A good friend of mine (who is one of my biggest fans & supporters) has always assumed that I bake from scratch....but I don't ....I do the doctored-cake-mix-thing....always have,.....my scratch cakes are disgusting! My friend is constantly raving about how great my cakes taste and recommending me to people, but she's never actually ASKED if I bake from scratch. She just says things like....."well you can always tell if it's a Betty Crocker and not homemade", or "I mean it's not like you 'Betty Crocker' it!! Ha, ha, ha!" And I've never had the guts to correct her!...so now it's been going on for so long that I think I'm almost lying!! Is the fact that I box-mix it my little secret recipe, or am I a big fat lier?! (is that how you spell lier?) Anyway, I think I'm having boxed-cake-mix-guilt!!

My daughter told me that today, that she thought I made them from scratch - no way because I can't find a recipe I like. I did tell her they start from box, but have my special touch added to them. She is not the first one to assume I made it from scratch

I know how you feel. My husband was the one putting the guilt trip on me though. I finally told him that it's not just box cake mix, it's that and a little extra something I add to it which makes it mine, not Dunkin Hines'. I think if I were in your shoes I would feel he same way but the truth is you're not lying if you never told her that you made them from the box.

I went through these same feelings, but no longer feel guilty. Look at it this way, NO cake is really from scratch if you want to get technical. Unless each baker is growing their own flour, producing their own water, formulating their own vegetable oil, hatching their own eggs, etc. then they are using something that someone else created. So what if you choose to use a box mix....that is just more creations added in one place! As long as you doctor the mix, even by changing 1/4 tsp. of an ingredient, you are creating your own combination of ingredients, and therefore you are making a unique recipe that can be considered from scratch. Okay, so I may be pushing it, but the logic works for me and I no longer suffer guilt!!!!

Thanks tgirl22, that's hilarious! Maybe I'll go and get me some chickens!! ...oh ya and a cute little mill for the bakyard!

No guilt here. Just GREAT home baked cakes that taste freakin' wonderful! .....Betty and Duncan are my bestest friends.

Okay, I was wondering if anyone out there felt guilty for that too. I, too, use box cake mixes and I have a lot of people ask me if I make the cakes from scratch. I do say that I don't, but I always feel stupid so I end up explaining that all of my icings are from scratch. When I say I doctor them up, then they want to know what I do. It's kind of annoying actually. Yet, no one ever complains when I do a cake for them. They always RAVE about how they taste and look. It also matters what kind of pans you use and what you use to grease them, how long you bake the cake, etc. I also freeze most of my cakes before I decorate them. They turn out/taste better and are very moist.

This is a funny post to me because I have just recently learned to not feel guilty about doctoring a cake mix. I used to feel like a liar when people would congratulate me on a delicious "homemade" cake but I finally decided that those extra ingredients do make it homemade. Besides, following the directions on the box would not result in others assuming the cake was homemade. So, I don't think you need to feel guilty.

I deal with this all the time. I use Pillsbury cake mixes. I've tried them using the three whole eggs and using 4 egg whites, and really prefer the 4 egg white option.

Just this last week, I baked a cake for my mother to take to a church event. A lady there told her that it was the best white cake she'd ever had in her life and wanted to know what my secret was. Ha! My secret is that I don't do a darned thing to it except make sure it isn't overbaked!

When people ask me for my cake recipe, I always tell them that my extra ingredient is love. That shuts them up!

Pancake, I know just how you feel.

I belong to a women's social sorority (Beta Sigma Phi) and many times I have made cakes for special occasions. One of my "sisters" always makes some comment about how she can tell when a cake is homemade and when it is store bought. And she further states that she can ALWAYS tell when a homemade cake is made from scratch or from a box. And then she proclaims the virtues of my "scratch" cakes and uses them as an example of her ability. She does this EVERY time we have a meeting or social. For years. I never corrected her. I did not want to embarrass her. And I know she made the same comments about others' cakes.

So, a while back she was "doing her thing" ...again... and she said she just could not imagine how anyone can tolerate eating anything made from a box mix. Because she could "tell" mine was from scratch.
As she forked another bite (her second helping, I think) of my Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake (with the addition of coffee and extra pudding and an extra egg) with homemade mocha fudge frosting, I told her.

