Why Do You All Seem To Use Boxed Cake Mixes
Decorating By LeeAnn Updated 13 Apr 2006 , 8:20pm by PurplePetunia
I found out the hard way that scratch cakes become rather costly and time consuming. Also, you don't tend to get paid what you put into them. Therefore, I now use the box mixes and add in buttermilk and flavoring. It gives me great taste without losing time and money. I still do scratch and specialty cakes at a premium cost. 
When I was in Toronto I went to the big book store and bought some books.One was from Betty Crocker The Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook it was priced at $35.99 and has a lot of really nice recipes that I have tried made from doctored Betty Crocker Cake Mixes.
I also bought Duncan Hines Complete Cake Mix Magic by Jill Snider priced at $29.95 and it also has some great recipes all made with doctored Duncan Hines Cake Mixes.
And last but not least I bought The Cake Mix Bible More than 175 incredible recipes all made with cake mix price was $39.95
They were the best buys in cake cook books I have ever bought so filled with ideas.
If any of you get a chance look these books up .
Kathy R 
I ALWAYS use boxed, it's guranteed to ALWAYS come out delicious and moist. I've never had a complaint yet. As a matter of fact people think my cakes are homemade! course they're surprised when I tell them my secret. For special occasions I doctor my mixes...I did a delicious pink champagne and lemon buttercream for a recent wedding and everyone went ga-ga! 
I'm a box girl all the way It's a matter of convience for me, I work 3 jobs, plus have a son who's in sports and boy scouts so I don't have a lot of time to bake from scratch. I can come home from work, whip up a cake and slap it in the oven while making dinner and showering and such and then I'm on my way.
b
I guess I am in the minority...no box mixes..only scratch.
I tried a box mix once..making cupcakes for my sons' class...years ago...they were terrible...not sure if it was me or the mix....probably me. but ever since then no boxed mixes....
I agree with IHATEFONDANT. Not only do I hate fondant. I mean it looks great, but it tastes like crap. And afterall a cake should be good tasting. IF you want to eat something that's just art, that's what the Mona Lisa is for.
Anyway, getting back to box cake mixes, that's not baking that's just chemistry. I thought with all the chemicals that people are trying not to eat, that box cakes are just that, chemicals. If I can't make a cake from scratch, I don't make it. I've been baking since I'm 12, and I was taught by my grandmother and mother. I just think it's cheating when you're telling people it's homemade and you're using a cake mix. 
Discolady....
I want your pink champage and lemon cake recipe!!!!
IHATEFONDANT...
Would you mind sending me a couple of your scratch recipes?
I have been trying (for a while) to find some great scratch recipes. All the ones I have tried...came out all wrong.
That's why I use Box mixes. My husband won't eat it otherwise.
I read here somewhere....people are so used to how Box mixes taste and their moisture/texture, that they don't like the real stuff.
just my 2 cents!! 
I use box mixes... Always have, Always will. If someone asks me if I bake from scratch, I tell them no!! In the 13 years I've been doing cakes I've probably had three people ask. I had one bride ask me at tasting and she still booked her cake with me!! I have no problem telling people the truth. I'm proud of my cakes...
( i scratched the box as i was taking out the mix- therefore, it's a scratch cake).
glory2god - that's funny! I'll have to use that one if any one asks!!!
Mrs Fish here are my (not originally mine) recipes, I think you'll love them:
Pink Champagne Cake: someone had asked for it when I posted my pics for the wedding cake tasting. It is SUPER MOIST and SUPER yummy and so romantic looking too when you cut into it.
1 box of French or white cake mix
2 envelopes Dream Whip (I tried it once using white chocolate pudding as a replacement but the DW makes it MUCH MUCH more moist...trust me!)
4 egg whites
1 whole egg
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 1/4 flat pink champagne (I used asti spumante)
Beat all ingredients together in mixer for 3 minutes. Add a couple of drops of light pink food color (keep it light or it looks too phony). Bake according to directions and til toothpick comes out clean.
When preparing the buttercream I used salted butter and replaced the milk with flat pink champagne...soooo yummy!!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
1 cup low-fat lemon yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs (use whites if you want a paler cake)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (from 1 lemon)
Place the cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, oil, buttermilk, eggs, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Blend on low speed for 1 minute. The batter should look thick.
Bake until toothpick comes out clean.
Woowee...this cake is unbelievably moist and so so delicious.
Hope you'll try and get back to me with your opinion...
scratch....box, scratch......box!! if this were politics and not cakes, this would be THE bipartisan issue - the platform that determines which political party you belong to, the issue that transforms a continuum into a left and a right!! but thankfully, whether box or scratch, cakes are just mmmmmmm good. and in this arena, that's why im a moderate i llike both!
happy baking everyone!
-beth
ps - crimsicle - what is dream whip - is that like cool whip?
I do all my cakes from scratch. I found it to be just as easy as box, and tastes so much better. If you have a Sams Club in your area, you can buy a 25 lb bag of flour for 4 dollars, which makes alot of cakes. Butter is only 7 for 4 pounds and 4 pounds of powdered sugar is 2.36. My scratch cakes are what people want. The best book I found is from Readers Digest 1,001 cakes. They have wonderful recipies. I found mine at boarders for 30.00. Well worth it.
