Do you feel like less if you use box mixes in your recipe?

Ugh, I constantly battle with this! I do feel like I am cheating, and I am constantly feeling like I need to justify using the cake mix in my recipes!! BUT my customers LOVE the cake mix recipes, and prefer them over most scratch! Its hard to change to all scratch if I know that the WASC, my only cake mix recipe, IS my #1 selling cake!! If we are going to use them, we need to be proud of them! I know that I have some of the best tasting cakes, and I am not afraid to tell people what is in them!

I use cake mixes, usually doctored and am perfectly fine with it. I have always had rave reviews from those that eat my cakes.

This can be a very heated debate on this website and what it pretty much boils down to is:

1. Do what you feel most comfortable with.
2. Do what those that eat your cakes like the most.
3. Tell the truth to your customer if you are ever asked.

I use what sells and that is mixes...I am not a scratch baker except for a few recipes...I don't feel guilty at all.It is a personal preference and as long as you and your customers are happy...then I wouldn't worry about it!!

I don't feel bad at all. I look at it two ways. 1) Using a mix saves me time because everything is pre-measured. 2) It is tested and more tolerant to "minor issues" such as weather or old baking soda. By not having to worry about the consistency of my product, I save myself time which saves my customers money. I agree, never lie. I tell people that I use box mixes as a base for most of my cake recipes but my Carrott Cake recipe is scratch. My family "secret" recipe strawberry cake is from a box mix. If it was good enough for my great grandmother it's good enough for me.
I applaud scratch bakers...truly. It is truly artisan. But I know that there are times when a scratch cake will just fail and you have to rebake. I am a small , newly starting out home based business. I can not afford that kind of instability and cost.
Also people like mixed based cakes and there are so many flavor options for upping the quality and flavor variety of a box mix.

FYI, a lot of big famous bakeries use commercial bases (ie cake mixes) that just add eggs and water and others pre-purchase frozen cakes. Depending on volume and cost it makes sense.

I do a little bit of everything. My chocolate cake is from scratch because thats what works for me and people like it. Wasc is awesome. You will know what works when you get feed back from your customers and thats all that matters.

I honestly don't understand why people believe that scratch baking is difficult. I'be been a scratch baker since I was 9 years old in 4H.

I do a little bit of everything, my carrot, pumpkin spice and red velvet are scratch made and the rest are doctored mixes. In all honesty, I do feel a bit guilty because if someone is paying top dollar for a cake, I should probably be making it from scratch. That said, the doctored mixes are well liked, cost effective and more forgiving then scratch (especially white cake in my opinion).

To address LeahS, scratch baking itself may not be difficult, but having consistent, excellent results is a science, and I think an art. You clearly have years of experience that have probably led you to your excellent results, but I'm willing to bet that in your earlier years, not all of your results were stellar!

I have really been feeling like I should use more scratch recipes, even though I am a hobby baker. So I've tried the WASC and while its good I dont love it and I have doctored other mixes and have a couple of chocolate scratch recipes.

But let me tell you what happened just yesterday. I made an elaborate (for me) mini cooper bday cake for my husband, including the road surface. I used doctored mixes, fancy fillings and fondant covered Ring Dings for wheels. What happened? My brothers sisters nieces and nephews clamored for the wheels! I should have made "blocks" for the car! PS they did eat the rest too!

So my advice... make what you know your audience will eat!

Here's my minicooper if you're interested!
  http://cakecentral.com/gallery/2177030

I am a scratch baker. No you are not less, cause of a cake mix. The only time I personally feel someone should feel less, is when a customer asks if they bake from scratch and they lie. Don't care if your phrase it "trademark secret" or "secret family recipe", so you don't have to give your customer a direct answer, your still lying. I say do what you want and what works, but if you can find the time, and the cost, cause it does cost for the trial and error, try a few scratch recipes. You may find them easier to make for you. For me, even though there is more steps, it takes me maybe a couple minutes longer to make a cake srom scratch then it does a cake mix. And it is true a majority of bakeries that I know use a base mix, BUT the ones that I know do bake from scracth are the ones that are ALWAYS sold out and one has even been featured on Food TV.

I've been hobby baking for 2 years and feel ZERO guilt for using Duncan Hines as my dry base mix. Once I pour those ingredients in the bowl, I pitch the box and add everything else I want and obtain absolutely fabulous results every....single.....time......

No worries about the weather, humidity, heat, air conditioning, old leavening, cold eggs; consistent results every time. I am a hobby baker and don't plan on ever selling cakes; I freely share my recipes with anyone who asks.

IF I were a professional baker:
I would respond that my recipes are a trade secret and cannot be shared.
If a customer asked specifically if my cakes were made from a box mix or from scratch, I would tell them what I shared above: "I use a dry base mix. Once I pour that dry base in the mixing bowl, I add everything else I want to obtain absolutely fabulous results."
If that same customer expressed reservations, I would invite them to determine their preference based on taste. If I lost a customer because they wanted only scratch--then so be it, they were not meant to be a customer.

A business needs to identify their target clientele, market to that specific market segment, and maximize profit. If your target market is people who buy only scratch--then bake only scratch. If your target market doesn't care, then bake the most profitable, consistent, tasty cakes possible. If that means you use mixes, use mixes and don't apologize.

I don't think it's cheating because people are paying for the work you put into it, not just the taste. Anybody can buy a mix but can they make it look like you do?

I personally don't mind eating box cake if it is yellow cake but for something more interesting (chocolate, carrot, spice, etc.), I think scratch is better.

Let me ask you this...if you hire someone to clean your house, is it 'cheating' then? I mean anyone can clean a house, right? So why pay someone to do it when you can obviously do it yourself! The point here is that even if someone can make their own cake from a box...it doesn't mean that they could do it better...nor does it mean that they even want to try! It's for convenience! One less thing they have to deal with when producing an event! Can your customers produce the exact same product you can? Can they decorate the same way? Do they know how to stack the cakes, cover with fondant (if you do that), produce a product that is consistent in taste and appearance each time they bake? Wow, I'd like to see the box mix that can do all that!

The bakery I worked for used Betty Crocker box mixes for their french vanilla, strawberry and lemon cakes. They were doctored with an extract and they were delicious. Everything else like carrot and red velvet and Italian Cream was scratch. We had more requests for the French Vanilla than any cake! It's what they used primarily for wedding cakes! Was it 'cheating' because they produced a product that people wanted?

If the scratch baker down the street produces a a cake that is dry, is it still somehow more superior because it was made from scratch?

This question always bothers me because it really comes down to whether you have more success with one way or another! If your scratch cakes are good, then by all means do them! If you have better luck with boxes, then use those! Bottom line is the bottom line. What do your customers like? And anyone who asks just say 'my recipes are proprietary and I pride my cakes on being moist and fresh.'

Produce the best product you can and let the results speak for themselves!

My Mother baked from box mixes and they were delicious. I am a sratch baker still looking for the perfect backup box recipe. If you're a box baker and you customers prefer them, great, why lie?

I do a lot of scratch baking, but since I don't have a business I give my stuff away. The majority of my decorated cakes are mixes. So no, I don't feel like I'm cheating. They're getting a free cake out of me so it's my choice how I get to bake. I'd go in the hole REALLY fast if I did scratch cakes for everyone who "orders" from me.

At the end of the day, to each his own. I do believe in being honest if someone asks.