Confessions Of A (Mostly) Scratch Baker...

Decorating By ThreeDGirlie Updated 9 May 2009 , 12:08am by CanadianChick

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ThreeDGirlie Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:16pm
post #1 of 31

I am a (mostly) scratch baker. icon_confused.gif I grew up baking with my mom and my grandmas. We would never consider baking from a box or package... Then I found CC and was drawn in by the WASC - that rascally devil! I have never been able to make a good white cake - through 3 different recipes that always ended up dry and tasteless. And I was drawn i by all of the "exotic" flavors people were talking about (that I now know I can make from changing up a scratch mix too!)... I also found a strawberry cake recipe that my friends and family love that starts from a box of white cake mix.

Even though 90% of my baking is from scratch, I feel guilty icon_redface.gif every time I open that box of white cake mix. I can just see the look of horror icon_eek.gif on my mom's face when I told her I make my white cake starting with a box (it was quite funny, actually).

So is there a way to get over this? Or can anyone point me in the direction the BEST, most moist ad delicious scratch white cake and strawberry cake? detective.gif

Thanks! icon_biggrin.gif
Stacy

30 replies
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BCo Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:26pm
post #2 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThreeDGirlie

I am a (mostly) scratch baker. icon_confused.gif I grew up baking with my mom and my grandmas. We would never consider baking from a box or package... Then I found CC and was drawn in by the WASC - that rascally devil! I have never been able to make a good white cake - through 3 different recipes that always ended up dry and tasteless. And I was drawn i by all of the "exotic" flavors people were talking about (that I now know I can make from changing up a scratch mix too!)... I also found a strawberry cake recipe that my friends and family love that starts from a box of white cake mix.

Even though 90% of my baking is from scratch, I feel guilty icon_redface.gif every time I open that box of white cake mix. I can just see the look of horror icon_eek.gif on my mom's face when I told her I make my white cake starting with a box (it was quite funny, actually).

So is there a way to get over this? Or can anyone point me in the direction the BEST, most moist ad delicious scratch white cake and strawberry cake? detective.gif

Thanks! icon_biggrin.gif
Stacy




No help from me for a scratch mix...just wanted to say.... Welcome To The Dark Side icon_lol.gif

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peachcake Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:29pm
post #3 of 31

I too find scratch cakes drier than box cakes unfortunately. I hope someone has found the secret to moist scratch cakes. I love to make them from scratch and would also love to know how.

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KKristy Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:30pm
post #4 of 31

Stacy,
I have not tried WASC and all those flavor combos that I have read about sound great. I wish I had a wonderful scratch white cake recipe for you, but I am also looking for one...I have baked about 7 different recipes within the last 15 days...none of them were what I am looking for.
So this is a bump, hope that someone can help you.

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ThreeDGirlie Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:38pm
post #5 of 31

I have a great standard recipes for most flavors (some of them found right here)... But the white and strawberry have been elusive! And I truly believe that once you taste a "great" scratch recipe, you will never go back. At least, I won't. Still waiting on a cuple of flavors to round out my offerings!

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Win Posted 6 May 2009 , 2:42pm
post #6 of 31

That's why WASC is such a wonderful white cake! icon_evil.gif
I have never, never, made a scratch white that was not dry, and like you, I grew up on scratch baking! I've tried so many including Colette's and Elise's... they just don't measure up to WASC!

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-K8memphis Posted 6 May 2009 , 3:08pm
post #7 of 31

Sylvia Weinstock's yellow cake (that comes out white) is brilliant. I use an extra quarter cup of cake flour and I add the eggs to the creamed butter & sugar (minus 2 egg yolks).

However I do not use this for commercial purposes. It could not be a better cake except I chill all my cakes. This butter based cake does not bounce back to pre chilled texture--the chilling changes it unless I microwave it back to it's former state. And of course you can't microwave decorated cake so...

I use wasc for commercial purposes due to it's dexterity. It definitely returns to the same texture after being frozen or chilled.

