Yea.....indydebi..........I'm with ya all the way.
I personally think.....who the hell cares?? Box or Scratch???? As long as it is a quality product....GO FOR IT. I love Pillsbury!!!
PS>>> I hate making pie crust and the Pillsbury Doughboyd does a hell of a job! And I don't lie about it. I don't care if people know that I use a box mix. If they don't like it....go somewhere else!!!!
I know if I were ordering a cake from someone I would expect the cake to be made from scratch.
Why?
You order a pizza from a pizza place, and they use premade dough, canned sauce and frozen pepperoni.
You order any food from any restaurant and they are using premade frozen foods they buy from GFS and Sysco. It's NOT all made from scratch. (And at the low end of the food cycle ...the fast food places .... you'd be amazed at which places receive all of their food precooked and they just nuke it for you.)
"Cheating" implies doing something underhanded or illegal. It is not illegal to use a mix.
Bakeries use mixes all the time. They buy theirs in 50 lb bags and just add water. Some of us on here buy ours in 18 ounce boxes and add eggs, oil and water.
So the "fancy" cake you bought from a bakery came from MORE of a mix than what I use.
I'm also one that is very up front and do tell clients that I use mixes. If my customers of 30 years are fine with it, then I don't see why it should be a problem to anyone else.
There is a great talent involved in making a good cake from scratch .... and I'm not one of those people. On the flip side, I never assume that "all scratch" is always better because it's not whether it's scratch or mix .... it's how talented is the cook or the baker. I know people who can screw up Kraft and Mac-n-Cheese!
I could list about 5 (maybe more) pizza places in my neighbourhood who don't use premade anything...but we're not talking pizza. We're talking cake. And I think if you took a poll and you asked 100 people 'if you ordered a cake from a baker would you expect that cake to be made from scratch?' a very large percentage of those people would say yes. Then if you asked those same people 'if you ordered a cake that cost over $100 from a baker would you expect that cake to be made from scratch?' all of them would say yes.
that's why.
I don't care if anyone uses boxed mixes. Anyone can do whatever they want to do. I just know, as a consumer, that I would like to know if my $100+ cake was scratch or box and if it was box I would likely go elsewhere. And I also know, as a client, that I want to give my customers what I think they expect...and that's a cake made from scratch using all natural flavours and premium ingredients.
It's a personal thing...obviously...and not something I should feel the need to defend. I started this thread only because the impression that I was under was that people who sold cakes for the amount of money that I know a lot of cakes are going for these days ($100 upwards to $900...sometimes more) made the cakes from scratch and I was surprised to find that a lot don't. If you're customers know that and they're happy then that's great.
My thirst for knowledge has been quenched.
SallyBratt, hello. I agree with most of what your saying, I would feel a bit wrong if I didnt tell them it was a box mix. And I dont think you are a snob.
It is also not your fault, you were obviously not aware that you could have looked the subject up as you are a newbie and people should be more considerate rather than attack your comments so rudely!
To be honest it pisses me off that so many people get up themselves over certain subjects, to the point we stop being kind!!!!
I hope you havent been put off, this site and the people on it can be sooo helpfull and lovely.
xx
Thanks hun. Not at all put off. I know that the people on here are awesome (I've had some amazing comments on my cakes) and I'm not at all upset about anything that's been said here. I do think that sometimes people get a bit too...worked up, for lack of a better term...but it happens all the time everywhere and it's ok. Different personalities make things interesting...right?
Isn't that kind of cheating your clients
(lol )
Also you can ask 100 customers and they may say that, but also I will say 95% of dont REALLY know anything about making cakes lol
there are also customers that expect a cake for 300+ people, for $200
Do you see where we are coming from?
Its quality before ingrediants! And in my personal experience (only mine) all the scratch cakes I have ever had were dry, and I didnt like..... WASC is like 1000 times better TOO ME. and I dont think my customers care, its all about taste!
there are also customers that expect a cake for 300+ people, for $200
Do you see where we are coming from?
