I have been using Wilton's yellow cc recipe forever and it has always worked for me. Well yesterday was a nightmare. Let me start by saying that they never "dome", they have a flatish (if that's a word) appearance to them. Well yesterday, they just ran all over the pan like if it was overfilled, so I figured I did something wrong and threw them out and did another batch. Nope, they did the same thing. I make this recipe all the time. So then I did the scratch WASC recipe, which was my first time, and they sunk in the middle and some of the liners separated from the cc. I baked them about 21 min until toothpick came out clean. My chocolate cupcakes came out beautiful. I will try some other recipes, but I am seriously thinking of going back to doctored box mixes.

i use doctored mix for vanilla tier cakes any van/white/yellow cake that was purchased from me -- for family i will make scratch vanilla --

it's reliable and has holding properties that scratch can't match -- goes in & out the fridge/freezer better -- stays soft longer after being served and hitting the air -- why not use what i consider a superior product -- maybe you wanted to hear why you should stick to scratch -- i think you should switch back --

i use self rising flour in mine -- love it!

I never use box mixes so I can't give advice on that part. But I use the recipe below for vanilla cupcakes and never had issues. Tastes amazing too!

http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/3554-basic-vanilla-cupcakes

but all that to say thank goodness for your chocolate ones!

Yep, I'm  doctored cake gal. I love the consistent results  

I'm not necessarily looking for anyone to tell me to stay with scratch, I just really love the flavor of that recipe. It tastes like the roll out cookie dough, just in cake form. But I have to say, I am not one of those people that always accepts the challenge of fixing things, and in this case, I feel I should back away. I have no problem using a doctored mix. That is what I use to use 10 years ago. I stopped selling cakes and only baked for my family (scratch) with no problems. I will soon be selling cakes again, so I am deciding on which recipes I will be using. I am probably going to do a combination, some doctored mixes some scratch. I think if I find a vanilla/yellow cupcake recipe I will use it for my cupcakes, but for cakes I will be doing doctored mixes. 

that's actually exactly what i do -- but most of my orders involve the white/yellow base cake -- i sold a lot of butterpecan cake too -- worked for me

Thanks. Now I need to test the doctored recipes to see what I like best. I need to try the WASC and then something out of the Cake mix doctor. Any recommendations?

yes i do my wasc is:

• box cake mix*
• 1 cup self rising flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 1/3 cup water
• few tablespoons oil up to 1/4 cup
• 1 teaspoon flavoring (i use more)
• 4 eggs or 4 egg whites or whatever combination

I've read that others use the smaller cake mix now with wasc and it's fine and i'm retired now haven't really put it to the test myself but/so I would still use the 18 ounce size myself -- so for every 5 cake mix I'd use 1 additional to make up the difference -- or add 3 ounces per mix -- approx 1/5 of a box --

then from the cake mix doctor i love her melted ice cream cake it's 3 eggs one 18 oz cake mix and 16 ounces melted ice cream -- comes out somewhere between my wasc and pound cake in density -- it's a fun cake to make -- but it's kind of a splurge cake 'cause you can make a great cake without the added expense of the ice cream but it's a great cake and the flavor possibilities are endless --

hey have you used vanilla paste? it does add the peppery vanilla bean speckles of course -- but at least i like it for the vanilla ice cream flavor boost it gives -- again an unnecessary expense but just a random thought --

best baking and testing and a wonderful smooth re-entry into the cake game with lots of sweet success

There is nothing wrong with using a doctored cake mix, I have found that most people these days like the flavor of the box mix better although I do  both scratch and box. I made box cake for a wedding and it was a hit, Everyone love it...but of course I doctored the recipe using butter milk and pudding as additives as well as replacing oils with butter. There was none of that cake left over, so don't let anyone make you feel bad over using a cake mix.