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tmcakes Posted 6 May 2009 , 3:15pm
post #8 of 31

I too find white scratch to be very dry. So of course I use a box mix (as is) plus some extra flavoring. were can I find the WASC receipe I have heard so much about? Sorry dont mean to highjack the post but I was just wondering!

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Win Posted 6 May 2009 , 3:20pm
post #9 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by tmcakes

I too find white scratch to be very dry. So of course I use a box mix (as is) plus some extra flavoring. were can I find the WASC receipe I have heard so much about? Sorry dont mean to highjack the post but I was just wondering!




I think this is the version most talked about:
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-2322-White-Almond-Sour-Cream-Cake-WASC.html

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JenniferHeath Posted 6 May 2009 , 3:20pm
post #10 of 31

I hope someone has a recipe. I too have been looking for a strawberry scratch cake. I've given up on a white oneicon_sad.gif

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costumeczar Posted 6 May 2009 , 4:17pm
post #11 of 31

I bake everything from scratch, and I have good white and strawberry recipes...My advice is that if you find a white recipe that you like, increase the fat in it by using half and half instead of milk and decreasing the flour by a couple of Tablespoons. For strawberry, you can pretty much use the white recipe, but don't decrease the flour, and add a half cup of chopped strawberries to it. If you want more strawberry flavor you can use Boyajian's natural strawberry flavor extract to it, but the real strawberries are usually enough.

One note, the strawberry cake is soft, so it's not usually good for carving or wonky cakes. If you increase the flour a little it would be firmer if you wanted to use it for those purposes.

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crystalina1977 Posted 6 May 2009 , 4:26pm
post #12 of 31

i don't really understand the "guilt" or reluctance to use scratch mixes as a base for cakes. there is a time and place for scratch baking, just like cooking, and a time and place where using a convenience item it not only acceptable but fits the application BETTER.

just my opinion of course but i would lose the guilt and keep using the recipe you have found that your friends and family love...what's so wrong with that?

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notjustcake Posted 6 May 2009 , 4:35pm
post #13 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThreeDGirlie

Then I found CC and was drawn in by the WASC - that rascally devil! I have never been able to make a good white cake - through 3 different recipes that always ended up dry and tasteless. And I was drawn i by all of the "exotic" flavors people were talking about (that I now know I can make from changing up a scratch mix too!)... I also found a strawberry cake recipe that my friends and family love that starts from a box of white cake mix.


Thanks! icon_biggrin.gif
Stacy




Can you post a link to that strawberry recipe you found?

yeah WASC is awesome at cake tastings even though I may have a good lemon cake or chocolate it gets picked every time no questions asked!

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Bethkay Posted 6 May 2009 , 4:36pm
post #14 of 31

I use Paula Deen's Fresh Strawberry Cake recipe. It comes out firmer than I anticipated with all the fresh fruit in it, and was very tasty. My family loved it. I made it with strawberry buttercream, which was excellent. The recipe calls for a strawberry cream cheese icing, which I am sure is also yummy.

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.grouprecipes.com/41354/fresh-strawberry-cake.html.

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lomfise Posted 6 May 2009 , 4:42pm
post #15 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by JenniferOrtiz

I hope someone has a recipe. I too have been looking for a strawberry scratch cake. I've given up on a white oneicon_sad.gif




I wrote this on another thread, but I think it goes here too:

I've had a request for a strawberry cake, but since I didn't have a recipe and all those I found here were based on cake mixes, I decided to do some experimenting last night.
I took a chocolate cake recipe and changed it a little bit and as far as I can see it turned out all right, except for a very strange old rose/lavender kind of colour.
My problem is that I am not a big fan of strawberries and therefore cannot say if it is any good, so I was hoping some of you out there were looking for a strawberry cake recipe and are willing to do some testing. I would love to hear your opinion and/or suggestions to make it better.