Its quality before ingrediants! And in my personal experience (only mine) all the scratch cakes I have ever had were dry, and I didnt like..... WASC is like 1000 times better TOO ME. and I dont think my customers care, its all about taste!
that's where I'd tell them to go somewhere else. A cake for 300+ for $200. That's crazy talk!
My scratch cakes are very moist and taste amazing.
oh dont get my wrong, Im sure that your cakes are awesome, I just have never come across one.
(and I know thats crazy talk lol, I was just saying that customers dont always know what they are talking about)
When you post your recipes I will try it, but i love love love my WASC and variations.... on the flip have YOU ever tried WASC?
Is it ok to post our recipes in here or do I have to put them in the recipe section?
anyway...I'll take a chance...
Vanilla cake
321g sugar
113g unsalted butter, softened
2 lg eggs
1 lg egg white
336g all purpose flour
7.5g baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
312 ml homo milk
2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 350F
Beat sugar and butter at medium speed until well blended (about 5 min). Add eggs and egg white one at a time beating well after each addition.
Mix flour in a bowl with baking powder and salt. Stir well with a whisk and sift.
Add flower mixture to sugar mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
Stir in vanilla
Pour batter into prepared pans (I spray mine with oil and line with parchment) and bake for 30 min (turn the pan halfway thru for even baking) or until a toothpick comes out clean.
yields one 8" round 3" high cake
This cake is very moist and tasty. It's dense, sort of like a pound cake, and lends itself very well to sculpted cakes and stacked cakes but is great for a regular layer cake too. I've had no complaints and my boyfriend, who's "not a cake person" even likes it.
oh dont get my wrong, Im sure that your cakes are awesome, I just have never come across one.
(and I know thats crazy talk lol, I was just saying that customers dont always know what they are talking about)
When you post your recipes I will try it, but i love love love my WASC and variations.... on the flip have YOU ever tried WASC?
No I haven't. I don't even know what it is!! I'd like to try it tho...I'm actually thinking of having my own little experiment and getting some cake mixes to put up against my scratch cakes in a blind taste test with my friends.
yup...I'm crazy like that! 
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7445/the-original-wasc-cake-recipe
thats my favorite!
Ooooh... we make our own pizza here. Homemade dough and just crushed tomatoes (by hand) for sauce. The only thing I don't do is make the cheese... though I am experimenting with that too. I do use whole ball mozzarella though and shred it up... mmmmmmmmm... so good!
We do eat other pizza sometimes though... I don't always have the time to do it right.
I am a sucker for doing things by hand, and that is why the only thing for me is scratch baking.
I do laugh when I hear people raving about the soup at the local chain restaurant and want the recipe... LOL. I tell them they could buy it if they really wanted to. "No way!!!"... ummm yeah. LOL I mean I like Panera's broccoli and cheese soup too, but I know damned well that it's made in a factory and shipped everywhere. You can buy it at BJ's for goodness sake.
My chocolate cake
5g cornstarch
180g all purpose flour
275g sugar
6g baking soda
60g cocoa powder
5g baking powder
5g salt
1tbsp vanilla
75ml oil
140ml buttermilk
2 eggs
130ml prepared coffee
sift dry ingredients together in the bowl of an stand mixer. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl with the dry ingredients and on low with the paddle for 30 seconds.
Increase mixer speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.
pour batter into prepared pans and bake at 350F till a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
yeilds one 8" round 4" high cake
I like to set the timer for 15 min intervals and turn the cake about mid way thru baking. It usually takes around 30 to 40 min...but it all depends on your oven.
This chocolate cake is really rich and moist and decadent. Everyone that's tried it has loved it. I like it best with Kahlua buttercream...but isn't everything better with a bit of booze?
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/7445/the-original-wasc-cake-recipe
thats my favorite!
I'll check my local stores and see if they carry that type of cake. I promise, if I can find it, I'll try it and i'll give you my honest opinion based on a comparison with my own cakes.
SB You can post recipes here, but, no one will be able to find them once this thread gets buried. For searchability, better to submit them to the recipe sectin proper.
