I use wasc and I'm not sure how to respond... Any suggestions?

Don't lie. If you want to fudge it, say "Like many bakeries, I start with a commercial base and add my own secret ingredients!"

Thats a good way to put it... I wasnt planning on lying, I kind of think you can taste the cake box mix a bit, not sure..

I think you'll find that most people like the idea of scratch cakes but when it comes down to it they find it dry because they are used to box cakes which are much more moist in my opinion.

tubbscookies said it best!

totally. I would never lie to a customer. It's not worth your reputation.

hmm maybe say something like boxed mixes are consistent and that most people grew up on them and likes them better, and that you've heard nothing but raves about your cakes

Just say "We use our own recipes"

I had seen a thread about this... I just had no clue how to word it commercialy. thanks so much!

"All my cakes are "HOME MADE " with butter and love " The "butter and Love" comes from my Swedish Mother-in-law........the home made comes from my kitchen to yours.....

(NOTE: Following rant is not directed at the original poster, but at the irony I see between all the threads espousing the wonders of mixes and how much better they are than scratch, and the threads asking how they can hide their use from a customer.)

If you are a commercial business and a customer asks you the question, you have to say "yes"...period.

You can add to that by saying you add your own flavorings, etc. But you can't say your cake is made with "secret ingredients and hope for the future" or whatever. You're in a business and you have to disclose what you're selling people to put in their mouths.

Some people ask these questions because they are allergic to particular ingredients. Even if the customer is not asking for that reason, they now hold the information you gave them. Someone at the party asks your customer the same question later because of allergy issues and the customer passes on your fudged answer.

If you are embarrassed to tell a customer you use a mix, then why do you use one? If you're not embarrassed, then there should be no problem with telling them. This isn't like a dinner party where someone asks what's in the soup. If you're selling cakes commercially, you have the same obligations of disclosure that all businesses have.

It is not a matter of "being embarrassed"....... we have to list the ingredients on our labels anyway....... why go into a big dissertation to someone that will, in most probability ,won't know what you are talking about anyway....... "after all, it is JUST a cake".........

Me - "It has taken me years to develop the recipes that work best for me and are favorites for my customers. Some of those are scratch and some of those are doctored mixes. I am not exclusive to one or the other, but use what works best and appeals most to the customers. My almond cake is a doctored mix."

I have a real good comeback for those who ask that. I tell them about the little experiment I did with a scratch cake and a doctored mix and a couple of petri dishes. (and some agar agar) Put a little bit of each in different petri dishes and watch and see how fast stuff grows.......Yep, that is why I use a boxed mix as a base - I WANT those little preservatives in there. I have never had a customer second guess that EVER.

I am honest, I use a box mix as my base.

I wonder how many scratch bakers tell their brides they use simple syrup or they freeze their cakes to help make them moist?

I too am confused about this..."do you bake from scratch" is a pretty specific question.

I went to buy a dining room table, and asked, "is this veneer, or solid hardwood?"

The showroom rep gave a long-winded answer about "premium products over mafufactured materials...."

I might have bought the table if she had simply said, "Yes, it is veneer, but this is why veneer is better than solid wood."

I would like to patronize a business that answers honestly (this is NOT directed at anyone in this thread, just a general statement ). One could say you use a mix for premium, commercial-quality results.

But, please, it is a mix.

" But, please, it is a mix. "

So is a "scratch" cake unless you are growing and grinding your own flour, milking your own cow, growing and processing your own sugar.... etc. etc,...........

How about..

I use a very reliable recipe which improves a commercial mix. It is a very popular seller and my customers are always pleased with the results. I invite you to make an appointment for a tasting, I'm sure you won't be disappointed...

That way, you're being honest, you're covered for allergies, and you're marketing your product in a way that says 'hey is great, but the decision is yours'

Whilst I did LOL about the lab experiment in a petri dish, I'm not sure that visions of a penicillin factory are the best way to sell cake

And you've never had a customer second guess which part...the fact that scratch is evil because of so called germs....or that you use box, period? Using box is not an issue, if you use them so be it...but your little science experiment is just hysterical...and not hysterical like hilarious either. Sorry.

There is a Hatfield and McCoy type feud, mass hysteria, whatever you want to call it about cakes and how they're made. If someone asks me how I bake I say pleasantly that it's a trade secret.

I can and do make cakes from scratch and from a mix.

If they have some kind of allergy issue then we can discuss that but how I operate ain't nobody's business but mine. They need an ingredient list sure no worries.

Duncan Hines white cake mix has no preservatives.

White flour is loaded with additives.

You do the math.

I bake scratch. I made a cake for my cousins wedding last week where I used the WASC recipe. In hindsight, it probably cost more going that route. But I didn't feel like doing all the work of baking scratch for that much cake I wasn't being compensated for. I always bake scratch when it is for a paying customer. Not trying to argue here. I LOVED the WASC! But I have decided to market myself as scratch, and therefore stick to it.

And it has successfully been argued before, that no, not all professionaly bakers use some sort of base in their baking. If King Arthur Cake flour is my "base", then ok, I guess I'm wrong there. There is so much more involved in scratch baking than cracking eggs into a bowl of mix poured out of a plastic bag.

Box bakers, do your thing, scratch bakers, do your thing. But when comparisons are made that they aren't any different, I'm gonna stand up and say....yes they are. And there is no arguing this.

How many threads are titled.."my box mix is failing..HELP!?!?!?" Not many. They are pretty foolproof.

How many threads do we see..."Scratch is kicking my a$$"...plenty. It is more complex, and has many more steps to pull off correctly.

I don't ever freeze nor do I feel the need to apply syrup. There are plenty of good scratch recipes that don't require these methods. Martha Stewart and The Cake Bible ain't the only places to go for scratch. My very favorite one is posted in here. It's a buttermilk white cake. So moist...no need for anything other than filling and frosting!

K8 - I htink you are correct, it will always be a Hatfield McCoy kind of discussion (and I have many friends that are either Hatfields or McCoys that I treasure dearly!)

WEEOOO! WEEOOO! P!ssing contest alert!

Seriously though, hasn't this poor horse been beaten enough already? Look, his eye is hanging out and he only has one ear left. "Let me die", he whispers.

Poor, poor scratch/box horse.