Here is the recipe:
200 g sugar
80 g softened butter
4 eggwhites
400 g all purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
400 g thawed strawberries pureed (to give 400 ml)
Perhaps some red food color

Cream together sugar and butter, then add eggwhites one at a time and mix well in between. Sift flour, bakingpowder and vanilla in and mix well along with 400 ml strawberry puree.
Bake in 2 20cm/8" round pans at 200C for about 20 minutes.

P.S. My cakes didn't rise all that much but I don't know if that is for slamming the oven closed or simply that the baking powder doesn't react well with nothing but strawberry. Or perhaps the eggwhites should be whipped stiff and then folded into the batter as the last thing. icon_confused.gif

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kjgjam22 Posted 7 May 2009 , 1:10am
post #16 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by ThreeDGirlie

I am a (mostly) scratch baker. icon_confused.gif I grew up baking with my mom and my grandmas. We would never consider baking from a box or package... Then I found CC and was drawn in by the WASC - that rascally devil! I have never been able to make a good white cake - through 3 different recipes that always ended up dry and tasteless. And I was drawn i by all of the "exotic" flavors people were talking about (that I now know I can make from changing up a scratch mix too!)... I also found a strawberry cake recipe that my friends and family love that starts from a box of white cake mix.

Even though 90% of my baking is from scratch, I feel guilty icon_redface.gif every time I open that box of white cake mix. I can just see the look of horror icon_eek.gif on my mom's face when I told her I make my white cake starting with a box (it was quite funny, actually).

So is there a way to get over this? Or can anyone point me in the direction the BEST, most moist ad delicious scratch white cake and strawberry cake? detective.gif

Thanks! icon_biggrin.gif
Stacy




the white cake recipe in marthas baking handbook is quite good. very light and nice.

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erinalicia Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:16am
post #17 of 31

I just made Paula Deen's Strawberry cake and it tasted awesome! The lady I made it for said that everyone couldn't stop talking about it and it was devoured. She asked me to make the same cake for her daughter's birthday, too. It was firm enough to use to stack and make a 3D firetruck.

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PinkZiab Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:22am
post #18 of 31

I have an amazing white cake that is moist an delicious, but unfortunately, I can't give it out... it was given to me under sworn secrecy by another pastry chef who spent years perfecting it, and I swore I'd never let it out! Keep trying... there are good recipes out there. To me, nothing from a box has EVER tasted better than anything I make from scratch.

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JenniferHeath Posted 7 May 2009 , 3:54am
post #19 of 31

Well thanks of you who shared your recipes! Glad to know that some good ones do get passed onicon_smile.gif

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Loucinda Posted 7 May 2009 , 11:59am
post #20 of 31

I still like the "welcome to the dark side".......I am over here too - with a whole collection of lovely cake books on my shelf ~ I know they're jealous everytime I open that wonderful little box of cake mix!! thumbs_up.gif

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mkolmar Posted 7 May 2009 , 2:49pm
post #21 of 31

I bake mainly from scratch, but I too have fallen into the dark side with some cakes. (white and strawberry) I prefer scratch cake and so does some members of my family. Hate to say that so many people are use to mixes that they almost prefer it. I'm slowly starting to sway that opinion from them though. I'll be helping teach some culinary students this fall (high school and those who are getting out of prison and learning new skills). I'm going to try out every single recipe mentioned in this thread to try to get them down before this fall. How horrible would that be to be teaching them scratch cakes and then say "quick, turn your head" as I dump a white cake mix into the bowl. icon_lol.gif I'll tell how to doctor a cake anyway, but I really do need a scratch recipe that's not dry.

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CakeandDazzle Posted 8 May 2009 , 12:46am
post #22 of 31

I use my favorite white cake and I add things to it to make it other flavors... just like the WASC without the box... I really feel box is cheating (IMO) and I really enjoy the scratch baking... My advice to you would be to try as many white cakes as you possible can to find the recipe you like then you can add things just like a WASC... It might take you awhile but everyones tastes are different and only you will be able to find one you like! Good luck!

