Question On The Cake Mix Doctor Recipes
Baking By amanda1110 Updated 21 Aug 2012 , 9:46pm by amanda1110
Has anyone used Anne Byrn's Cake Mix Doctor books? I just tried a recipe last night that said it will fill 3-9"round pans. I was dissapointed that I only had enough batter for 2-9" rounds, and the cakes are both only about 1/2" tall. My question is, I took the dry cake mix and added in the additional ingredients according to her recipe. Was I supposed to make the cake as instructed and then add in the additional ingredients on top of that? The book never really explains that anywhere. and that's the only thing I can think of that I may have done wrong.
Thanks in advance! 
........... Was I supposed to make the cake as instructed and then add in the additional ingredients on top of that?.....
As I remember the book showes/lists each recipe exactly as it should be made.
I sure don't know what you could have one wrong but I have made many of those recipes w/o problems.
Tell us exactly which recipe and what ingredients you used and maybe we can help further.
I made the cinnamon coffee cake recipe (stuck to the pan, total bummer) and the Mississippi Mud cake (by far, best. cake. ever!!)
You ignore the box directions and follow what she has in the book. I thought id be a genius and put the coffee cake recipe in a shaped pan.... yea don't do that. stick to the pan she tells you to use in her recipe.
I made the chocolate raspberry cake. Here's what I used:
Pillsbury devil's food cake mix
12 oz. bag of Dole Frozen Raspberries with the seeds squeezed out
8 oz. of Daisy low fat sour cream
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil
3 lg eggs
1 c. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
It made enough to fill 2 9" round wilton pans about half as full as I would normally fill them
I made the chocolate raspberry cake. Here's what I used:
Pillsbury devil's food cake mix
12 oz. bag of Dole Frozen Raspberries with the seeds squeezed out
8 oz. of Daisy low fat sour cream
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil
3 lg eggs
1 c. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
It made enough to fill 2 9" round wilton pans about half as full as I would normally fill them
Amanda ~~ Welcome to the CC forum. I make many of the Cake Mix Doctor's recipes and they turn out very well. However, since you are new to the forums you may not be aware that her book & the recipes were based on 18.25 oz. boxes of cake mix. This was the standard size of cake mixes by Duncan Hines/Pillsbury/Betty Crocker for about 20+ years (maybe even as long as 50 years.....).
The past year nearly all manufacturers of cake mixes have made their boxes smaller. They are now 15.5 - 16.5 oz. per box. Although we have hollered and screamed, it is to no avail. The manufacturer's "claim" that these smaller mixes have been "re-formulated", and that they will produce the same "volume" of cake. (Not true.)
However, all is not lost.
Here's my email and the response from Anne Byrn, author of "The Cake Mix Doctor".
"Good morning, Ms. Byrn.
As you probably know, Betty Crocker reduced their mix sizes recently. Even though Duncan Hines said they would NOT follow suit, they have.
A member of the Wilton.com forum received confirmation this morning:
"Ok ladies I just got off the phone with a rep from DH and he said yes, they have reduced their Classic line from 18.25 to 16.5 in an effort to remain "cost competetive". He said only the Classic line but those are the ones I use. He had a long story to tell about the reason they are doing this: to keep from raising their prices. I understand that but I would rather pay a little extra than have the sizes cut!"
http://www.wilton.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=8&threadid=159844&STARTPAGE=1&CFID=30277720&CFTOKEN=87393896
What impact will these changes have on the recipes printed in your books? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you."
-------------------------
"Thanks for your email. It is really distressing that food companies think they can keep reducing the size of products. For the past few years the mixes have lacked the structure, and I have advised cooks to add a little flour to the dry cake mix to ensure the cake will have structure and not sink while cooling.
I, too, would rather pay a little more and keep things consistent.
Let's let the dust settle, and I will be interested to try my recipes with the smaller DH mixes.
In the meantime, it's a good idea to add a little flour (up to 1/2 cup), a little sugar, if desired, and a half teaspoon of baking powder to the smaller cake mix before adding other ingredients.
Or, check out my cake mixes on my website - www.cakemixdoctor.com - clicking on Anne's cake mix. They are a little larger than the conventional cake mix.
Thanks for your interest, and let's keep in touch!"
Anne [/b]
Thanks so much for that tip Apti! I hadn't noticed that the boxes were smaller, I'm always using new pans in different shapes and sizes and hadn't caught on to that yet. Blame it on too much inexperience. I'll have to start frequenting the forums more often to avoid another cake disaster...
Has anyone used Anne Byrn's Cake Mix Doctor books? I just tried a recipe last night that said it will fill 3-9"round pans. I was dissapointed that I only had enough batter for 2-9" rounds, and the cakes are both only about 1/2" tall. My question is, I took the dry cake mix and added in the additional ingredients according to her recipe. Was I supposed to make the cake as instructed and then add in the additional ingredients on top of that? The book never really explains that anywhere. and that's the only thing I can think of that I may have done wrong.
Thanks in advance!
I can speak to the strawberry cake recipe that's made with strawberry Jell-o and fresh chopped strawberries. The directions say to bake it in 3 9" pans, and the directions are serious, because if you try to just use it in two 9" pans and fill them half full as you would with regular cake mix batter, the cakes will crater in the middle and sink horribly. That particular recipe must be made almost pancake-thin, and that is the reason she specifies to use 3 9" pans. It goes without saying that I know this because of some very painful trial and error on my part. 
Apti is right about the size difference and how to counter that but I don't see where it would have made the difference you said you had - especially in the taste, dryness etc. (your words: only had enough batter for 2-9" rounds, and the cakes are both only about 1/2" tall ).
I still think there was something else that contributed to it. We probably will never be able to pinpoint that problem for certain 
I made the chocolate raspberry cake. Here's what I used:
Pillsbury devil's food cake mix
12 oz. bag of Dole Frozen Raspberries with the seeds squeezed out
8 oz. of Daisy low fat sour cream
1/2 c. Vegetable Oil
3 lg eggs
1 c. Ghiradelli chocolate chips
It made enough to fill 2 9" round wilton pans about half as full as I would normally fill them
I just noticed that the sour cream you used was LOW FAT. That could make a difference. Sometimes switching out butter for margarine, sugar for Splenda, 1% milk instead of whole milk, etc. will make a huge difference in the recipe.
Anne Byrn states in the beginning pages of her book (the first 20-30 pages are a GOLDMINE of information that most people don't read), that if one of her recipes calls for whole milk, you MUST use whole milk.
The recipe actually called for Low Fat sour cream. I know I made a point to check it because I usually do not use low fat anything. The cake itself did turn out to be VERY dense and moist. The next time I make that cake (which I will definitely do soon as it got a lot of compliments on the taste), I would probably do it the same exact way and plan on a double batch of batter. I was just surprised that it didn't seem to go as far as the instructions said
Well, the recipe sounds delicious. Which book did you use the get the recipe? I looked in my 1996 original Cake Mix Doctor and didn't see it.
I haven't purchased any of the other Cake Mix Dr. books because I prefer to make about 6 "standard", reliable cakes that can be changed with flavorings.
Another method to get the raspberry flavor without the addition of liquid is to order some CK Icing Fruit. They are fabulous!!!
https://www.slice-heaven.com/store/search
That recipe was in The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, published in 2009. I have never heard of icing fruits before I will have to look into them for next time!
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