I said "Not this time."
She looked at me with an surprised question on her face. "Huh?"
I said "This is a box mix, extended with wonderful things, just like I have made every time, in all the years we have known each other."
And she put the plate down, and looked around the room at everyone else smiling and enjoying my cake, and she excused herself to the bathroom.
When she was gone, the others clapped for me silently. Some offered a thumbs up.

I was embarrassed, but not anymore. My "sister" has stopped making her claims when eating anyone's cake.

But sadly, she has not spoken to me in 3 years.

Some people take things waaaaaay too seriously...

I use to feel guilty for using a box mix but I have come to the realization that what people don't know or ASK can't hurt them...I have had soooo many people as well exclaim that they would know if I used a box and I definately don't...hehe..it is just my little secret maybe a little coniving but hey unless they ask...I have also figured out that the time spent making and cleaning up from making a scratch cake is not worth me doing cakes...I love the convenience of a box and I don't think that when it comes right down to it that people even care...as long as it tastes good is the most important thing....so cheer up and stop feeling guilty pancake..as you can already see alot of fellow cake bakers use a box cake...just enjoy making cakes......

Pancake, I am glad I was able to help! The chickens and mill could work, but I am dying to know your plan for the water and oil!! Let me know the secret when you get it figured out!

I have a "friend" who everytime she tastes one of my cakes makes a really big deal about how good it tastes and that have "skills" Then she always asks is it from scratch. I always think, what difference does it make, you just said it was the best cake you ever tasted, I do have a recipe that I go by....

I think that will be my standard answer. When asked is the cake from scratch, I will say, "I do have a recipe that I follow". ...and leave it at that. I think if they ask me for the recipe, I will tell them that they will have to wait for my cook book to come out. lol

WOW! I agree with sonoma9, Sugarfrosted....I can't believe she hasn't spoken to you over a CAKEMIX!
Your story is a little like how I imagine it would be if I admitted the same thing to my friend...the sound of the fork hitting her plate as it falls from her hand in the sheer shock of the moment, followed by the defeaning silence of either one of us knowing what to say next!...okay maybe that's a little dramatic But I still think my friend would just about fall off her chair if I DID tell her about the dreaded cake mix!

I wonder if all my family really knows it's a cake mix. I know my husband does...he won't eat anything but a cake mix cake. He doesn't like the texture of scratch cakes. Although, I did get him to admit he liked my last scratch cake. I do perfer a cake mix...they are so much easier to make and figure amounts for.

Just my 2 cents...I would keep the secret. LOL!!!

Isn't it funny how we sometimes let people make us feel inferior? (just because of a box??) I made up my mind a looong time ago that I was not going to let that happen anymore. People have been eating and raving about my cakes for 25+ years now, and 99.99% of them have started with a good old fashioned box mix.

I really like that comeback that you'll let them in on your recipe when your cookbook is published lainee!!

Hey the way I figure it, DH is just an ingredient in my own personal recipe. I used to feel a little guilty - but not anymore. In fact, I guilted myself into buying Nick Malgieri's "How To Bake" book, tried several of his wedding-cake-appropriate recipes, and then went immediately back to my DH-based cakes. People keep coming back for more, and I'm going to keep givin'em what they want. Sometimes people ask if I bake from scratch, I say sure I have my own special recipe. Then they'll ask if there's a secret ingredient, to which I reply - Vanilla

So Sugarfrosted, I say: don't ask - don't tell! And don't feel guilty![/i]

I wonder what percentage of the American population has ever eaten a scratch cake? I bet it is very very small. At least for those under about 70 yrs. old.

I have eaten waay more than my share of them.....and I prefer the mix based cakes hands down. I guess those folks back then HAD to make them from scratch ~ they did not have the luxury of the mixes that we have today.

My Gramma (who is now in her 90's) is one of my biggest fans (you can see her birthday cake in my pics) She is one that absolutely loves the cakes I make and will tell you in a new york minute how well she loves these cakes over what she had when she was young. (and she is a magnificent baker)

I just look at using box mixes as me hiring an assistant to do the grunt work!