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ceshell Posted 8 May 2009 , 12:57am
post #23 of 31

The Rebecca Rather "White on White" buttermilk cake is THE BEST white cake I have ever eaten in my life! OMG sooooooooooooo good. Bursting with flavor, and sooo moist. I am a strictly chocolate person, and yet I will consume this entire cake (uh, the leftovers I mean icon_redface.gif) whenever it's in the house. Try it with nutella inside, you might just think you've died and gone to heaven. Google "white on white buttermilk" and you'll track the recipe down; otherwise it's posted here on CC somewhere.

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varika Posted 8 May 2009 , 1:11am
post #24 of 31

I use the Starlight White cake recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook, and while it's just slightly drier than a box mix, I find it to be a wonderful cake.

But I don't understand the concept of feeling guilty over something you make. I mean, that's what the mixes are there for, right? They're quick and easy and pretty close to foolproof, so when I just want to make something up and spend the time decorating, I usually use a box mix. If I want to try for the taste, I do from scratch. And the Betty Crocker recipes always get "OMG, so good!" reviews.

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Loucinda Posted 8 May 2009 , 1:52am
post #25 of 31

I always use the doctored mix, which takes just as long as a scratch cake (I still sift all dry ingredients, add vanilla, fresh eggs, milk, fresh fruit etc.) so that is not an excuse for me. I just tried the scratch vs. box on my cake tastings and after soooo many times of the brides picking the doctored mix EVERYTIME I quit wasting my time and ingredients on the scratch. Do whatever works for you, for me I am over on the dark side. icon_biggrin.gif

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m1m Posted 8 May 2009 , 2:04am
post #26 of 31

I always use box mixes and I really enjoy the taste of them.

However, I do have some people in my family that feel because it's not from scratch it's not held in as high regard.

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Loucinda Posted 8 May 2009 , 12:31pm
post #27 of 31
Quote:
Originally Posted by m1m

I always use box mixes and I really enjoy the taste of them.

However, I do have some people in my family that feel because it's not from scratch it's not held in as high regard.




There are a few folks out there that feel that way......I won't even get started on my rants for that.

If you made it in your kitchen, with your own hands, be PROUD of it. It really aggravates me when people are "belittled" by others if they use a mix.

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sambugjoebear Posted 8 May 2009 , 6:03pm
post #28 of 31

I'm a scratch and box baker (just depends on what flavor I need). To me, baking from a box mix still requires baking skill. For instance, there is a difference from when I make a box mix cake and when my MIL makes a box mix cake. Mine turns out light, fluffy and moist, and my MIL's turns out overdone on the edges and slightly dry.

As for my preferred scratch white cake, I use the recipe on the back of the Pillsbury cake flour box. Just make sure you follow the directions to the "T" otherwise you'll have a mess on your hands. I find that it's delicious and moist for the first day, but it starts to dry out a little after that, so add some simple syrup to your cake layers and you should be good to go icon_smile.gif

Happy baking!

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Misa-chan Posted 8 May 2009 , 11:07pm
post #29 of 31

I bake all from scratch but my mommy, who always burns her brownies ( I think they're cursed!) sometimes uses box mix.

My mom sometimes extends a box mix by making it better icon_smile.gif! I should try that WASC one day...

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cakeandpartygirl Posted 8 May 2009 , 11:27pm
post #30 of 31

It is the same thing for me. Serious cakes had a thread going about strawberry cake from scratch. She posted the link that she based her recipe on and I tried it and it was good cake. Like costumeczar I will eventually try that brand of strawberry flavor instead of the strawberry jello.

What about adding some pudding in the white scratch recipe if that wouldn't mess up the consistency?

Speaking of white cake does everyone expect it to be white in color? I know that this sounds dumb but....

Edited for spelling

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