Results Of My Box Vs. Scratch Experiment...
Decorating By snarkybaker Updated 17 Jun 2008 , 4:30am by twooten173
Wow, some yummy recipe ideas here today! I use almost all mixes and have been verry happy with my results, especially when I've enhanced them from ideas from cc'rs.
txkat, your cakes sound wonderful. I'd love to have the recipes too if you're inclined to share. I don't know what cognac tastes like but that vanilla cognac cake sure sounds good!
I would also love your recipes! Thanks!!!!
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txkat - sounds like alot of us would love to try your recipes!! They sound awesome and I would love to try some really great scratch cakes. I use doctored DH because of consistent results which I've yet to find in any of the scratch recipes I've tried.
Can you put your recipes here is CC's recipe file so that you don't have to do multiple PM's???? Than we all could try and review for future CC'ers!!!
Wow those recipe's sound delicious. Could I also be on the list for your recipe's too. I bake from scratch because that is what I grew up on. But I have to admit I have never tasted a doctored box recipe. Regular box cake, I do not like. My customers buy my cakes because they are made from scratch. Maybe one day I will try a doctored recipe on them and see what happens 
Txkat, I too would like to have your recipes to try amoung my local group of testers. Fun! Thanks in advance!
Peachshortcake, thanks for the chocolate cake recipe. I printed it out and am going to compare it to my Aunt Jean's Chocolate Cake recipe that everyone always flips over! It is totally fabulous and I think the two cakes are very very similar. I'll let you know. 
What a cool way to get honest results on your cakes!
I love that you did it, and I love the results you posted. I've always been a scratch baker, and I always will be, but it's nice to see some good results from a basically blind unbiased taste test like that! Way to go!
It is interesting to hear your results but they certainly can't be called blind unbiased or even just unbiased. They weren't the same kind of cake or icing! I have had a lot of luck with doctoring box mixes and people have asked me for my recipe! They can't believe it when I tell them that I added and substituted some things into a box mix!
I Agree that sometimes You can't beat a scratch cake especially those specialty flavors that sound sooo good!
I'd love your recipes too! Did people at your party know that you had made some from scratch and others not? Just curious. Aside from carrot, pound or spice, I've never had a really good scratch cake. This is why I'm so interested in your recipes. Thanks!!
txkat.... I too would love the 2 white recipes.. vanilla and white choc if you send them out.
It was great to read about your experiement... I committed to being a scratch baker myself and have often wondered if it was worth it... I ultimately decided it was because of the self satisfaction and pride I get from it.... but it's great to hear that in a "taste test" the scratch cakes were favored by far. even though it's not scientific it still is a good indication.
thanks!
Hey, I would love to have your recipes! Your cakes had my mouth watering! Thanks 
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Hmm. Well "Blind and unbiased" in this case would apply to the fact that the tasters didn't necessarily know that they were going be giving feedback that would be applied to the ongoing "box versus scratch" question, even if they weren't tasting "the same cake or the same icing." They just told her which cakes they preferred, based on texture and flavor, and we all can see the result. I think it's terrific.
Thanks for posting the results of your test. That's really interesting. I only bake from scratch and it's nice to hear that people still prefer scratch when they don't know which is which. I was never a cake fan until I started making my own. I would always request the corner piece at birthdays, if possible and polite so that I could just eat the frosting. I especially didn't like chocolate cake because it just didn't seem like chocolate to me.
Now, chocolate is my favorite cake. My recipe is similar to Peachshortcake's recipe. Mine uses buttermilk instead of sour cream but they have the same effect.
I think nothing can beat the taste of real vanilla and real butter. Some people just know they like them better but just don't know why.
I'm always on the lookout for new recipes and that vanilla cognac one sounds interesting If you don't mind one more request...
DITTO...add to me to the list of CC's who would like to try your recipes
I am a from scratch baker too. Nothing can compare to a from scratch cake. If you use good quality ingredients you will surely get good results. Thanks txcat for posting this thread.
Ok I may be going out on a limb with this, but maybe it has to do with age. I think the younger generation is more used to the taste of cake mixes, doctored or not. There is probably more sugar in cake mixes, and more of who knows what! I personally do use doctored cake mixes for my cakes. I tried scratch in the beginning, but my family and friends preferred the "doctored" cake mix. The scratch cakes were made with cake flour, could this be the difference? If I found a recipe that tasted better than the doctored cake I would definately use it!
txkat ... Thanks so much for giving us the results of your experiment! Please add me to your list of people who would LOVE to have your recipes!!! They sound heavenly!
can you post the recipes in the recipe section? maybe label them "taste test winners" so we know. i would love to try them, i haven't had much luck with people preferring my scratches, even though i think they're good. people say they're drier, which in a way they are, but the flavor is better and they just aren't "gooey moist". i think they're more dense vs. dry. anyway, i can't seem to get people too on board with them, i keep trying though.
Ok I may be going out on a limb with this, but maybe it has to do with age. I think the younger generation is more used to the taste of cake mixes, doctored or not. There is probably more sugar in cake mixes, and more of who knows what! I personally do use doctored cake mixes for my cakes. I tried scratch in the beginning, but my family and friends preferred the "doctored" cake mix. The scratch cakes were made with cake flour, could this be the difference? If I found a recipe that tasted better than the doctored cake I would definately use it!
Does "50-ish" count as "younger generation? 
There is a world of difference between scratch and mixes and I think both of them have their advantages. If you want what you are used to, then you are probably going to want a mix, if you want something that is interesting you probably would love a good scratch mix. Personally, I prefer scratch. I agree with the generation thing. I think there has been about a 20 year period where people have gone hog wild with mixes. In today's rushed society, these little things are pretty convenient and not bad tasting. I made mixes for a long time (pre getting into the deco thing), and now that I've found some fabulous scratch recipes, when I make the mix cakes, even doctored, I can taste that artificial preservative stuff in it. I've heard platic-y, and that pretty much sums it up. Not that I won't eat it. I'll take cake any way I can get it! 
Oh yeah, and add me to the list that would like to see the recipes
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