I will. Thanks
Can you only post one recipe per day or something? I just tried to post a 2nd one and it wont let me
I've tried WASC and it's not horrid, but I don't like it as much as the recipe I use for vanilla cake. It's the texture... I don't care for it. I don't care what you put in it... it's not my thing.
I'm with you SallyBratt... my expectation as a client would be for a scratch cake. But that's not important to everyone. I say if everyone is happy then no biggie... just like you do. I couldn't sell something that I didn't love. People's tastes are different. Some don't like scratch cakes... so they sell what they love.
there is a thread on this site..."scratch wasc recipes.".. don,t know how to lead you there. i tried the butter one. it was good.. i bake from scratch... and cake mix extenders.. wasc.etc.. some clients DON'T LIKE... cakes from scratch.. they have gotten hold to bad ones.. (dry ones).. so it is not what we like .. that we try to sell always... it is what the client wants and PAYS FOR... right? we(us and the clients) like what we like.. that is ok.. the world keeps spinning.. wish i had the business .. that some of my cake friends have.(box.. or extender bakers).. no scratch.. busy.. busy.. busy.. every day.. every week.. ha!
Sally, I can pretty much guarantee that you won't care for WASC.....because you're used to scratch cakes.
I was raised on scratch baking and do it exclusively myself, but I tried WASC when I first joined this site. I didn't care for it at all....taste or texture.
I like a light and fluffy, moist white cake, My family and I both found the WASC to be very heavy, dense and overly sweet.
I see you live out of the USA....many Americans tend to forget that most other countries don't depend on mixes to bake. Which makes me wonder if I was meant to be born elsewhere.
lol "out of the USA" lol... we are in canada lmao... not like we are on the other side of the world
ROTFL....
sorry this just made me luagh so much!!!
(canada and the states are not that different)
Yea.....indydebi..........I'm with ya all the way.
I personally think.....who the hell cares?? Box or Scratch???? As long as it is a quality product....GO FOR IT. I love Pillsbury!!!
PS>>> I hate making pie crust and the Pillsbury Doughboyd does a hell of a job! And I don't lie about it. I don't care if people know that I use a box mix. If they don't like it....go somewhere else!!!!
I love your attitude. Do you what you do well and be proud of it! I bake from scratch and I'm very proud of that fact.
I've tried the WASC cake. I have gotten positive comments on it. I don't think the OP will love it. I ultimately prefer scratch cake, it's what I grew up with. I'm still looking for the ideal yellow and white scratch cake recipes.
I only go to pizza places that make their dough from scratch, where I can see them make it, and I can easily make it myself. I guess I'm a food snob, or "foodie". That said, I'd rather have Costco's frozen Pizza Margherita than order in pizza to be delivered, but homemade tastes best.
Here's a fabulous pizza recipe, it's the best pizza sauce I've ever made, and it's not even cooked. You have to use San Marzano tomatoes (in a can). The dough is quite good, too, if you like a thin crust.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/perfect-pizza-margherita
i worked at a bakery for a little while (I quit because I didn't like the drama of to many decorators working in one place everyday), but all they used for everything just about was mixes. All they did to the cake mix was add coloring to make the white cake mix different colors and add different flavors and extracts. Chocolate was the same. They charged way more for any cake than I would pay but people loved them.
I'm not saying every bakery uses mixes, but having worked in one, I prefer using mixes. Although I never follow the directions on the box and add my own things but everyone loves my cakes. I've never had a negative comment about a cakes taste before.
I always loved getting the brides at tastings who would comment how much they "love a good scratch cake!" Then they'd be confused when I'd say, "Great! But what do you think of THIS cake?"
Many of you have heard my story of my sister's infatuation with Applebee's "homemade chicken tortilla soup" .... until I brought her a frozen pack of it, handed it to her and said "Here ... this came on my GFS truck order for you this week."
Had one bride complain that she was a guest at a wedding "...and the caterer used canned or frozen corn!!!" I looked at her and said, "Well none of us grow our own, so what were you expecting?" Did she really think caterers bought corn on the cob and shucked/husked enough to feed 150 people? Sometimes their "expectation" is not reality.
So most of those that "expect" scratch wouldn't know it if it hit their windshield.