I agree with IHATEFONDANT. Not only do I hate fondant. I mean it looks great, but it tastes like crap. And afterall a cake should be good tasting. IF you want to eat something that's just art, that's what the Mona Lisa is for.
I'm an old-fashioned buttercream girl too, hardly ever get orders for fondant and when I do I just say sorry...and they always go for the buttercream. Whenever I see a fondant cake at an event I walk around and look at the plates and see that most everyone has eaten around the fondant 
. My cake plates are always cleeeean .
When I bite into a piece of cake I don't want a chewey gooey sticky sensation between my teeth I want creaminess
Dream Whip is sold in a box (size of cake mix) containing four packets. It's used for making cream pies. It comes in powder form. I used it in my Pink champagne cake and my gosh it was incredibly moist. It's a little pricey(around 4.30 box)so I first tried replacing the DW with white chocolate pudding. Cake was good but when I used the DW yikes there was a HUGE difference in texture and taste...almost creamy!
thank you my dear! this saves me from buying cool whip and having a disasterous (or perhaps a great discovery) of a cake! anyway, is saves me from guessing! thanks
I agree with IHATEFONDANT. Not only do I hate fondant. I mean it looks great, but it tastes like crap. And afterall a cake should be good tasting. IF you want to eat something that's just art, that's what the Mona Lisa is for.
I'm an old-fashioned buttercream girl too, hardly ever get orders for fondant and when I do I just say sorry...and they always go for the buttercream. Whenever I see a fondant cake at an event I walk around and look at the plates and see that most everyone has eaten around the fondant
. My cake plates are always cleeeean .When I bite into a piece of cake I don't want a chewey gooey sticky sensation between my teeth I want creaminess
I guess I'm odd, but I love fondant! Not the yucky Wilton stuff, but MMF or good fondant. The best part is the chewy texture, I think it tastes wonderful on cake and almost everyone I have served it too has ate every bite!
I myself find buttercream to be too sickly sweet. I guess it's just personal preference again.
I'm a scratch girl myself. It's all I eve knew as a child. Plus I find that boxed cakes leave a distinctive aftertaste in my mouth so I bake from scratch. Besides they work out to about the same in terms of ingredients. You can't buy a boxed cake anywhere here for 19 US cents. The only cake I have a problem finding a good scratch recipe for is white cake. It always comes out dry.....maybe its the missing yolks.
I made my first few cakes from mixes, including a wedding cake, but after A LOT of searching and experimenting and practicing scratch recipes, I won't go back to boxed mixes. I just don't like the artificial taste they have. I've gotten pretty fast at making them. I just love the simple taste of scratch cakes.
I've tried doctoring mixes but that "cake mix flavor" just screams out at me. But everyone is different and has their own preferences 
This is an article I read awhile back that has a bit of good information.
http://www.epicurious.com/gourmet/kitchen_notebook/cake
I make all scratch cakes, but would like to try a doctored mix.
I tried it once using the pudding, but found it was very heavy and spongy.
Was it because the mix was an "extra moist" mix to begin with??
Some of the mixes even say on the box that they have "pudding in the mix".
So what kind of mix should I be using in order to add an extra box of pudding??
I agree with IHATEFONDANT. I just think it's cheating when you're telling people it's homemade and you're using a cake mix.
I must have missed that post. I don't recall anyone saying that they tell people that its homemade when it not. At least I know that i didn't say that. What I said was if they ask if its cake mix then I tell them otherwise, I don't volunteer the information. ......... I too doctor my cake mixes and if I sent you a piece of my cake you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and a scratch cake......the remark I posted about my daughter was a joke.....
Discolady, your lemon buttermilk cake sounds awesome! I would love to make it this weekend. Did you use a regular buttercream on it or did you flavor it differently? Also did you use a filling? Sorry, I am new and I need someone to hold my hand!!
I used vanilla flavored bc instead of my usual almond flavored and I used a lemon curd filling but not too thick....didn't want it too too lemony or to overpower the deliciousness of the cake itself. Thanks for asking.
P.S. Actually I think this is a Cake Doctor recipe but she called for poppy seeds and I can't stand their sickly crunch.
someone explained dream whip about 10 posts up from yours! i had to ask the same question. actually, i don't know what it IS, but now i know WHERE it is!
beth
i make from scratch because i have no choice i live in germany and they don't have the right cake mixes. however, i do get a lot of compliments because my (american-style white, yellow, or chocolate) cakes are so much different from the traditional european varieties (they mostly use sponge cakes and mousses) that are available at the bakeries here.
scratch....box, scratch......box!! if this were politics and not cakes, this would be THE bipartisan issue - the platform that determines which political party you belong to, the issue that transforms a continuum into a left and a right!! but thankfully, whether box or scratch, cakes are just mmmmmmm good. and in this arena, that's why im a moderate
i llike both!happy baking everyone!
-beth
LOL!!!!!! that is too funny!!!!! don't forget the pro-KA and the non-KA groups (i don't think anyone is anti-KA, they just prefer a different brand)! lol!
personally, i would be a staunch scratch-ist and KA supporter lol!
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