Cake Mixes from Scratch and Variations
Do you love the springy texture and moist crumb of cakes baked from mixes? Wish you could consistently make cakes that turned out that good? Well you can, with these scratch versions of your favorite boxed mixes.
A convenient substitute for commercial mixes. Quick, easy, and yummy. Best of all, YOU control the ingredients!
Cake Mixes from Scratch
Ingredients
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
- Cut in shortening until fine crumbs are formed.
- Add eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then high for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl frequently.
- Pour batter into greased and floured 9×13 inch pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes.
For a Yellow Cake:
Variation for a White Cake: Prepare as for the basic cake except use 3 egg whites for the 2 whole eggs. Whites may be beaten separately and added for a lighter cake.
Variation for a Chocolate Cake: Add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to the basic cake mix prior to adding the milk.
Variation for a Spice Cake: Add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice to the basic cake mix.
Variation for a Pineapple Upside Down Cake: Melt 1/2 cup butter in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Add 2/3 cup brown sugar, stirring into the butter. Arrange pineapple slices in the pan. Top with the basic (yellow cake) mix recipe. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, cool 5 minutes, and invert to serve.
This is great! a member in the forum was looking for something that taste like a boxed mix. Also people are always asking for variations to recipes. Thank you for listening to members and offering us so many things.
Great post, thanks. I usually use butter in my cakes, could you substitute here? and would it be on an equal ratio?
hi! is it possible to use butter instead of shortening?
2ManyHobbies, if you measure in cups, it will be the same volume, butter and shortening.
Thanks for the instruction. I like making cakes from scratch, but prefer the light texture of boxed cake mix.
If you wanted to use this in an extended cake recipe, would you measure the dry ingredients to equal a box and use that?
I use the durable doctored cake mix recipe for my cakes. It includes using pudding mix and sour cream with a cake mix to make it sturdier. Could I add the pudding mix and sour cream to this recipe to get it the same?
Perfect recipe!!!
I plan to try this recipe, dry ingredients only, with the WASC recipe, today. Hoping that it is just what I'm looking for to replace the damaging change in the recipe that the box mixes have done to my baking and decorating. Thanks for the post Anonymous...Fran
I want to try this, but will try to add some sour cream maybe 1/4 or 1/2 cup? Has anyone done that to this recipe?