes from the store were really hard to decorate when I first started. They were just tooo soft and would fall apart. I think that is something my customers come to me for as well. Our grocery store cakes locally are always dry dry dry. There are some good cakeries but you really pay for their services. Besides I love to cook and really want to know what is going into anything I create.
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post #11 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:40am
I do both, depending on what type of cake I want. Most are boxed and doctored. Some only taste good from scratch such as carrot cake, pineapple upside down cake etc. Takes just about the same time to make either.
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post #12 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:45am
I use both. If I offer a flavor in scratch and I find a good scratch recipe I use it. BUT there have been times when I just haven't found a recipe I like so I doctor the heck out of it and viola!
People always seem to think all my cakes are scratch, I have even fooled my culinary school snob cousin who says she can smell a box mix a mile away..... icon_lol.gif what she did not know didn't hurt her.
Mind you I told no one else I did it, I just wanted to see if she really knew the difference.

Alot of the scratch cakes I try come out dry, so I am trying to delve into the exact mechanics of what makes a good recipe what every thing init does ya know. Then I figure I can play with the recipes and make them better hopefully!


OOOOOH, ALTON WHERE ARE YOU WHEN I NEED YOU???? icon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_lol.gif
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post #13 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:48am
As the folks in the US wake up, I think you'll start to get more boxed cake makers. I am a professional, and I only bake from scratch, but I am a trained pastry chef. should say that having lived in Hong Kong, UK and france, that there is a much wider array cake mixes in the US than elsewhere, and most people like cakes from a box. They have a very specific texture due to the sugar alchohols and other chemicals in mix that simply aren't available to home bakers.

They provide a consistent product and have been designed to be abused...eh, I mean, doctored. meaning you can change the ingredients, underbeat, overbeat, etc and not ruin a boxed cake. The same is not true with many scratch recipes.
Scratch bakers of the world UNITE !!
Inrideo ergo sum ~ I snark therefore I am.
Cake or Death?......Cake Please!
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Scratch bakers of the world UNITE !!
Inrideo ergo sum ~ I snark therefore I am.
Cake or Death?......Cake Please!
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post #14 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:48am
Scratch, scratch, scratch, and nothing but the scratch! icon_biggrin.gif I agree, no comparison, and I feel like I'm shortchanging my customers if I use a mix. I started out using mixes, but they were just too unreliable. I've never had a failure with a scratch cake and I have the flexibility of making the amount of batter I need....and get an opportunity to prove to my kids that learning fractions is really necessary icon_lol.gif ! Since I have to use fractions all the time in baking thumbs_up.gif .
"One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others."
- Robert A. Heinlein
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"One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others."
- Robert A. Heinlein
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post #15 of 124
6/24/07 at 6:49am
I mostly do box - DH - mostly because I can rely on how they turn out. I do have a few tried and true scratch cakes but they are not always good for stacking.....Thru this site I have picked up on doctoring the mixes and the results have been mmmmmmmm good....thanks to CC.
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