I do not have the extra time, energy or extra cash to just play with recipes until they are the way they should be. There would be waayyy too much cake here for my family to be eating ~ and there is NO WAY I would try them out on my customers. That is great that you can take your time and "tweak" like that! For me, I will still use the good old fashioned cake mix and have consistent great results everytime without having to waste all the time, ingredients (and calories!).

Time = money for me.

Well, for me ~ they are good and old fashioned! (and I need all the preservatives I can get at this point in my life. )

There are box mixes available that don't contain all those chemicals and preservatives if your sensitive to them.

I have tried many recipes and I don't think my time was wasted. I'm learning what I like. what to improve. Believe me, I haven't made bad cake yet. While most people like van or choc, some people want almond or pistachio, or mint choc. Martha Stewart hasn't stopped trying new recipes and I bet even the cake mix doctor will come out with a new book before we know it.

Nati, do you share your recipe for carrot cake? I had a bride ask for carrot cake on her top layer. I didn't have a recipe for that yet, but she asked if I could use her grandmother's recipe, which I did and it turned out great, easy to torte and stood up to layering and icing and stacking.

Just wondering if most of the recipes have oil, or do any have butter.

I have made many different flavors too - but they all ususally start from a mix. I did the "scratch" cake thing a long time ago - once I discovered all the things I could do with a mix, I never looked back. I am happy, my customers are happy - no reason for me to change.......and I will gladly buy the next CMD cookbook as soon as it comes out! I trust her recipes.

I agree leta, my time is not wasted, nor is it expensive. I really enjoy this part of the process. It means my cakes will only become better tasting as I tweak, and a better product for whoever is eating them. I don't make whole cakes when testing. I do small 6" cakes, using an online conversion webpage to scale my recipes. If I made and ate full cakes all the time, well, I don't want to even think about it.

Cool. what is address of the website that converts.? I always figure, hey, if I'm making the mess anyway..... Besides, my family hardly ever gets to eat cake! More often than not the cake is for orders. They get pretty excited when their own bdays come up.

Here you go...easy as cake!

http://www.fruitfromwashington.com/Recipes/scale/recipeconversions.php

Gosh, I will say that after only baking from scratch I am going to TRY a doctored box mix tomorrow....just to see if I can tell the difference, or if it's better, or moister. I'm so curious.

It's a matter of choice. And I for one feel that you should stick with what makes you feel comfortable. I use both. My main goal is make my cakes from scratch but for learning purposes and until I find the recipe that knocks my socks off, DH is a friend of mine. I read somewhere about a yellow cake recipe from Cook's Illustrated and I'm going to give that one a whirl this weekend. It sounds promising. I do like the UBL from baking911 (although it was a little on the dry side but I think I was at fault on that one) but find that a more suitable for tiered designs. I didn't much care for the golden layer recipe from Wilton even though, with that said, that was the ONLY time my cupcakes didn't sink in the middle! A few of my friends have had my "doctored" cakes and they tell me they can't tell the difference......I can though. Oh well, I'll find what I'm looking for and hopefully, with and luck, I'll nail it!