Hi All. Just wondering how many of you make your cakes from scratch or use cake mixes? I'm thinking about doing both, but just now sure yet. From the box sure saves time and I don't have to buy cake flour. What are your opinions?

for most cakes, I use a mix then doctor it. I find it gives me a consistently good cake.

I use the cake mix cause it saves time epecially when I have a lot of detail to pipe on my cakes, and it saves me money and it rises evenly whereas some of the scratch cakes did not. Plus they taste good too or so my buyers have told me. My bundt cakes I make them from scratch and use different flavors to jazz them up!

I am just starting, but I am making them from scratch. I don't know how long this will last, I'll probably end up doctoring cake mixes too. Good luck to you in figuring out what works best.

I make all my cakes from scratch. I went to a French Culinary school and we did a test on cake mixes vs scratch as a project and numbered the differnt cakes, we had 100 people in the school taste the plain and then with frosting (same frosting on all cakes). The scratch cakes won on each flavor. So I have always just stuck with scratch.
HTH.

Too much time needed to spend decorating so it's doctored mix all the way

Really, cake mixes are the same as from scratch.

For example, you put in flour, cocoa powder, your baking powder/soda, and your sugar. . .the cake mix comes with exactly that.

I think the difference between the survey that the person mentioned above the person above me was that the cake mix was prepared as it says on the box, and the scratch had additives.

You want to include those "additives" with your cake mix too. HTH.

I use a Dr'd mix 99% of the time. Works flawlessly, tastes great, and my customers love it. Why fix something that "ain't" broke???

nglez09,
Cake mixes contain additives that commerical bakeries nor home bakers can purchase. You have it backwards. Cake mixes contain Cellulose and Cellulose Gum which is cells found in plants taht trap and hold in water - which is why they are moist. Also Cake mixes contain Polysorbate 60 which is found in makeup and household products.it Anther reason why I bake from scratch. When you make anything from scracth you have more control over what you are putting into your product. That was the lesson that our instructor was trying to point out to us. Sorry for so long - just thought you should know. Thanks.

ok, it looks like cake mixes are the norm, but how do you doctor them up? I can doctor up a white cake mix by adding sprinkles, viola! confetti. but what types of things do you use?

Sourcream, yogurt, almond extract, some use pudding mixes, some use flavored coffee creamers......it is endless what you can do with them. They are usually very forgiving when you are playing around trying to come up with something cool. (unlike a scratch cake which involves being very exact on the measurements, ingredients and temperatures)

A bit of both. I've scratch cake recipes for chocolate and butter cakes from which I play with by adding things. I also use the doctored cake mixes with good results. And as for the additives in cake mixes, per my son the biologist, flour, oil, and sugar are made from plant material. Butter and eggs are from animal and in the scheme of things are probably more likely to create health problems. Last, but not least, according to my son Polysorbate 60 is an organic esterified ( whatever that is) fatty acid derived from vegetable oils and just because it is used in make up doesn't mean it is bad. So, if you're a cake mix queen there's no reason to think your cake isn't as good as a scratch cake. My grandmother was a professional baker and cake decorator and she told me once that there are many a bakery out there that sold products they would make up from prepared mixes and the end result tasted perfectly fine, though she always baked from scratch.

Thanks for that information!! I really didn't care what they had in them, they work VERY well for me!! But it is nice to know that the stuff isn't as bad as some folks try to make it out to be.

scratch all th way!

I think you use whatever works best for you, not what everyone else likes.

I'm a mix baker and I don't doctor, people love my cakes.
I refuse to use Pilsbury but other people hate BC.

It seems to be a personal preference and there's nothing wrong with doing what you feel most comforatable with.

I do both..

This is so funny! I started a thread like this and nearly incited riot. Apparently there is a pretty strong devide among CCers on this issue and a great number of us who are a lot less passionate about it. Some people complained that this very topic comes up too often and I said it will continue to come up as long as we have people come on board that are new to the site and here you are asking the same question and it isn't even a month!

I definately lean toward scratch I really think it tastes better to bake from scratch and it doesn't take that much longer than a boxed mix once you get the hang of doing it that way. If I know that I am going to be busy I will pre measure everything out the day before and then just pour it into the bowl as if it were a boxed mix

The only cake I can not find a good scratch recipe for is yellow cake. It is always dry when I try to make it from scratch so I use a mix for that one but as soon as I develope something better it will be all scratch for me.

From what I gathered based on everyone's responses it really is up to you to do whatever feels more comfortable to you.

here's the link to the thread
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-49415.html

Its a slightly different question because it is an ethical one but a lot of people bring up the issue of taste, additives ect.

I come from a long line of mix doctors. My mom made the greatest cornbread from a doctored Jiffy mix and I have yet to tastee better cornbread. I really dont see anything wrong with it I just don't know how to doctor a mix. For me, if I am going to experiment with doctoring I might as well start from scratch.

i use cake mixes, just because they are more consistent i live where there is a lot of humidity and to factor that in to scratch mixes is just to hard for me.

I order a E-Book from E-Bay that had over 600 cake receipes. No matter what one I make my family tells me to stick with cake mix.

When my favorite cake mix, Duncan Hines, goes on sale it's only $.99

Mamas, Try the David's Yellow Cake recipe from the CC recipe files. It is now my favorite scratch yellow.

All of that! It does require 8 ( yes count them eight ) egg yolks. I've a white cake recipe that just uses egg whites so I will make that up at the same time. My husband is my offical taste tester and he loves it.

mamas
i've also been looking for a great scratch yellow cake recipe. I haven't tried david's, but i did try the ultimate butter cake (i think) from baking 911.

here is the thread I got it from.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-39048-scratch.html+bakers

I just copied mostof the recipes from this thread and am trying them one by one. The ultimate butter cake was almost too moist (I may have taken it out a few minutes too early). I'v found great recipes on this thread.

Thanks y'all. Won't be doing any recreational baking until after new year's but I'll let you know how they turn out when I do bake the cakes. thanks!

Duncan Hines all the way. It is the moistest cake out there and everyone tells me how good the cake is. They don't know what I use. But I don't know how to doctor things up either, Maybe that is something I need to start working on. For me duncan hines without it being doctored up is gooooood.

I guess I have to get my licks in at this dead horse lol. I think it depends on what you like and what kind of project you want to do. I use yellow for mix always. If its choco i use mix unless i do a 3D cuz i find a scratch choco is denser. Just my openion.

I'm just starting out, but had a question in regards to doctoring up cake mixes..... what are some of the things you do to doctor up a cake mix? I understand using different things like almond extract, sprinkles, flavored coffee creamers, etc.... but to make certain types of cakes using mixes, what exactly to you use? Looking for answers like.... to make a hazelnut-flavored cake you can use ..... ?

Thanks!
Beth