And listen gang ... for the record, I am not saying that ALL restaurants or ALL pizza places use prepared foods. I just love having a nice chuckle when I observe people swooning over the "made from scratch" meal they're eating and I know for a fact where the food came from. We took friends to our favorite place for a casual dinner and they loved the bbq ribs. She asked "wonder how long it takes them to cook these to get them so tender?" I said, "About 30 minutes in the oven, after they take them out of the freezer. They order them from the same place that I buy mine."
lol "out of the USA" lol... we are in canada lmao... not like we are on the other side of the world
ROTFL....
sorry this just made me luagh so much!!!
(canada and the states are not that different)
Last time I checked Canada was "out of the US"
So am I to assume all of Canada has the same mix brands that the US has? I don't know I've never been anywhere except Montreal for a long weekend and I wasn't grocery shopping. (oh and Nova Scotia on a cruise)
I know our Australian and European members don't use mixes because they don't have access to them.
Have enjoyed reading this post from beginning to now-----one thing I noticed.........no one commented on the affect of the altitude of where we each live. Yes, I have found that to have an affect on baking--maybe why some cakes are dry or coarse. I am also a hybrid baker---it depends on the type of cake the customer orders as to whether I bake a sctratch or box or a cross between. Have been baking for many years and don't feel I have cheated anyone by using mixes---my customers must be satisfied......keep coming back.
Thanks to everyone for not being ugly to others who may be doing something a little different than you, but that doesn't make it wrong. We each have our own ways.
Happy baking to everyone.
lol "out of the USA" lol... we are in canada lmao... not like we are on the other side of the world
ROTFL....
sorry this just made me luagh so much!!!
(canada and the states are not that different)
Last time I checked Canada was "out of the US"
So am I to assume all of Canada has the same mix brands that the US has? I don't know I've never been anywhere except Montreal for a long weekend and I wasn't grocery shopping. (oh and Nova Scotia on a cruise)
I know our Australian and European members don't use mixes because they don't have access to them.
sorry there, I wasnt trying to be mean, I was just say that canada and the states are neighbours, and you made it sound liek we are a world away! (we are all part of north amaerica lol)
It just made me laugh, but in a good way.
Yes I think we have basically the same product, but you guys have WAY better prices.
.no one commented on the affect of the altitude of where we each live.
Thats a good point, Its really dry here, Like no humidity at all all, so maybe thats why my scratch cakes are always dry?
lol "out of the USA" lol... we are in canada lmao... not like we are on the other side of the world
ROTFL....
sorry this just made me luagh so much!!!
(canada and the states are not that different)
Last time I checked Canada was "out of the US"
So am I to assume all of Canada has the same mix brands that the US has? I don't know I've never been anywhere except Montreal for a long weekend and I wasn't grocery shopping. (oh and Nova Scotia on a cruise)
I know our Australian and European members don't use mixes because they don't have access to them.
sorry there, I wasnt trying to be mean, I was just say that canada and the states are neighbours, and you made it sound liek we are a world away! (we are all part of north amaerica lol)
It just made me laugh, but in a good way.
Yes I think we have basically the same product, but you guys have WAY better prices.
No...they have Crunchberries cereal. 
you made it sound liek we are a world away! (we are all part of north amaerica lol)
It just made me laugh, but in a good way.
Yes I think we have basically the same product, but you guys have WAY better prices.
Well, my exact words were "I see you live out of the USA".....Never said or intimated "world away".
I'm definitely not familiar with what sits on your grocery store shelves, and when the OP originally posted she stated that she was "surprised that a lot of the CC recipes included cake mix", so it made me think that maybe she didn't have access to them.
OK it's late and this is a silly off topic debate.........good night all!
crunchberrys???
shesh lol... (and cake mix is 87cents on sale !!!!)
ok, well its nighty night time.... but just a little (I hope funny) dig RED SOX NATION........
I say nay nay
GOOOOOOO BLUE JAYS!!!!!!!!
Crunchberries, as in Cap'N Crunchberries?
The ones that melt the roof of my mouth off and yet I continue to eat them?
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