I use both.. I tested out a ton of recipes when starting and I like some recipes that are mix based and some that are scratch based. My cakes have a lot of things added to them. I am super picky too, always have been so I know that most people like my cakes. I have been told by brides and wedding professionals, coordinators etc that I have the best cakes around.

Sometimes I think it is just a "thing" to say I only bake from scratch. I do think it is a personal thing and everyone has different tastes and everything too. no wrong or right way to do it. I have tested recipes that were scratch that I hated and also doctored that I hated. You just have to try them all out.

I never said anything about cakemix being the "wrong" way to bake and that you don't have a "right" to use cakemix. I don't need to tell people I bake from scratch to impress them. That's just silly.

There is no need to feel picked upon just b/c some of us prefer the taste of scratch cakes. Cakemix takes up 1/2 an aisle at the grocery store. Obviously a lot of people think cakemix cakes are just fine.

There is a recipe adding store bought frosting to your cake mix cake.... How do I do that? Do I make the cake as the box says and then add the frosting?

What if I am using the extender do I make the extender and then add the frosting.

Thanks in advance.

Tilisha

I prefer from scratch soaked in simple syrup....

Because I have a Soy allergy I make all cakes that I know I will be eating from scratch, I think that they are better than the Soy-free cake mixes available in stores. In the end I think a scratch cake always tastes better, and I usually get a lot of compliments about my scratch cakes. I will make a box cake if someone asks me for a specific brand and type but all the rest of my cakes are usually from scratch.

I've done both, but usually do mixes simply because they are quick and everyone seems to like them. I made a lemon cake from scratch recently and it was very good, a very different taste. I think it's all in what taste you're going for.

cakelady52,
What size cake pans?

What temp?

Thanks!

I am new here, and new to cakes as well. I decided I wanted to learn cake decorating in 2006, I am taking my first Wilton class in January, I hope. I don't have many recipes of tried and true cakes of either doctored or from scratch, it just seems to me if I take all that time to make a cake look beautiful, I want it to taste beautiful as well. " The Wow, that cake melts in my mouth, I have never tasted anything so good before" cake recipe. I haven't found it yet, but when I do I will let you know.

Honestly, I have yet to find a scratch recipe that tastes as good as my doctored cake mix recipe. I really want to make my cakes from scratch, but all the recipes I've tried have been dry, floury tasting, etc...

I don't even totally consider my recipe a 'cake mix'. I consider the cake mix to be merely one ingredient in my recipe, since I have so many other things in it, sour cream, melted butter, etc...

Everyone says my cakes are the best they've had, so until I find a scratch recipe that gets reviews like that, I'm sticking with my dr'd mix recipe.

Melissa

When I first started my little baking business, I tried many different scratch recipes. They were always DRY. I just gave up and went to doctored cake mixes. People love my cakes.

The feeling I am getting from this thread is that perhaps I should try a doctored cake mix since my first scratch cake was dry as cornbread lol. How do you make a doctored cake mix?

I like my scratch cakes. I have found basic butter cake recipes that I am happy with and also the people that order from me.

I always use the simple syrup method to add extra moisture to my cakes. People that have had those LOVE them and keep coming back for more.

I have seen on the TV shows like Disney Specials, Wedding cake specials, where they also use the syrups. I didn't know they did that until I saw it on TV.

The method I learned and recipes are from Puerto Rico and were passed down to me by my mother's friend and also a book that my mothe bought me.

I have tried the cake WITHOUT the syrup and it is still good as is. But I like the extra moisture the syrup add... YUMM!

What exactly is the "simple syrup" method?

That is where you boil sugar and water and ususally some flavoring and then you pour or brush it over the cake to make it moist. Most of the bakers that make the cakes from scratch use some type of this syrup to add the moisture to their cakes....squirrleycakes has a thread for an apricot one that she uses on hers.

I've said it before - I just use the cake mix as a base and go from there, no guessing about how it will turn out, and doesn't need anything brushed on to make it moist. I prefer Duncan Hines myself.

It is all in what you want!