I worked in a research and developement lab for a company that produced some packet mixes for cakes, flavoured milks and potato chips among other things. Alot of work goes into perfecting the cake mixes, many trials and sensory evaluations including comparisons to scratch cakes as well as compeditors packet mixes are carried out. The results of the final formulations sensory evaluations was that less than 5% of the people in the pannel could tell the difference between the scratch cake and the box mix. (At lease for the one I was working on!!!)

I love all cake! I don't care if it is a scratch cake or boxed mix they are all yummy to me!!


I still "doctor" some of the mixes depending on the tastes of the people eating it! kids get straight packet mixes but I usually add a little something extra to the cake I make for the adults

I think of a cake mix as just a container of pre-measured ingredients, to which I add my personal touch. And I think I will also answer with "Yes, I have a recipe I follow." I just won't tell them my friend Betty does the measuring for me.

I don't think it makes a bit of difference weather a cake is from scratch or from a box. The important thing is that it tastes great! I use a lot of doctored recipes, but I have a few scratch reipes that I like better. The Chocolate layer cake on this site is easy to make and to die for, I also make my carrot cake from scratch as I have yet to find a better recipe. In my opinion if a recipe is yummy, weather one of the ingredients is a box mix or not, that's all that matters.

I never tell anyone I use box mixes. I add some ingredients, like eggs and water and oil, and occasionally some other things, and people rave about the cake. The box provides fast easy and almost no fail cake, and I always say my cakes are homemade b/c they are...box or not.

So don't feel guilty. Besides I love it when people go on and on about how no box mix could be as good as my cake. It's like my own little private joke. I just smile and say thanks

When I first started decorating cakes, I figured I had to bake everything from scratch in order to be legit. I found a few scratch recipes that I really liked, though others I tried were not as good.
Eventually I relaxed my "standards" after I found some doctored cake mix recipes that were really, really good. Now I just bake whatever tastes good, whether it's scratch or cake mix based.
The only kind of cake I always make from scratch is carrot.

I just want a yummy cake--I don't care how I get there!

I will tell people that if I use a mix--if they ask.

Another reason I often use cake mixes: in high altitude, baking from scratch is extra tricky. It's much easier to get consistent results and avoid sinking centers and overflowing pans (and all the other fun stuff that can happen when you're thousands of feet above sea level) with a cake mix.

I bought Susan Purdy's book, Pie in the Sky, recently, though. It's all about high-altitude baking. I'm looking forward to trying some of her recipes.

I bake my cakes from scratch, only because thats the way I have always done it and it is just easier for me. I made a cake from a box once and I said I would never do it again... and only because it was so moist that I couldn't assemble it properly. Everyone loved the taste of it though..I have never made a "doctored box mix" but it sounds like that is the way to go...
I don't think you guys should feel guilty for using a box mix. If people really cared, they would ask you if it was made from scratch BEFORE telling you it was the best cake they have ever had.

There is only one cake that I make from scratch - Chocolate Miracle Whip Cake. The rest come from my secret family recipe, handed down from generation to generation from my Uncle Duncan and Aunt Betty.

I almost exclusively use mixes. I have a secret recipe that I use to "doctor" the mix, which I refer to as my "butter white" recipe.

This recipe for "doctoring" the mix yields a cake that is moist and delicious, dense enough for pillaring/stacking/carving, and without fail--people request it many times over! It holds well in the freezer, takes well to spraying with syrup, and accepts additions readily. Seriously--what more as a decorator could I ask for?

If, however--people have a specific request for cake--like "red velvet," for example, (which I personally feel cannot be duplicated well by a mix) by all means I'll whip one up!

I think it all depends on what works well for the individual baker. Time constraints, ingredient purchase price--and all the other factors that go into this business are ultimately left up to the decorator--and what works for someone else may not be what is best for me, etc.

I'm proud of my work, and I'm a busy girl--so I must be doing something right.

I have never felt bad, i think most of the time people are paying for all the beautiful decoration on the outside of the cake, of course it really helps to have a good tasting cake too lol. My family all knows. Most people know i cook from the box, but they all still love my cakes!