Hello,

From reading several posts I know that many have there prefences for types of box mixes and for scratch. My favorite box brand is Duncan Hines - i like the taste and texture. Especially Duncan's Devil Food Chocolate - light and airy but still very chocolaty... I've stacked my cakes and carved cakes and in all cases have gotten good results.

99% of my cakes start with a box mix but I'd like to try making my cakes from scratch and am looking for recipes that will give me a similar result to Duncan Hines... any suggestions?

It is published in The New Doubleday Cookbook and they call it appropriately, White Wedding Cake However it is a little golden in color - egg yolks & real vanilla -

Golden Cake

6 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 # butter or margarine or 1 1/3 cups margarine with 2/3 cups vegetable shortening
(the margarine is not vegetable spread)
4 cups sugar
8 eggs at room temperature
2 teaspoons lemon extract
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon rind (optional)

Preheat oven to 325. Sift flour with baking powder and salt and set aside. Combine milk and vanilla and set aside. Cream butter until light, add sugar gradually, continue to cream until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in lemon extract (and rind). Add dry ingredients alternately with milk beginning and ending with the dry and adding about one sixth of the total at a time. Beat just until smooth. Spoon into 1 ungreased 13" and 1 ungreased 7" pan lined on the bottom with wax or parchment paper filling no more than half full - this is a high-rising batter. Bake larger layer 60-65 mins until it pulls from the sides of the pan and is springy to the touch. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 10 mins then loosen and invert on rack peel off paper turn right side up and cool thoroughly. If you make 3 batches you get two 13", two 7" and two 10 " layers. Make cupcakes with any leftover batter.

This is from The New Doubleday Cookbook 1975.

Real good cake. And this recipe is not real fussy - can be halved. Excellent

http://www.hersheys.com/recipes/184/HERSHEY'S%20%22PERFECTLY%20CHOCOLATE%22%20Chocolate%20Cake.aspx

that wedding cake recipe sounds great!

Thanks K8memphis!

What does "1 # butter " mean? how much butter? is it "1 cup"?

I wonder how this could be made into chocolate? maybe substitute some cocoa for flour?

one pound = 16 ounces = 1#

I'd use half or a quarter of the formula and try some choco in it as a test.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Double-Chocolate-Layer-Cake-101275

makes beautifully domed cupcakes too...

Use the Hershey's recipe for the chocolate cake. Or look up Hershey's Black Magic cake.
Both of those recipes are outstanding.