Scratch only. I would rather have no cake than cake from a box.

I am a cake snob, and am proud of it!

I love doing scratch cakes, because it's how my mum taught me to cook

ha! MY definition of toothsome, and also my requirements for 'will i bake it again? is it worthy of keeping this recipe?

toothsome-a cake that i would love to snack on even without frosting....thus, a cake that WITH fillings and frosting, would be divine!

sally

***anyone ever had a Vanilla Wafer Cake? it's a bundt/coffee cake....no frosting...made WITHout flour, just a box of finely ground vanilla wafers? it is described as toothsome and i've adopted the word ever since....

thanks for asking, i'm enjoying this thread..

Ice water cake??? I would love that recipe.

How do I know if I'm expert enough to answer the question?

This is a great debate! Now you all have my taste buds going! For all of you scratch bakers what are your favorite flavors/recipes. I have all weekend to experiment with! Thanks.

Scratch only, because it's how I cook everything. (At our house if you're hungry, we joke that there's flour and water--go make yourself something, lol).

I thought I was the only one who can taste the additives in box mixes...and like Leah said, not using them sets me apart locally. I use mostly organic ingredients, imported chocolate, etc., so I charge more than some around here, but I think it's worth it.

Scratch for me. I tried the WASC and thought it was too wet.

I do both, I use boxes mostly for time since I seem to always forget something if I do scratch and have to run to the store. And with a 19 month old that is no easy task when I also work full time.

I use DH mixes they seem to be moist but not so much that they
fall apart.

Don't get me wrong I LOVE scratch cakes and for my brothers wedding cake I made an AMAZING lemon cake from scratch.

If I have the time I totally prefer scratch.

SCRATCH all the way!!! I cannot even eat packaged cakes in stores or at restaurant chains. My family as well. We taste the difference right away. I have not had a box mixed cake in ages. I say those that use them, all the power to them because it does cut ALOT of steps. However I just can't bring myself to use a box. I love that fresh taste, if its pillsbury I taste pillsbury, if its betty crocker, I taste betty crocker etc. I just became a cake snob with out meaning to!!!!

Jessica

I guess I'm in the minority, but I use a lot of DH. I've adopted the WASC with different flavorings recently, and really like it, but I have yet to find a scratch cake I like as much as the box mixes. Maybe because I was raised on that? I don't know. But I have done taste tests among friends and family, and every single one of them liked the box better. Since it's more consistent, and I am unabashedly more a decorator than a baker, I'll use the box until I can find a scratch recipe that gives me the exact same results, every time.

As for being too moist... hunh??? The one thing I get over and over is how much people like my cakes BECAUSE they're so moist, and how all the 'professional' cakes they've ever had were dry and tasted funny. Maybe it's just my area of the South. I don't know. But my folks like what I'm doing, so I'm probably not going to change until that changes.

YMMV

I don't think that boxed cakes are too moist. They are downright soggy. Eeeeuuuuwww.

I'm doing more scratch now than I was a year ago, but it's not because I don't like mixes. I've been trying a LOT of new recipes to settle on flavors/recipes I want to use as my staple flavors to offer to customers. I love the WASC recipe and it's the white I do most often. I use the enhanced mix recipe with DH mixes and have loved it every time. I also love the enhanced cake formula on this site. The Darn Good Choc Cake recipe here is wonderful (thanks again to the poster!) I'll use scratch when I get hold of something really really good and not too tedious. I'm all about quality in looks and taste and I know you can get both with mixes and scratch.

The scratch/mix question has never come up with a customer in the years I have been baking and selling cakes. I don't bring it up because I don't think it's important and I just don't think about it. I've only ever had one person call to order a cake without having tasted my cakes first. That tells me that people want my cakes because they know first hand how good they are. That and the fact that I get huge raves on my cakes AND icings wherever my cakes are served. I can't ask for better than that.

The big scratch vs mix question will go on and on because it's all a matter of what you're used to, you comfort zone in baking, what your family/friend/customers like. What sells here might not sell where you are and vise versa. I say give them the very best you can to make them happy and bring em back for more.

And now I have a lemon cake to ice.
Today is our 39 year wedding anniversary!!! WHEW!!

I'm a scratch girl all the way, but like homecook that's how I do most of my cooking. It sets me apart from most of the bakeries around here and it helps to justify my prices. Not that I am fleecing people, but it does cost more to bake from scratch. Especially if you use high end ingredients.

If someone asked me to bake from a mix for budget reasons I'd send them off to another bakery. I am not going to put anything out there that I don't love.. and I don't love mix cakes. I can taste the chemicals in them and they have a completely different texture.. rubbery and odd to me. I have tried and tweaked many recipes until I have found what I consider "toothsome" cake recipes that my family and customers love.

I say do what you do.. and if your customers are happy.. then there's nothing wrong with your choice in cakes. Just don't lie to them.. and there's no problem. If they don't ask.. then they don't care, but if someone asks you if you bake from scratch.. just say no, but my recipes are not your average mix cake. If they try and like.. then you have a winner.

Happy Anniversary, Carol Ann!!!

Carol Ann what age did you get married at? You don't look older than 39 in your photo, were you a child bride?

Congratulations!

Have you started planning next years cake yet?

Hello,
Until I joined this site I didn't know sugar crafters used box mixes. I have only ever baked from scratch. But I recently found out that my local bakery uses bulk mixes.

Neat thread.

Scratch for me too. I am a pastry cook, not really a cake decorator (that part is a hobby mostly...still learning) so for me the cake part is the most important.

I gave in a few weeks ago and tried the WASC cake though for a white wedding cake, as the bride did not like my scratch whites at the tasting, and I do so few white cakes ever anyway.

She was happier, the cake went over well and did taste pretty good, but I would have preferred to have made her a yellow, chocolate or other flavored cake or dessert. I don't 'get' plain white cake anyway...so I suppose I am biased a bit. There are so many yummy flavors out there!

There is a hot debate going on in the "How Do I" forum over just this subject, if you want to see more opinions too-

(Oh, yeah, not an expert here either, just an experimentalist!)