Hi Guys,

I have been trying to get into cake mixes but the more I do them is the more I dont like them....The finished cakes are ok..its the mixing process I dont like....It always looks gooey and flat...not light and fluffy like a scratch cake....I have come to realise I am so a scratch cake kinda girl.

Kathy

I second that motion!
I've never been a fan of mixes. My mother was a scratch baker and I learned from her, so I've always been very comfortable experimenting with flour and sugar.
I don't care what the box says, nothing beats an all butter, old fashioned pound cake!

Agreed... people can doctor all they want - by the time they do all that extra stuff, it's more expensive, very unnatural and still doesn't taste as good as scratch... in my humble opinion!

Melissa

I'm right there with ya!! Scratch all the way!!

I'm just starting to make cakes for profit and this is my biggest dilema, box or scratch, i love the idea of scratch and it seems more appealing and professional but I think people are so used to the light consistencey of a boxed mix, on the other hand would a scratch cake be more stable when stacking layers! I've tried several recipes for white or yellow cake and they don't seem to rise as much.

I've checked out many web sites to get ideas on flavors and such and would love to offer a variety , right now it's whatever comes in a box.

Any suggestions on recipes or flavors????

Thanks

I personally am not a fan of cake mixes, but the scratch recipes I use are much more expensive even after the doctoring. Right now my family is poor... dirt poor and I can't afford to cook from scratch. :-/ But I'm not doing many (if any) for profit cakes.

Rachel

I started out doing doctored box mix cakes, and gradually incorporated scratch recipes. Now, I only do from scratch. It took me a long time to find all the recipes that work well for me. Some didn't rise, some were too dry, and some were just plain bland. But, I researched and experimented and tweaked 'em; now, I think I offer a fairly extensive amount of flavors.
And my customers love 'em all. And because I have the basics for most recipes on hand all the time, I can fill last minute orders without a trip to the store!

I posted a basic mix that you can make up and store and add the ingredients to make diffrent cakes.

and it's a SCRATCH recipe! lol

I think it's under the recipe forum I think...!

Enjoy!

I haven't decided if I'm a fan of the doctored mix or not yet. I received the Cake Mix Doctor book for xmas this year and am going to try a few recipes this weekend. I do know that so far I prefer from scratch cakes.

Big scratch baker here. It scares me to read the ingredients list on the boxmixes. At least I know exactly what is in my cakes, can't do anything about artificial colours, need them for decorating, but the insides ofmy cakes are all natural, even make my own vanillasugar and extract

While I would love to be a all-scratch baker, I've found that too many of the butter-based recipes are dry. My customers have frequently asked I not do those kinds of cakes, but they do rave over the doctored cake mixes. My chocolate cake is the only one I do from scratch and that is my signature cake however. Any tips on making a really good, light, fluffy, moist from-scratch cake?? I'd love to know!!

Two friends of mine and I got together and started up a scratch baking yahoo group, for anyone who's interested the link is below.

In my family, we are put to shame if we do anything premade. My mom reminds me of Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond.

DEBORAH: "I'm making a cake for the pot luck at the twins' school."

MARIE: "Ohh. . .(looks over to where the ingredients are) frosting in a can. . .so much easier than homemade ."

I really don't like mixes either. I just buy them when I need to make one for a class or something.

I'd rather just buy the cake or cookie rather than make it from a box or cookie dough.

Oh well, we all have our preferences. JMHO.

I prefer scratch cakes but some people ask for the box mixes because that is what they are use to. I do both mix and scratch cakes. But I just love a good scratch cake!

Can anyone share their favorite scratch recipes?

Pretty much anything that Toba Garrett has in her books is fabulous. I love her Chocolate Fudge Cake and her Yellow Cake, they're both wonderful.

Rachel

Toba Garrett's recipes are fabulous. I also use Dede Wilson's recipes, and the rest are some I have had and others I have found here in the recipe section.

the well decorated cake.

I've found that the great difference in texture between box and scratch usually comes from the mixing method on a scratch cake, which almost always calls for creaming the butter and sugar first, then adding the remaining ingredients. If you end up overbeating once the eggs are added, the texture of the cake suffers. See Rose Levy Beranbaum's "The Cake Bible" for all the ins and outs. Now, when I see any scratch recipe that looks good, I just mix it according to her method--all dry ingredients mixed together (sugar, flour, leavening, etc.) with butter and a minimal amount of the primary liquid (buttermilk, milk, etc.). Then she mixes the eggs and remaining liquid, adds it in three stages, mixing only about 20 seconds after each addition. It truly produces a glorious cake, wonderful crumb, light but not dry. I actually use Toba's recipe for yellow cake, and just mix it according to Rose's methods. Try it and I think you'll be amazed.

you may have to tweek some recipes to find what works for you. some recipes just do not work for everyone...you have to search for a recipe that works for you. bake time and temp will make a big difference too.

for bigger cakes i normally lower the ove a bit to about 325 and watch it.

that will help to minimize dryness.